Jeju mulls increasing minimum resident visa investment to 1.5 bln won

JEJU, South Korea, Jan. 21 (Yonhap) -- The provincial government of Jeju said Friday it will push to raise the minimum investment required of foreigners under its real-estate investment immigration policy to 1.5 billion won.

Under the current property investment immigration system, foreigners who invest 500 million won (about US$419,000) or more in condominiums or other resort facilities on the southern resort island are eligible to receive a resident visa. The visa can be upgraded to a permanent residence visa after five years.

But the Jeju government said it is considering raising the minimum investment volume to 1.5 billion won.

The provincial government also said it is considering ways to impose a mandatory residence period for foreign investors and restrict the sale of their properties for a certain period of time after the acquisition of permanent resident status.

At present, the resident visa for foreign investors is valid as long as they visit South Korea only once a year.

The planned imposition of a mandatory residence period will be intended to force all beneficiaries of the real-estate investment immigration policy to stay on Jeju for a certain period of time, Jeju officials explained.

In addition, the Jeju government said it will push to change the name of the real estate investment immigration system to the "tourism and leisure facility investment immigration system." It will also try to diversify the Chinese-centered nationalities of foreign investors by attracting more investors from Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries.

ycm@yna.co.kr
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