Ian Mackenzie via flickr
Back in 1984, Caribbean Saint Kitts and Nevis was the first to introduce the second citizenship for money. Since then, the number of countries offering their passports in exchange for investing in their economy has reached twelve. Professional Wealth Management (PWM) and CS Global Partners published a guide to such programs. The guide is called The Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Index, and is intended for anyone with a reasonable margin of money to familiarize themselves with requirements of each country.
The conditions for issuing citizenship through investments vary from country to country, but in most cases the competitor needs to either purchase real estate or invest a certain amount of money in the state development fund of one of the branches of the economy. Those states that offer the possibility of actually acquiring their citizenship make sure that the country's economy as a result receives tangible benefits. At the same time, the advantages of obtaining a passport of this country should always outweigh the applicant’s duties.
The main author of the CBI index was the researcher and analyst James McKay, who used seven indicators (pillars) for the evaluation of citizenship programs through investments.
After studying and comparing requirements in each country, the authors assigned the highest rating to Dominica, which scored a maximum of ten points on four of the seven indicators. The first five positions are occupied by all five representatives of the Caribbean, who have a program of investment citizenship. "The results reflect not only the relative availability of Caribbean jurisdictions, but also their ability to offer an established application processing process, supported by a rigorous verification procedure for reliability," PWM’s press release notes.
In order to obtain a Dominica passport, the applicant must invest in the Economic Diversification Fund (EDF) or in real estate included in the list of state-approved objects. The minimum amount of investment is $ 100 thousand, which is quite a bit compared to other countries. In fact, there is nothing more required from an applicant for citizenship of Dominica - neither knowledge of English, nor the history of the country, nor experience in business. You don’t even need to live there. In return, a person gets visa-free entry to more than 120 countries. Yes, Malta and Austria have a higher rating of freedom of movement (given that citizens of these two countries can freely move around the European Union), and the standard of living there is much higher than in the countries of the Caribbean. However, requirements for applicants there are much higher.
It is almost impossible to become an Austrian citizen. First, the amount of required investment is € 8-10 million. Secondly, not only the applicant will have to go through a interview, learn German - the very procedure for obtaining citizenship usually takes about two years. As for Malta, it has built a whole range of investment barriers for those who are eager to get its passport: first, the applicant must transfer € 650,000 to the state development fund, then he must either buy out a property worth not less than € 350,000, or rent one of the objects with a rental rate of not less than € 16 thousand per year. Finally, the last item of the applicant's investment portfolio should be purchase of securities for a total of at least € 150,000, which must be retained for five years.
source: wicnews.com
The conditions for issuing citizenship through investments vary from country to country, but in most cases the competitor needs to either purchase real estate or invest a certain amount of money in the state development fund of one of the branches of the economy. Those states that offer the possibility of actually acquiring their citizenship make sure that the country's economy as a result receives tangible benefits. At the same time, the advantages of obtaining a passport of this country should always outweigh the applicant’s duties.
The main author of the CBI index was the researcher and analyst James McKay, who used seven indicators (pillars) for the evaluation of citizenship programs through investments.
After studying and comparing requirements in each country, the authors assigned the highest rating to Dominica, which scored a maximum of ten points on four of the seven indicators. The first five positions are occupied by all five representatives of the Caribbean, who have a program of investment citizenship. "The results reflect not only the relative availability of Caribbean jurisdictions, but also their ability to offer an established application processing process, supported by a rigorous verification procedure for reliability," PWM’s press release notes.
In order to obtain a Dominica passport, the applicant must invest in the Economic Diversification Fund (EDF) or in real estate included in the list of state-approved objects. The minimum amount of investment is $ 100 thousand, which is quite a bit compared to other countries. In fact, there is nothing more required from an applicant for citizenship of Dominica - neither knowledge of English, nor the history of the country, nor experience in business. You don’t even need to live there. In return, a person gets visa-free entry to more than 120 countries. Yes, Malta and Austria have a higher rating of freedom of movement (given that citizens of these two countries can freely move around the European Union), and the standard of living there is much higher than in the countries of the Caribbean. However, requirements for applicants there are much higher.
It is almost impossible to become an Austrian citizen. First, the amount of required investment is € 8-10 million. Secondly, not only the applicant will have to go through a interview, learn German - the very procedure for obtaining citizenship usually takes about two years. As for Malta, it has built a whole range of investment barriers for those who are eager to get its passport: first, the applicant must transfer € 650,000 to the state development fund, then he must either buy out a property worth not less than € 350,000, or rent one of the objects with a rental rate of not less than € 16 thousand per year. Finally, the last item of the applicant's investment portfolio should be purchase of securities for a total of at least € 150,000, which must be retained for five years.
source: wicnews.com