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Economic Citizenship Market: Changes Are On The Way

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2023 was full of events in the market of economic citizenship, and it looks like more changes are on the way. The landscape of citizenship by investment programs is going to change considerably in 2024 and 2025, and we have to keep our finger on the pulse to timely trace them and be prepared. One thing is clear: these will hardly be changes for the better. It seems like the cost of programs is going to get higher, and checks may become more stringent to ensure that passports are not given out to potential terrorists and so on. If you want to timely receive all the news, subscribe to a reliable portal, such as International Wealth, that specializes in economic citizenship programs.

2023: A Busy Year For Immigration Industry

So what happened in 2023?

  • First of all, amendments were made to several economic citizenship programs.
  • Second, several existing golden visa opportunities were discontinued.
  • Third, the pressure on the part of the major powers, such as the EU, the USA, and the UK hit the Caribbean countries that administer economic citizenship programs. 

Want some good news? Well, Canada re-launched its citizenship by investment program.

Here are some details:

  • St. Kitts and Nevis, the Caribbean state that offers one of the most popular economic citizenship programs, doubled the amount you are required to invest.
  • Greece also made the required amount of investment in real estate twice higher if you buy property in popular tourist districts.
  • You can no longer invest in Portuguese real estate to receive a local residence permit.
  • Finally, Ireland’s golden visa program is no longer available.

Some changes are connected with the world’s major geopolitical events, in particular, sanctions against Russia and Belarus: the citizens of these countries can no longer take advantage of Caribbean or European golden visa offers.

Some problems occurred like a bolt out of the blue sky:

  • Cyprus is making investigations and taking passports away if the authorities find that their economic citizens were engaged in fraudulent activities.
  • The Dominican passport no longer gives visa-free access to the UK.

The prospects of the Caribbean countries with regard to visa-free access to EU countries begin to look shaky. As a result, they are doing their best to adapt to the toughening requirements as the possibility to freely visit the Schengen zone is one of the main attractions of their passports.

In short, there is a lot of movement in the industry.

Personal Approach

Participation in a citizenship-by-investment program is an instrument that solves a particular problem. It is an absolutely unwise step in the present-day immigration environment to prioritize one economic citizenship program over all the others as the problem that each customer solves is unique. It means that it would be much better to provide a variety of programs to choose from.

The present-day world gives tremendous opportunities with regard to information access, so people are usually aware of the existing offers. However, there are a lot of nuances to be taken into account to make the right choice and successfully complete all the procedures, and that’s where a customized approach and specialist’s assistance are invaluable.

How the Immigration Industry Is Evolving

Each program will be best suited for particular customer categories. Sometimes, an affordable Caribbean passport is more than enough to cover all the individual’s needs. However, if you set the aim of relocating to a European Union country along with your family, you will need nothing less than a golden visa program offered by a European country. There are also programs offered by Eastern European countries and those in Southeast Asia, and certain customers are more than happy with them.

How can a professional help you? No matter how diligently you google the opportunities, there are always offers that will stay off the radar. However, an expert knows the market very well and will draw your attention to the programs you have not noticed. A customized approach is when you are taken off the beaten track to a less traditional path if the specialist sees that it will satisfy your needs in a better way.

What is more, a professional’s job is to carefully study the immigration laws to find all the ins and outs. The matter is that customers tend to google for the solutions that seem easy and skip those that appear as complicated or very expensive. However, sometimes the best opportunity is hidden exactly in the place that was ignored.

Some countries can grant their citizenship to those who provided “exceptional services” to the state. Most people think that this is something they cannot do as they don’t really know what can be considered “exceptional” by the local authorities. However, a substantial monetary contribution to the local economy can be considered an exceptional service! And it practically means that you can become a citizen of a country even if it does not officially offer a citizenship-by-investment program.

Let’s look at two bright cases when things were not solved in the usual way:

  • There was a multimillionaire who wanted to be an island owner. We found an island for sale in the Caribbean and helped him with all the formalities. After that, we helped him incorporate a business in the country. The local passport was not something he was after, but still, he was granted citizenship and obtained a passport as a “side effect” of his activity. His restaurant is now one of the most popular establishments in the state.
  • Another wealthy individual wanted to become a citizen of a country in Europe that did not have an economic citizenship program. However, there was still an opportunity to receive a passport for special merits, namely, a significant contribution to the local economy. We found a suitable investment project for him. The required amounts were quite high and the project was quite extended in time. Nevertheless, he decided to take a chance and became a naturalized citizen in an expedited manner.

As you see, we can seek and find alternative ways of obtaining foreign passports. If you want us to find a pearl for you, do not hesitate to follow the above link and talk to an expert using the live chat during office hours or any other means of communication that are convenient to you.