Citizenship for sale

[Pogue Mahone]

Link

Vanuatu citizenship costs US$130,000. About $80,000 goes directly to the government: the remainder stays with the agent, who must be a born or naturalised Vanuatu citizen, and who pays a 15% tax on their revenues.

The figures suggest at least 650 people have received Vanuatu citizenship under the programme since the beginning of the year.

Vanuatu passports are sought-after because they allow visa-free access to the EU, the UK, Russia, Hong Kong, and other states that are otherwise hard to visit for some nationalities

Apparently the income from this has done wonders for Vanuatu’s GDP. Crazy concept. Seems to mainly benefit the rich but has also been a huge boon for a very poor country. Thoughts?

 

[sun_tzu]

Link



Apparently the income from this has done wonders for Vanuatu’s GDP. Crazy concept. Seems to mainly benefit the rich but has also been a huge boon for a very poor country. Thoughts?

Citizenship is for sale in a lot of places
Vanuatu costs about £10,000,000 less than the UK and is a couple of years quicker
https://www.gov.uk/tier-1-investor

On that basis Vanuatu is good value I guess

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Citizenship is for sale in a lot of places
Vanuatu costs about £10,000,000 less than the UK and is a couple of years quicker
https://www.gov.uk/tier-1-investor

On that basis Vanuatu is good value I guess

Wow. Didn’t know about that.

 

[sun_tzu]

Wow. Didn’t know about that.

yup 2 million up front then you can apply for settled status and after a few years convert that to citizenship
Obviously the more you invest the quicket it happens

Overview
You can apply for a Tier 1 (Investor) visa if:

• you want to invest £2,000,000 or more in the UK
• you’re from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland
• you meet the other eligibility requirements

You must have access to at least £2,000,000 in investment funds to apply.

What you can and cannot do
You can:

• work or study
• apply to settle after 2 years if you invest £10 million
• apply to settle after 3 years if you invest £5 million
• apply to settle after 5 years if you invest £2 million

then
https://imperiallegal.com/british-citizenship-by-investment/

Applying for British passport
You and your dependants can make naturalisation applications within the following timeframes:

• 5 years if settled under the accelerated procedure
• 6 years if settled 5 years after first entry to the UK

so yeah good value over there I guess

 

[MikeUpNorth]

Most countries sell citizenship, I think?

I know Malta was getting a lot of heat for selling EU passports relatively cheaply and without much in the way of checks: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-50633820

 

[Jippy]

Back when gilts paid a 4-5% yield, a wealthy Russian or Chinese would buy a UK property, then use the income to pay off the mortgage.
Passports for sale.

 

[Rooney24]

Its quite common. Cyprus, Malta, Portugal and others offer Citzenship for Money and/or Inward Investment in their Country.

As mentioned above its most attractive to people looking easy access to the EU.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

So Vanuatu seem to be massively undercutting most of these other countries. Fair play to them, I guess.

 

[MTF]

The US also sells residence relatively on the cheap, for about 1 million parked in a lackluster investment. Then after 5 years residence a person can apply for citizenship.

https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/permanent-workers/eb-5-immigrant-investor-program

 

[George Owen]

The US also sells residence relatively on the cheap, for about 1 million parked in a lackluster investment. Then after 5 years residence a person can apply for citizenship.

https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/permanent-workers/eb-5-immigrant-investor-program

Australia too, but even cheaper. I think 300k invested in whatever business. Read it long time ago so maybe it's expensier now.

 

[shamans]

I thought Canada was the most well known for this? Quite straightforward to get canadian citizenship

 

[Tiber]

Cyprus is very into this. Think it gets you into the entire EU.

 

[Florida Man]

Spain also has a "Golden Visa" where you automatically gain permanent residency if you invest 500,000€ into a property.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Link



Apparently the income from this has done wonders for Vanuatu’s GDP. Crazy concept. Seems to mainly benefit the rich but has also been a huge boon for a very poor country. Thoughts?

Only worth it if the citizenship and passport are in any name you choose. If so, then it's a great deal.

 

[Foxbatt]

I thought Canada was the most well known for this? Quite straightforward to get canadian citizenship

It was sometime back. Not anymore. Within the last 5 years of your application, you need to spend over 1029 days inside Canada. Then also you need to be a permanent resident too.

 

[harms]

Yeah, there are a lot of those around. St. Kitts & Nevis are offering a 23% discount until the end of 2020
Malta & Cyprus ask for a bit too much for my liking!

 

[Classical Mechanic]

Rich people are welcome everywhere.

 

[RedTiger]

France sell theirs for some blood, sweat and tears.