CBI Guide – the independent guide to citizenship and residency by investment programmes, digital nomad visas, and golden visas – has passed two significant milestones.
Thailand, known as the land of smiles, is a popular destination in Southeast Asia renowned for its beaches, incredible landscape and friendly welcome. As the country recovers from tourism losses caused by COVID-19, the government has announced a new long-term visa programme that will allow ‘wealthy’ foreigners and certain highly skilled professionals to stay in the country for up to 10 years.
Following the UAE’s recent unveiling of residency by investment, the Sultanate of Oman has announced a move to also offering foreigners renewable 5 or 10-year residency visas.
Following the launch earlier this year of 5-10-year visas for entrepreneurs, investors and specialised talents, the UAE has further announced the introduction of a new class of visas, marking the latest in a series of steps to liberalise its stringent residency rules with the aim of attracting talent, boosting economic growth and diversifying its oil-focused economy.
The Portugal Golden Visa Scheme has been a great success but changes come into effect from January 1 2022 which means the scheme will no longer apply to popular destinations such as Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve.
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.
Since launching in June 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, CBI Guide has just hit a significant milestone – hitting more than 2 million unique page views.
Malta’s new programme has seen the EU country remain at the top of the Global Citizenship Programs Index (GCPI), while the Austria Private Residence Program and the Portugal Golden Residence Permit Program share top spot in the Global Residence Programs Index (GRPI) — this according to Investment Migration Programs 2021, released by Henley & Partners.
The United Arab Emirates has announced a significant change of policy regarding Emirati nationality, with it now being available for selected specialists.
Located on one of the world’s best beaches, five-star luxury resort Kimpton Kawana Bay on the Caribbean island of Grenada offers citizenship investors the chance to not only secure Grenada’s powerful passport, but also hassle-free ownership of a title deeded studio or suite with the potential for a very attractive return on investment.