The Investment Migration Knowledge Platform
India is one of the few emerging economic powerhouses whose HNWIs have yet to appreciate the benefits of residency and citizenship by investment (RCBI). In this article, Indian immigration attorney Prashant Ajmera outlines some of the major do’s and don’ts of Indian investment migration market success.
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Opinion of the editor Citizenship by investment has granted small, developing countries in the Caribbean and Pacific the means to fund public spending independently, rather than rely on outside aid or loans. That financial autonomy reduces the influence developed countries have in these jurisdictions, which is one of the reasons they seek to restrain such
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Prime Minister Charlot Salwai of Vanuatu has told local media that his countrymen will soon be able to visit China without a visa, and vice versa, according to reports in the Daily Post. The PM said citizens of both China and Vanuatu would “soon” be able to visit each others’ countries without arranging a visa
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Individuals naturalized under Vanuatu’s Development and Support Programme (VDSP) – one of two concurrent citizenship by investment programs in the Pacific archipelago state – will no longer be “honorary citizens”. Whether they will now have the right to political participation remains unclear. Speaking to IMI during the Investment Immigration Summit in Dubai today, James E. Harris, Managing
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Income from citizenship by investment in Vanuatu more than doubled in 2018 and now accounts for a third of overall government revenue.
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Stephane TajickMontreal Interest in the Thailand Elite Residence Program is growing at a ferocious pace. Permit issuances are up 64% on the year, and have grown by a factor of eleven in just four years. The Thailand Elite Residence Program has made a notable comeback over the last few years. First introduced in 2003, the program remained relatively unknown to the industry until it was re-marketed in 2014. Three years later, Thailand Privilege
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Stephane TajickMontreal This is the second in a two-part series on now-defunct residence and citizenship by investment programs. This week, we look at citizenship by investment programs that are no longer with us. See Part 1 here: Tajick: Remembering the Dead Part 1 – Residence by Investment Programs of Yore In the eighties and nineties, the citizenship by investment (CBI) industry
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With visa-free access to 84% of the world, the Japanese passport is now the world’s most powerful. Could we soon see a time where some passports reach 100%? Christian NesheimEditor The Japanese can visit no less than 190 out of 226 countries and territories, according to the Henley & Partners Passport Index, making their
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This is the incredible tale of how a Hong Kong businessman persuaded the King of Tonga to sell $26 million worth of citizenships to Chinese investors, and how the King’s court jester lost it all by trading life-insurance policies for the terminally ill. The original passport king Citizenship by investment was not always a legitimate
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The Malaysian government has temporarily frozen the extremely popular Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) residence by investment program, according to a statement from the Southeast Asian country’s Ministry of Tourism and Culture. Deputy Minister of Tourism, Mr. Ebadi, confirmed Malaysia’s cabinet had temporarily suspended the program, but did not provide any details as to the
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Thailand Elite plans to honor the 105 foreign citizens partaking in July’s large-scale rescue mission in the Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand by granting them Thailand Elite cards which include, among many other privileges, a five-year residence permit. The Tourism Authority of Thailand, majority owner of the Thailand Privilege Card company, said they had
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Last year, income from Vanuatu’s various citizenship by investment programs represented 16% of government revenue, more than twice the figure projected in the 2017 budget. This year – if Q1 data is anything to go by – that share will reach 24%. According to a report published in Vanuatu Business Review (VBR), the government’s CBI-related
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New Zealand’s parliament yesterday voted 63-57 in favor of passing the Overseas Investment Amendment Bill. The law makes it illegal for foreigners not formally resident in the country to purchase existing homes. With the exception of Australians and Singaporeans – who are exempt from the new rules thanks to free trade agreements – foreigners will
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[dropcap]N[/dropcap]ew Zealand’s Category 2 Investor Visa – the world’s “pickiest” such program, with rejection rates hovering around 50% – last year doubled its investment requirement. That decision has earned the Kiwis an additional NZ$173 million (US$116 million). New Zealand’s Investor Visa (NZIV) programs are dearly priced: The Category 1 Plus Investor Visa costs NZ$10 million; Category
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The Thai Elite Residence Program recorded some 1,400 approvals in the 12 months leading to April 2018, setting an all-time program record in March 2018 with 161 approvals, according to a press release by Henley & Partners. “The program went from attracting an average of 300 applications per year to securing over 900 on-boarded residents
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Vanuatu, an island nation in the Pacific home to some 270,000 ni-Vanuatu – the demonym used for nationals of that country – has (at least) two official citizenship by investment programs, with different terms and conditions. What’s going on? Combined revenue from the programs accounted for 16.1% of all government revenue in 2017, or about
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Press release via Harvey Law Group: Phnom Penh – May 28, 2018 Harvey Law Group (HLG), one of Asia’s leading legal firms focusing on investment immigration and mobility, announced that one of its portfolio companies has acquired nearly 20% of the inventory in the newly launched Six Senses St. Kitts being developed by Range Developments
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The big Chinese investment migration firms have thus far not been successful in penetrating the fast-growing market neighboring them to the south, despite geographical proximity, as well as political and economic similarities. Investment migration practitioners with decades of experience in the Vietnamese market say a clash of cultures is to blame. During a panel discussion
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Applications to Australia’s Significant Investor Visa (SIV) program has fallen from an average of 46 a month during the 2015/2016 fiscal year to just 13 a month between July 2017 and January this year. Driving the collapse in demand are tighter regulations and competition from European programs. In its first three years, Australia granted an average of
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During an exclusive interview with Investment Migration Insider, head of the Vanuatu Information Centre, James Harris, revealed three separate pieces of major news: One, the price of the Vanuatu Development and Support Programme (the DSP, effectively a CIP) has been reduced. Two, his office has already successfully processed several cases of citizenship by investment in Vanuatu with
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