At least 1,300 millionaires from mainland China have decided to sue the immigration authorities of Canada after it decided to terminate its immigrant investor program to which the complainants had applied for.

Each of the 1,335 Chinese mainland millionaires is asking for 5 million Canadian dollar (around US $4.57 million) in compensation should the Canadian government continue to refuse assessing their cases.

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The rich Chinese mainlanders paid around US $1.7 million as application deposit when they applied for immigration under Canada's 25-year-old Immigrant Investor Program (IIP).

The IIP allows foreigners to migrate to Canada provided that the applicant has a net worth of 1.6 million Canadian dollars, or around US $1.5, or more.

Tim Leahy, the Canada-based lawyer representing the case, said the 1,335 wealth Chinese complainants submitted their immigration applications in Hong Kong but immigration authorities in Canada slowed the processing and eventually suspended the IIP program last February.

Leahy said all of his 1,335 clients have complied with the requirements and are qualified based on the financial requirements "but they were unfairly treated through the slowed processing of applications.

"Canada's immigration authorities unfairly slowed the application process well ahead of the program's cancellation," said Leahy.

Sources said some of the applicants have already purchased properties in Canada in preparation for their migration but the program was cancelled without prior notice.

Based on immigration data, at least 60,000 applications to the IIP were suspended and many of the applicants have already paid the required 2 million Canadian dollar deposit over a year ago. Around 480,000 applicants were lodged in Hong Kong.

Last March, a group of 10 Chinese IIP applicants filed a lawsuit against the immigration authorities for the same reason. One of the complainants, the South China Morning Post reported, had already purchased a US$1-million dollar house in Vancouver.

TagsCanada Immigration, Immigration to Canada, Canada Investor Immigration Program