IMMIGRATION BY INVESTMENT

Investments worth 800 million euros in residential tourism have been canceled by April, which would have represented 500 million euros in taxes and the creation of 2,090 jobs. The Portuguese Association of Residential Tourism and Resorts is calling for "common sense" to avoid a "catastrophe."   The government is destroying something that took decades to build in just a few months. It involved the effort of investors, the state, and the people, and now, with a thoughtless decision, we are throwing it all away. The criticism of the end of golden visas, a measure included in the "More Housing" package,...

IMMIGRATION BY INVESTMENT NEWS 2023

Essential Information for Applying to Austria's Residence by Investment Programs   Austria has witnessed a surge in immigration interest, with a threefold increase in residency permit applications over the past five years. The Golden Visa, an investment-based residency visa, has been specifically designed to attract affluent foreign individuals seeking European opportunities and the freedom to travel within the Schengen zone. Each year, only 300 individuals are selected for Austria's Residency by Investment program. When applying for this program, consider the following key factors: Active Investment Requirement: Unlike some other European countries like Malta, Spain, and Portugal, Austria does not offer...

IMMIGRATION BY INVESTMENT NEWS 2023

Three investors had their Cypriot citizenships revoked. Additionally, the passports of the individuals' wives and children were also taken away, according to government spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis. This action was taken following a thorough investigation conducted by the government.   In the same cabinet session, a bill for 2023 was approved. This bill pertains to the issuance of court orders aimed at safeguarding the collective interests of consumers. Its purpose is to modernize the existing institutional framework that protects consumers' collective interests.   With the new legislation, courts are granted the authority to intervene and halt any behaviors that violate consumer...

IMMIGRATION BY INVESTMENT NEWS 2023

Portugal and Ireland recently made an announcement regarding the cessation of their "golden visa" initiatives. Armand Arton, the CEO of Arton Capital, believes that this decision represents a missed financial opportunity. Instead, he proposes that countries modify the investment requirements to cater to the interests of local residents.   Armand Arton, who refers to himself as the "Chief Global Citizen" rather than CEO, possesses a remarkable collection of eight passports. This assortment is befitting for the head of a company that assists extremely affluent individuals in acquiring second citizenship. The passport business experienced significant growth during the pandemic, particularly among...

IMMIGRATION BY INVESTMENT NEWS 2023

Despite the minimum investment threshold for the Golden Visa Program in certain regions of the nation being raised from €250,000 to €500,000, Greece is observing a considerable influx of applications from affluent foreigners. As per data released by the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum, there has been a striking 252 percent surge in requests for the Golden Visa Program in the initial two months of this year, amounting to 1,446 applications compared to 411 applications during the corresponding period last year, as reported by SchengenVisaInfo.com.   During January and February of this year, a total of 574 golden visas were...

IMMIGRATION BY INVESTMENT NEWS 2023

After a successful decade of Portugal's Golden Visa scheme, the government has confirmed its termination. The scheme brought in billions of growth for the national economy, but the Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa, believes that no special regime justifies the golden visa. As of February 16, new applications for golden visas are no longer valid, but residence permits for investment will remain effective. The majority of residence permits were exclusively for real estate purchases, with only a small number of investors creating jobs. Therefore, the permits granted under the scheme will be converted into normal residence permits. However, golden visas...

IMMIGRATION BY INVESTMENT NEWS 2023

Updated for April 2023 by Esmeralda Montes, NTL Trust In my role as a Client Advisor, nearly every day, new prospects seeking a second passport from a Caribbean country reach out to me. More often or not, they start the conversation with one key question. They see the various Caribbean Citizenship by Investment Programmes (CIP) and the types of investments that qualify for CBI and ask: Which Option is Better? Property investment makes sense to most clients as they mostly already own property in various countries. Initially, therefore,  they seem surprised as to why there is a "donation" to a...

IMMIGRATION BY INVESTMENT SPONSORED CONTENT 2023

The Hong Kong SAR government announced that it will soon relaunch its residency-by-investment scheme. The government suspended the scheme in 2015 to focus on attracting talent instead of investments, but is now relaunching the program to help economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Successful applicants will be eligible to apply for permanent residence after seven years of status under the program. Although the government has not officially announced the amount required for the relaunched investment scheme, Hong Kong SAR’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan expects this to be more than HKD 14 million (USD 1.78 million), which is up from HKD...

IMMIGRATION BY INVESTMENT NEWS 2023