As international travel resumes following the pandemic, but with Covid restrictions still in place, a new global mobility hierarchy has emerged, according to the just-released Passport Index 2020 Q4 edition. While some of the world's most powerful passports like the US have lost their shine, others have gained global mobility ground.
With a fresh new look and feel and a brand-new tagline of Authentic, Respected and Secured, Saint Lucia’s re-branded Citizenship By Investment Programme reinforces its identity as a CIP that delivers good governance and rigorous due diligence... a message that's increasingly important and one that lies at the heart of its re-brand.
In October, the Citizenship by Investment Programme of Caribbean island Saint Lucia unveiled its new brand identity and website. With its contemporary and clean branding and content-rich, easy-to-use website, the programme’s unit has upped the ante in the global CBI programme stakes as it continues to grow during the pandemic.
With the UK set to leave the EU on December 31, and with no deal looking likely, citizenship firms have witnessed a spike in British HNWIs looking to obtain second passports or residency permits via economic residency or citizenship in order to secure easier access to the EU come 2021, with Malta, Portugal and even the Caribbean in demand.
Driven by the rapidly increased demand in the Middle East region for citizenship by investment due to the pandemic, leading Dubai-based CBI advisory group RIF Trust has unveiled the CART Programme, which is aimed at empowering its partners to succeed.
In July 2020, the tourism-reliant Caribbean island of Barbados unveiled a 12-month visa to attract remote workers, and then in September, announced its intention to become a republic next year. With the pandemic having hit its tourism sector hard, could Barbados be revisit its plan from 2016 to launch a citizenship by investment programme?
While, predictably, the pandemic has triggered a sharp increase in demand for citizenship by investment, unpredictably, coronavirus has changed the who, why and where of the CBI landscape, with applicants from unexpected countries surging, reasons for economic citizenship changing, and some CBI countries really standing out from the citizenship crowd.
With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to create instability worldwide, and economic migration offering both an insurance policy and the option for a better life, there has been a huge spike in demand for citizenship by investment from high-net-worth investors in African, especially Nigerians and South Africans.
Since the pandemic kicked in earlier this year, not only have a record number of US citizens registered an interest in citizenship by investment, they have shown one of the biggest nationality spikes in CBI programme applications over the past nine months. So why exactly are Americans in pursuit of a pandemic passport?
When it comes to securing economic citizenship, high-net-worth individuals are looking increasingly for Citizenship by Investment programmes that allow them to include their families, both immediate and extended. And the CBI Programmes are responding, with many adjusting their dependent criteria to cater to client demand. So which CBI countries are family friendliest?