From offering a powerful passport and easy access to living and working in the US to low taxation, a fast-growing economy and business-friendly environment, there are multiple reasons to invest in North Macedonia’s Citizenship by Investment programme.
The government of Jordan has approved amendments to Jordanian citizenship and residency lowering costs and making more family-friendly to appeal to more foreign investors.
Widely considered the pioneer and one of the world’s foremost experts in investment migration, Henley & Partners Chairman Dr. Christian H. Kaelin says the significant worldwide expansion of investment migration is simply unstoppable.
Speaking at The World Ahead Gala Dinner hosted by The Economist in Athens in July, Dr. Kaelin stated that all over the world countries have realised the importance of residence and citizenship to attract much-needed foreign direct investment, debt-free capital, talented entrepreneurs, and experienced investors.
Further accelerated by the need to alleviate the financial distress following the Covid-19 pandemic across the world, Dr. Kaelin pointed out that more and more countries are offering investment migration programmes or introducing new options, like digital nomad visas or tech visa, in order to attract highly sought-after talent and capital to support their economies and strengthen their ‘sovereign equity’.
This year, Singapore announced the launch a Tech.Pass visa programme offering tech entrepreneurs from across the world the chance to set up and operate companies in the southeast Asia trading hub. While the UAE, which has a high expatriate population, recently announced it was enhancing its Golden Visa program to grant citizenship to select individuals, such as "investors, doctors, specialists, inventors, scientists, talents, intellectuals, artists and their families”.
Dr. Kaelin coined the term ‘sovereign equity’ in 2019 in Davos to describe how investment migration has the ability to endow nations with sustainable investments in a relatively short time frame without them having to increase debt and thereby burden future generations – while gaining highly qualified and experienced entrepreneurs and investors as new residents or even citizens.
Dr. Kaelin stressed that, particularly in Europe, there is also a pressing need to introduce much more positive migration policies to manage the global refugee crisis constructively while also attracting international investors and talent. He acknowledged that although politically challenging, it also presents a tremendous opportunity for the EU.
“We need more, not less immigration of people who contribute positively to society,” he told the audience.
For the fifth consecutive year, St Kitts and Nevis has topped rankings for offering the strongest passport amongst all Caribbean nations that offer Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programmes.
According to data from the International Air Transport Association, holders of the St Kitts and Nevis passport can travel to 157 countries. And despite the pandemic, citizens of the dual-island nation can travel to more countries than last year.
Boasting the longest-running CBI Programme worldwide, launched in 1984, St Kitts and Nevis also outranked other countries that offer the programme, including Montenegro, Turkey and Vanuatu. Globally, St Kitts and Nevis was classified as the world's 24th strongest passport, surpassing larger and more developed nations.
"We are proud to hold the position of the strongest citizenship by investment passport in the Caribbean for the fifth consecutive year," says Les Khan, CEO of St Kitts and Nevis' Citizenship by Investment Unit.
"It once again underlines the strong offering of the St Kitts and Nevis passport and Citizen By Investment programme, as well as recognising our ability to be agile and to adapt and innovate. This year, for example, introducing new alternative investment options, digitalising applications during the COVID-19 pandemic, and introducing a limited time offer, whilst continuing to apply the highest standards of due diligence."
Whether you’re looking to second citizenship as an insurance policy for your family, a route to global mobility or an escape to permanent residency, the South Pacific island of Vanuatu could be the right second passport choice.
Dominica’s world-leading Citizenship by Investment programme is set to up its global mobility ante with 28-35 more countries expected to be added to its passport by year-end making a second passport from this Caribbean island a very attractive proposition.
The Residences at Secret Bay, a luxury resort in Dominica approved as a property investment by the country's world-leading Citizenship by Investment programme, has reported that 27% of its CBI contracts in 2020 came from African nationals. Industry experts forecast the number to rise to 35% in 2021 as Nigeria, the continent's fastest-growing market, continues to seek second citizenship.
When it comes to freedom of movement, the just-released Henley Passport Index Q1 2021 reveals that while Asia Pacific passports deliver the greatest global mobility, the countries offering citizenship by investment programmes continue to maintain and even increase their freedom of movement footprint with four CBI countries ranked in the top 10 most powerful passports.
Continuing to build on its nearly 40-year citizenship by investment programme success with the sustained addition of more countries to its already powerful passport, Saint Kitts offers those who acquire citizenship of this small Caribbean nation visa-free access to the most destinations of any Caribbean country, with the latest signed-up countries including North Macedonia, Jordan and Eswatini.
Global editors of National Geographic Travel have announced the 25 destinations they consider to be on the rise for 2021 across five areas, including Adventure, Culture and History, Nature, Family and Sustainability, with the Caribbean island of Dominica (aka the 'nature isle') selected for its adventure tourism that has simultaneously helped to fuel its climate resiliency.