The Investment Migration Knowledge Platform
Evgeny OrlovPanama Frequently, my readers or conference attendees ask me how ultra high net worth individuals, families, and international corporations manage to avoid almost all of the taxation and legal burdens the middle class faces, and whether such measures are only available to the exceptionally rich. The 5-step Walk to Total Freedom In this
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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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In an article earlier this year titled Index Mania: How to interpret the recent deluge of citizenship rankings, I surmised that, while Henley & Partners’ Visa Restrictions Index was the original citizenship ranking, Arton Capital’s Passport Index had grown to surpass its older sibling in popularity and functionality, and was now the leading such ranking. Back
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Citizenship by investment programs across the globe differ markedly in their level of transparency. In this feature, we’ve enlisted the help of three experts to help us consider the degree to which transparency is necessary, when it is appropriate to restrain it, and which CIP countries do the best job of disclosing the relevant facts
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Following eight consecutive years of decline, Greek residential real estate prices appear to be bottoming out. The country’s golden visa program can take much of the credit for putting the breaks on. Figures from the Bank of Greece reveal that, by the third quarter of 2017, home prices nationally had fallen by only 0.07% year
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The residence and citizenship by investment industry has seen nothing but growth – in terms of both demand and supply – for the last decade and a half, if not for longer. While the ranks of investors deciding to apply to an investment migration program swell by the thousands each year, the rate of growth of
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Dubai-based investment migration firm Brookes and Partners yesterday revealed they would begin accepting payments for their citizenship and residence by investment-related services in Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, and Ripple. The decision to facilitate crypto-payments, CEO Gareth Brookes told Investment Migration Insider, came partly as a result of requests from clients, which have been increasing in frequency
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There’s contention among citizenship by investment practitioners regarding the residence/citizenship by investment program in Bulgaria. Many reputable firms market the program as a CIP, others as a residency program, and others yet stay away from it entirely. In discussions about the program, a number of questions tend to come up: Does it have a sound
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On September first this year, the heads of the Caribbean Citizenship by Investment Units (CIUs) convened in Grenada for the sixth meeting of the Citizenship by Investment Programme Association (CIPA). The association appointed Les Khan – CEO of the Saint Kitts and Nevis CIU – as its chairman for the forthcoming year. Apart from selecting
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Although Grenada’s passport offers the unique features of granting visa-free travel to China as well as access to the United States via the E2 treaty program, interest in the country’s Citizenship by Investment Programme for many years remained sluggish, its potential somehow untapped. In the last year, however, the number of applications to the Grenada
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Born in the former Soviet Union, he is keenly aware that the Rule of Law is what stands in the way of political autocracy, and he has strong opinions on what role the EU should play in shaping the international order. But enough about Vladimir Putin. Last week, Professor Dimitry Kochenov – together with co-publisher
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China and Russia are the world’s largest markets for residency and citizenship by investment, and they will likely remain so for quite some time. It’s natural, then, for investment migration companies to focus a great deal of their efforts in these critical regions. But because Russians and Chinese have been investing their way into residence
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Tax residency programs are the dernier cri among Caribbean CIP countries. Saint Lucia, ever the trendsetter, kicked off the craze in Geneva on June 6th when Prime Minister Chastanet, during an exclusive interview with Investment Migration Insider, revealed that his government was rolling out a tax residency program together with the Headquarters Act. Some three
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As a proposed bill promises to offer a clear path to green-cards for E-2 investors, Dr Farooq elaborates on the tax implications of E-2 visas. By Dr. Hussain Farooq Copying any information from this article, whether partially or fully, is strictly prohibited without written consent of the author. Despite the travel ban put by the
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A story involving accusations of corruption, lies, and under-the-table dealings at the highest political levels is unfolding in the Eastern Caribbean. The saga began when Lennox Linton, head of the island’s parliamentary opposition, the United Workers Party, appeared on an episode of CBS’ 60 Minutes in January. Linton implied that Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit had been
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The rise to prosperity slated to take place over the next few decades in Southeast Asia is a once-in-a-lifetime megatrend. Harvey Law Group reckons there’s a lot of money to be made for early movers. The Montreal-based firm that specializes in, among other practice areas, citizenship and residence by investment, yesterday announced that they had
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Opinion of the editor: It appears every investment migration company worth their salt is publishing some form of citizenship index these days. Otherwise, who would take them seriously, right? But the quality of these indices differs widely. Some are genuinely useful and informative, others are self-serving and methodologically unsound, and others yet have, shall we
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It’s difficult to overstate the significance of citizenship by investment programs to Carribean economies. While there’s no way to measure with any degree of accuracy the indirect contribution CBI has on a country’s GDP – such as the employment created by new real estate developments and the added disposable income spent by those hired to
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Local property developers’ protestations to the contrary notwithstanding, the Cypriot economy is in the black largely thanks to the country’s Citizenship by Investment Programme. It may have a flourishing tourist sector and recently discovered offshore gas reserves potentially worth US$50 billion but, as it stands, the country’s economic activity would indisputably be undergoing severe economic contraction
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Following Canadian immigration authorities’ announcement to end Antigua & Barbuda’s visa-free access – to the shock and chagrin of much of the CIP industry – contours of the full extent of the implications are emerging. Just the beginning Eric Major, former CEO of Henley & Partners, told Investment Migration Insider he believes this development is the
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