IMMIGRATION BY INVESTMENT

By CS Global Partners   According to Les Khan, CEO of St Kitts and Nevis' Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Unit, the dual-island nation's CBI Programme has expressed an increase in interest from African businesspeople, particularly from Nigeria and South Africa. One of the main motivators in acquiring a second citizenship stem from the visa restrictions many Africans face when attempting to conduct business abroad. St Kitts and Nevis boast one of the strongest passports within the region and 25th globally, surpassing many larger and more developed nations.   Established in 1984, St Kitts and Nevis' CBI Programme is the oldest within the investment immigration industry and is internationally recognised as a Platinum Standard...

IMMIGRATION BY INVESTMENT NEWS 2020

By Enry Cooke   Foreigners keen to invest up to $2.3 billion in New Zealand are unable to get visas because of Covid-19 restrictions, a situation National says is holding back “tens of thousands” of jobs.   A huge amount of cash is promised by applicants for the investor-class visa, which allows foreigners to gain residence in New Zealand if they promise to invest a certain amount of money into the economy.   A similar visa was famously used by US tech billionaire Peter Thiel to gain residency in the country, which he then used to gain citizenship.   Immigration...

IMMIGRATION BY INVESTMENT NEWS 2020

By Schengen Visa Info   Portugal has registered an increasing number of Chinese citizens who are rushing to ‘buy’ citizenship in Portugal, through the Golden Visa Scheme, before the government puts the program to an end.   Investors from China are considering Lisbon and Porto as appropriate investment locations before both cities are removed from the passport for cash scheme, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.   “A total of €37 million (S$58.90 million) have been invested in Portugal from Chinese nationals, during the second quarter of this year, “which is twice their spending in all of 2019,” director of Maia International Properties, Luiz Felipe Maia pointed...

IMMIGRATION BY INVESTMENT NEWS 2020

By GC NewsDesk   Washington: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities on Sunday announced the decision to expand its Golden Visa system that grants 10-year residency for certain categories of professionals, including doctorate degree holders, doctors, computer programmers, and biotechnology engineers.   UAE Vice President and Dubai Emir Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum made this announcement, stating that specialists in the field of artificial intelligence, big data, and epidemiology, as well as best-performing students from certain high schools and universities, will also be eligible for “golden” visas.     As per a report by Sputnik, the UAE government allowed for the...

IMMIGRATION BY INVESTMENT NEWS 2020

By Devon Pendleton and Ben Stupples   Eric Schmidt acquired all the typical trappings of a mega-rich U.S. citizen: a superyacht, a Gulfstream jet, a Manhattan penthouse.   One of his newest assets is far less conventional: a second passport.   Alphabet Inc.’s former chief executive officer applied to become a citizen of Cyprus, according to an announcement last month in a Cypriot newspaper that was first reported by the website Recode. Schmidt, 65, joins a growing club of individuals participating in government programs enabling foreigners to acquire passports.   In previous years, U.S. citizens rarely sought to buy so-called golden passports. The...

IMMIGRATION BY INVESTMENT NEWS 2020

By NIKOLAJ NIELSEN   Two dozen letters have been exchanged between the European Commission and Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Malta over their controversial 'Golden Passport' schemes, by which rich foreigners can gain EU citizenship for large sums of money.   The letters - sent over the past 12 months - offer fresh insight into how the European Commission is trying to clamp down on a scheme it says violates EU rules.   It also shows how slow some of the states are to respond to the inquiries - with Malta taking 67 days to respond to the commission's first letter, followed by...

IMMIGRATION BY INVESTMENT NEWS 2020

By Evis Hadjipetrou   Your “insurance policy” for the future   The Cyprus PR program offers non-EU nationals guaranteed permanent residency within 2 months with a single, secure, real estate investment of €300,000. It applies to the investor, their spouse dependent children up to age 25, and the parents of the applicant and spouse.    Permanent residency status means that your family has the right to live freely in Cyprus or continue to live in your home country and just use the permit whenever you need it.      Permit holders also have the right to own a business in...

IMMIGRATION BY INVESTMENT SPONSORED CONTENT 2020