Florida ‘Anti-Chinese Land Law’ Upheld By Federal Court

A new Florida law that limits land ownership rights of certain noncitizens domiciled in China or other specific countries was challenged recently in Federal District Court by Chinese Plaintiffs Yifan Shen, Zhiming Xu, Xinxi Wang, Yongxin Liu, and Multi-Choice Realty, LLC. The decision was important from an immigration point of view since, among other things, the law in question prevents certain Chinese immigrants and others from buying land in Florida, such as for example, Chinese investors applying for permanent residence in America under the EB-5 program.

The challenged law, became effective on July 1st, 2023. It restricts land purchases by any “[f]oreign principal,” which it defines to include anyone “who is domiciled in a foreign country of concern and is not a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States.” It provides that, subject to certain exceptions, “[a] foreign principal may not directly or indirectly own . . . any interest . . . in real property on or within 10 miles of any military installation or critical infrastructure facility.”

It includes a grandfather provision for foreign principals who owned covered property before the law took effect. Another section of the law provides that subject to certain exceptions, foreign principals domiciled in China cannot “directly or indirectly own . . . any interest . . . in real property,” regardless of its proximity to military installations or critical infrastructure and must sign affidavits attesting that they are not principals of China.