Category: News

A Guardian analysis finds EU countries used brutal tactics to stop nearly 40,000 asylum seekers crossing borders.

EU member states have used illegal operations to push back at least 40,000 asylum seekers from Europe’s borders during the pandemic, methods being linked to the death of more than 2,000 people, the Guardian can reveal.

In one of the biggest mass expulsions in decades, European countries, supported by EU’s border agency Frontex, has systematically pushed back refugees, including children fleeing from wars, in their thousands, using illegal tactics ranging from assault to brutality during detention or transportation.

The Guardian’s analysis is based on reports released by UN agencies, combined with a database of incidents collected by non-governmental organisations. According to charities, with the onset of Covid-19, the regularity and brutality of pushback practices has grown.

“Recent reports suggest an increase of deaths of migrants attempting to reach Europe and, at the same time, an increase of the collaboration between EU countries with non-EU countries such as Libya, which has led to the failure of several rescue operations,’’ said one of Italy’s leading human rights and immigration experts, Fulvio Vassallo Paleologo, professor of asylum law at the University of Palermo. ‘’In this context, deaths at sea since the beginning of the pandemic are directly or indirectly linked to the EU approach aimed at closing all doors to Europe and the increasing externalisation of migration control to countries such as Libya.’’

The findings come as the EU’s anti-fraud watchdog, Olaf, has launched an investigation into Frontex over allegations of harassment, misconduct and unlawful operations aimed at stopping asylum seekers from reaching EU shores.

According to the International Organization for Migration, in 2020 almost 100,000 immigrants arrived in Europe by sea and by land compared with nearly 130,000 in 2019 and 190,000 in 2017.

Since January 2020, despite the drop in numbers, Italy, Malta, Greece, Croatia and Spain have accelerated their hardline migration agenda. Since the introduction of partial or complete border closures to halt the outbreak of coronavirus, these countries have paid non-EU states and enlisted private vessels to intercept boats in distress at sea and push back passengers into detention centres. There have been repeated reports of people being beaten, robbed, stripped naked at frontiers or left at sea.

In 2020 Croatia, whose police patrol the EU’s longest external border, have intensified systemic violence and pushbacks of migrants to Bosnia. The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) recorded nearly 18,000 migrants pushed back by Croatia since the start of the pandemic. Over the last year and a half, the Guardian has collected testimonies of migrants who have allegedly been whipped, robbed, sexually abused and stripped naked by members of the Croatian police. Some migrants said they were spray-painted with red crosses on their heads by officers who said the treatment was the “cure against coronavirus”.

According to an annual report released on Tuesday by the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN), a coalition of 13 NGOs documenting illegal pushbacks in the western Balkans, abuse and disproportionate force was present in nearly 90% of testimonies in 2020 collected from Croatia, a 10% increase on 2019.

In April, the Guardian revealed how a woman from Afghanistan was allegedly sexually abused and held at knifepoint by a Croatian border police officer during a search of migrants on the border with Bosnia.

“Despite the European Commission’s engagement with Croatian authorities in recent months, we have seen virtually no progress, neither on investigations of the actual reports, nor on the development of independent border monitoring mechanisms,” said Nicola Bay, DRC country director for Bosnia. “Every single pushback represents a violation of international and EU law – whether it involves violence or not.”

Since January 2020, Greece has pushed back about 6,230 asylum seekers from its shores, according to data from BVMN. The report stated that in 89% of the pushbacks, “BVMN has observed the disproportionate and excessive use of force. This alarming number shows that the use of force in an abusive, and therefore illicit, way has become a normality […]

“Extremely cruel examples of police violence documented in 2020 included prolonged excessive beatings (often on naked bodies), water immersion, the physical abuse of women and children, the use of metal rods to inflict injury.”

In testimonies, people described how their hands were tied to the bars of cells and helmets put on their heads before beatings to avoid visible bruising.

A lawsuit filed against the Greek state in April at the European court of human rights accused Athens of abandoning dozens of migrants in life rafts at sea, after some had been beaten. The case claims that Greek patrol boats towed migrants back to Turkish waters and abandoned them at sea without food, water, lifejackets or any means to call for help.

BVMN said: “Whether it be using the Covid-19 pandemic and the national lockdown to serve as a cover for pushbacks, fashioning open-air prisons, or preventing boats from entering Greek waters by firing warning shots toward boats, the evidence indicates the persistent refusal to uphold democratic values, human rights and international and European law.”

According to UNHCR data, since the start of the pandemic, Libyan authorities – with Italian support since 2017, when Rome ceded responsibility for overseeing Mediterranean rescue operations to Libya – intercepted and pushed back to Tripoli about 15,500 asylum seekers. The controversial strategy has caused the forced return of thousands to Libyan detention centres where, according to first hand reports, they face torture. Hundreds have drowned when neither Libya nor Italy intervened.

“In 2020 this practice continued, with an increasingly important role being played by Frontex planes, sighting boats at sea and communicating their position to the Libyan coastguard,” said Matteo de Bellis, migration researcher at Amnesty International. “So, while Italy at some point even used the pandemic as an excuse to declare that its ports were not safe for the disembarkation of people rescued at sea, it had no problem with the Libyan coastguard returning people to Tripoli. Even when this was under shelling or when hundreds were forcibly disappeared immediately after disembarkation.”

In April, Italy and Libya were accused of deliberately ignoring a mayday call from a migrant boat in distress in Libyan waters, as waves reached six metres. A few hours later, an NGO rescue boat discovered dozens of bodies floating in the waves. That day 130 migrants were lost at sea.

In April, in a joint investigation with the Italian Rai News and the newspaper Domani, the Guardian saw documents from Italian prosecutors detailing conversations between two commanders of the Libyan coastguard and an Italian coastguard officer in Rome. The transcripts appeared to expose the non-responsive behaviour of the Libyan officers and their struggling to answer the distress calls which resulted in hundreds of deaths. At least five NGO boats remain blocked in Italian ports as authorities claim administrative reasons for holding them.

“Push- and pull-back operations have become routine, as have forms of maritime abandonment where hundreds were left to drown,’’ said a spokesperson at Alarm Phone, a hotline service for migrants in distress at sea. ‘’We have documented so many shipwrecks that were never officially accounted for, and so we know that the real death toll is much higher. In many of the cases, European coastguards have refused to respond – they rather chose to let people drown or to intercept them back to the place they had risked their lives to escape from. Even if all European authorities try to reject responsibility, we know that the mass dying is a direct result of both their actions and inactions. These deaths are on Europe.’’

Malta, which declared its ports closed early last year, citing the pandemic, has continued to push back hundreds of migrants using two strategies: enlisting private vessels to intercept asylum seekers and force them back to Libya or turning them away with directions to Italy.

“Between 2014 and 2017, Malta was able to count on Italy to take responsibility for coordinating rescues and allowing disembarkations,” said De Bellis. “But when Italy and the EU withdrew their ships from the central Mediterranean, to leave it in Libya’s hands, they left Malta more exposed. In response, from early 2020 the Maltese government used tactics to avoid assisting refugees and migrants in danger at sea, including arranging unlawful pushbacks to Libya by private fishing boats, diverting boats rather than rescuing them, illegally detaining hundreds of people on ill-equipped ferries off Malta’s waters, and signing a new agreement with Libya to prevent people from reaching Malta.”

Last May, a series of voice messages obtained by the Guardian confirmed the Maltese government’s strategy to use private vessels, acting at the behest of its armed forces, to intercept crossings and return refugees to Libyan detention centres.

In February 2020, the European court of human rights was accused of “completely ignoring the reality” after it ruled Spain did not violate the prohibition of collective expulsion, as asylum applications could be made at the official border crossing point. Relying on this judgment, Spain’s constitutional court upheld “border rejections” provided certain safeguards apply.

Last week, the bodies of 24 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa were found by Spain’s maritime rescue. They are believed to have died of dehydration while attempting to reach the Canary Islands. In 2020, according to the UNHCR, 788 migrants died trying to reach Spain.

Frontex said they couldn’t comment on the total figures without knowing the details of each case, but said various authorities took action to respond to the dinghy that sunk off the coast of Libya in April, resulting in the deaths of 130 people.

“The Italian rescue centre asked Frontex to fly over the area. It’s easy to forget, but the central Mediterranean is massive and it’s not easy or fast to get from one place to another, especially in poor weather. After reaching the area where the boat was suspected to be, they located it after some time and alerted all of the Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centres (MRCCs) in the area. They also issued a mayday call to all boats in the area (Ocean Viking was too far away to receive it).”

He said the Italian MRCC, asked by the Libyan MRCC, dispatched three merchant vessels in the area to assist. Poor weather made this difficult. “In the meantime, the Frontex plane was running out of fuel and had to return to base. Another plane took off the next morning when the weather allowed, again with the same worries about the safety of the crew.

“All authorities, certainly Frontex, did all that was humanly possible under the circumstances.”

He added that, according to media reports, there was a Libyan coast guard vessel in the area, but it was engaged in another rescue operation.

Source: theguardian.com
Published: 5 May 2021

As it often happens in life, bad news can draw more attention than good news, and criticism gets to linger longer than compliments — a conundrum officials working in the investment migration field are closely familiar with.

Investment migration — a $21.4 billion global industry — helps create jobs, protect climate-vulnerable nations, boost infrastructure investments, widen social programs and lead to economic growth. But it’s not without risks — proven cases of things gone wrong have led to growing concerns of misuse. Yet it’s the same concerns that open the door for industry, the EU and the wider community to introduce harmonized regulation in our increasingly globalized world.

Investment migration is a form of legal migration used by over 80 countries around the world, including several EU countries, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and Caribbean nations. It allows individuals to gain citizenship or residence rights in return for investments in their host countries. The investment frameworks differ based on countries’ needs, but they can encourage entrepreneurship or take the form of real estate purchase, donations to national development funds or business investments.

European benefits

Today, Europe hosts the largest number of such frameworks in the world: 19 of the 27 member states use investment migration frameworks offering residency status for third country nationals in return for an investment, while three offer citizenship. Portugal, Greece, Malta, Spain, Italy and Austria are among the key beneficiaries of investment migration flows.

Socioeconomic benefits in Europe

For many host countries, such as those in the Caribbean, investment migration is critical in funding key government activities such as disaster relief and social programs in line with U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.

How the program helped Antigua and Barbuda

Research by the International Monetary Fund shows that investment migration is critical to attracting foreign investment and government revenues in smaller states — in some island nations it can account for 10 to 40 percent of GDP.

Christian Kälin, chairman of Henley & Partners, said all well-run investment migration programs create societal value.

“During times of economic stress, the injection of liquidity into small and isolated economies reliant on tourism and trade can, literally, be a life saver,” he said.

Managing risks

The growth of investment migration, coupled with a few unfortunate situations created by ill-intentioned individuals, have led to greater scrutiny from the EU, NGOs and the media. Citizenship and residence investment programs, due to the high level of investment flows, are not without risk — and the stakes are even higher across the EU where people enjoy freedom of movement.

A 2019 report from the European Commission found that a lack of transparency in how investment migration schemes are operated and a lack of cooperation among EU countries increase risks as regards security, money laundering, tax evasion and corruption.

Investment migration programs are run independently by national governments and granting investor residence permits is not regulated at the EU level.

This reality highlights the need to set up minimum standards for regulating this booming industry, which can help countries and professionals involved in running the programs manage inherent risks.

That’s also the goal of the Investment Migration Council (IMC), the Geneva-based body representing the industry that works to set standards worldwide, and which started outreach work in the EU capital two and a half years ago.

“We’ve been engaging with the policymakers, NGO organizations and our peers in IM sector to see how best the risks related to the programmes can be mitigated and what would be the appropriate due diligence standards. We are keen to continue this discussion with the EU policymakers”, said Sylwia Wolos, a member of the IMC and risk management expert at Refinitiv.

James Swenson, senior vice president and head of international for risk-management company Exiger Diligence, added that “setting up due diligence standards also help governments boost the reputation and functioning of the investment migration schemes.”

IMC argues it is crucial to sharpen the processes that enable to verify an individual’s identity, background, associations and reputation and to understand whether his/her wealth has been acquired through legitimate means. It is also calling for more transparency in how application decisions are made, and for more information to be shared among countries, players in the financial services industry and other professionals. Specialized training, based on approved regulatory standards, should be a key part of the process, according to IMC CEO Bruno L’ecuyer.

Investment migration is a highly lucrative economic tool for many EU countries, which — at its core — aims to improve quality of life and wellbeing of its citizens.

What it needs now is an upgrade that fine-tunes its vulnerabilities and increases trust.

Source: politico.eu
Published: 6 May 2021

Essential foreign workers in America are not only a key to an orderly life under the conditions created by the Covid-19 virus, but also could be a key to a robust recovery once the country overcomes the pandemic. Passing an immigration initiative to recruit and keep the critical personnel that have helped the economy function during the crisis would be a welcome step to take at this stage in the process. Indeed, America would do well to follow a policy similar to the one Canada just announced dealing with immigrants currently in that country in a legitimate temporary status by opening up a means for them to obtain permanent resident status under a temporary program.

Like Canada did, the U.S. should target foreign nationals who are currently employed and who have at least one year of work experience in the United States in an essential occupation, in recognition of their economic contribution and in acknowledgement of the ongoing need that America has for these professionals. Since these individuals are already employed, a new measure favoring them would not be taking away jobs from American workers. Furthermore, since they are essential workers already in the country, they should be a priority group worth targeting. America should also be offering international students graduating from American colleges the chance to apply for permanent residence as well. That is what Canada is doing.

Canadian Example

The requirements under the Canadian program are that the foreign workers must be working in an eligible occupation. The list of eligible occupations includes a wide range of health care occupations, animal health technologists and veterinary technicians, and occupations in education, law and social, community and government services. They also must be legally in Canada, and present in Canada when selected. They must not have been self-employed, except for doctors. They must have a basic knowledge of English or French. There is a maximum cap of 50,000 such workers to be chosen.

There is also a provision to allow 40,000 international students who have graduated from Canadian universities to apply for permanent residence as well. A similar provision in the new program enables close family members who are in Canada but from a foreign country to be sponsored to stay permanently in the country if sponsored by a Canadian family member. No cap is mentioned in these cases.

All foreign nationals in Canada applying under the new program must not be inadmissible due to criminal or health matters. All applications are to be made online and must include proof of all eligibility factors in the materials submitted and include payment of all fees applicable. The program closes at the end of a six month period after which no applications will be accepted. Immigration officers are given discretion to waive some eligibility factors for good cause when necessary.

What About The U.S.?

It’s not like the United States has abandoned its foreign workers. On the contrary, President Biden has introduced measures to be enacted to address problems like the Dreamers and foreign farm workers. His comprehensive immigration reform package is currently being debated in Washington, including his proposed pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. The initiatives Biden has taken fully to recognize the critical role immigrants and even undocumented workers have been playing in essential services – the workers doing care giving, gardening, farming – the foreign workers involved in food production, in transportation, in health care and in cleaning. They are targeted in Biden’s efforts.

Dealing With External Factors

Biden recognizes the hopelessness, lawlessness and even climate change elements that are driving the exodus of peoples from the Northern Triangle of countries in Central America, that is to say Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, to the southern border of the United States. Responding to these challenges, he has assigned Vice President Harris to deal with that element. He is paying close attention to the migration of young people northward and their conditions at the border facilities. And he is aware of the decline of international student enrolment and their conversion to U.S. permanent residence after graduation and has announced proposals to address the problem. But so far, apart from cancelling Trump’s proclamations, for the most part, this has all just been proposed. It’s now time for enactment.

Next Few Months Critical For America

Since the U.S. is about ten times as large as Canada, at least in terms of population, its immigration challenges are probably many times harder to resolve. Nonetheless, there are signs that Biden’s efforts will result in some success over the course of the next few months, either on the basis of agreement with Republicans, or perhaps in combination with the infrastructure initiative Biden put forward. Alternatively the way forward could involve stand alone measures, such as in the EB-5 proposal for investor immigration, or reforms could be included as part of the budgetary reconciliation process. Citing Canada’s exampe in this area may help to push the Biden immigration reform agenda through in this regard.

Source: forbes.com
Published: 19 April 2021

New arrivals will be offered help accessing work, schools, health services, housing and even setting up businesses, ministers say.

Hong Kong citizens arriving in the UK under the British National Overseas (BNO) Passport scheme will receive a £43m support package to help them settle, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick has said.

The programme will help new arrivals access housing, work and educational support.

Twelve “virtual welcome hubs” will be set up across the UK, offering “practical advice and assistance in applying for school places, registering with GPs and even setting up businesses.”

In January, ministers introduced a new visa system to make it much easier for millions of people in Hong Kong to live and work in the UK, after China imposed a draconian national security law on the territory.

In response, the Chinese government said it would no longer recognise the BNO passport and that it “reserved the right to take further action”.

The British government said on Thursday those with BNO status “have had their rights and freedoms restricted by the National Security Legislation imposed by the Chinese government and it is right that we change the entitlements in the UK which are attached to their status.”Around 5.4m people are eligible for the scheme and the government estimates that 322,000 people could take it up over the next five years.

British National Overseas citizenship was created in 1985, ahead of the handover of Hong Kong from the UK to China in 1997, for people in Hong Kong.

It only granted the right to visit the UK for six months visa-free.

The new scheme allows BNO passport holders to apply for two periods of five years to live and work in the UK, with a pathway to becoming British citizens.

Applicants need to prove they can support themselves for the first six months of their stay in the UK.

Mr Jenrick said: “We are a champion of freedom and democracy and will live up to our responsibilities to the people of Hong Kong, so that these families will come to find the UK a place they can call home.”

Source: news.sky.com
Published: 8 April 2021

Migrant rights networks, advocates and allies in Canada are calling for status for all. And this call is not new. It is time to ask why status for all is essential for mitigating social inequalities laid bare by the pandemic.

Status for all means permanent residency for all temporary migrant workers and their families who live in Canada with precarious legal status. Temporary migrant workers include international students, refugee claimants, temporary foreign workers in low-wage occupations and migrants classified as high-skilled in the International Mobility Program. It also includes non-status migrants.

In December 2020, there were over a million temporary migrants in Canada, including international students and low- and high-wage temporary migrant workers. There were also 81,000 or more refugee claimants. But there is no reliable data on how many people live and work in Canada without authorization.

They all have precarious legal status, which makes their vulnerability distinct. All temporary migrants are deportable.

There are legal limits set on their access to work, health care and education. And they must constantly meet formal and unspoken conditions to remain in Canada and access work.

Most have limited access to government supports, including COVID-19 income supports: international students were entitled to CERB but didn’t always qualify.

With the pandemic, pathways to permanent residence (PR) have been disrupted, put on hold, restarted and modified — leaving many migrants in indefinite temporariness.

How did we get here?

Two decades ago, the government of Canada moved towards a two-track, two-step immigration system that prioritizes the temporary migration of people with precarious legal status.

Three features of the new system ensure migrant vulnerability in the labour market, which continually reproduces conditions that guarantee an ongoing pool of people who live and work in Canada without status.

First, employer-driven selection and probation are central to the new immigration system. The two-step model allows some foreign worker categories and international students to apply for PR after meeting work-centred requirements and gives employers and provinces a larger role in selecting and retaining migrant workers and immigrants. As a result, employers are in control of many migrant workers’ access to work and PR.

The financial and political gutting of refugee determination is a second component of the system. Concerns over dangerous and “bogus” refugees claimants led to changes in the system that restrict access, create backlogs, provide insufficient social assistance and force people to choose survival jobs over education and training.

Third, the immigration system reproduces the non-status population. Temporary migrants can fall out of status when they navigate complex and changing policies and requirements. These can include being unable to afford the fees for tests and permit renewals, relationship breakdowns, and if they leave a job for any reason such as unpaid wages, sexual harassment, or unsafe working conditions). They are subject to surveillance and fear of deportation in their encounters with almost everyone.

This can make international students, refugee claimants, temporary migrant workers and non-status people feel like they are navigating a game of chutes and ladders.

These situations breed anxiety and uncertainty. Spending time with temporary status or without status has lasting impacts. It affects physical and mental health, family dynamics and long-range planning.

Pre-pandemic life was already uncertain for many, and it has made things worse financially and emotionally. A way to resolve this is by ensuring that the barrier of precarious status is removed for all.

Renewing the call: Status for all

A year into the pandemic, migrants and advocates are calling for status for all. Regularization strategies have been reviewed and proposed, and there are other proposals and programs in the works.

One approach hinges on the motto “good enough to work, good enough to stay.” It extends employer control because it links the granting of PR to employment criteria. It includes proposals to expedite the transition to PR for temporary workers and international students and government pilot status adjustment programs.

A government program rewards “deserving” workers in long-term care homes with pending or denied refugee claims with a path to PR. Another program offers a path for agri-food workers with 12 months of non-seasonal temporary work permit experience who meet language requirements and have an offer for non-seasonal employment. A third will give PR to up to 500 previously authorized, but currently non-status construction workers in the GTA and their families. And a recently announced new program will give PR to over 90,000 essential temporary workers and international graduates.

While these are paths forward, they aren’t perfect. Employment-based regularization is short-term, strategic and pragmatic. It focuses on migrant workers with higher human capital, but largely leaves out refugee claimants, those without status, youth and non-working family members. The government’s pilot programs are a drop in the bucket. Most migrant workers, asylum claimants, international students and people without status will be left out.

Status for all centres human rights, mobility rights and decent work — for all temporary migrants with precarious legal status and their families, not just workers in some sectors or occupations.

Status for all can contribute to decent work by eliminating temporariness and illegalization as grounds for exploitation and harassment and can better migrants’ health and well-being. PR will not remove racism and other systemic barriers, but it is crucial. With greater security and less fear, immigrants with secure status can focus time and resources on their families and communities.

Post-pandemic immigration policy is a longer conversation that must consider the global dimensions of migration. We can work toward an equitable recovery by acknowledging the systemic failures of the Canadian immigration system. It begins with reversing the rise of two-track and two-step immigration and prioritizing permanent immigration.

Source: nationalpost.com
Published: 16 April 2021

Response from the passport brokerage to the revelations about Malta’s cash-for-passports scheme

“Henley & Partners is proud of the service that it has provided to Malta and its people. We assisted the Maltese government in the creation of a remarkably successful sovereign financing and economic innovation platform, raising hundreds of millions of euros in debt-free capital without which healthcare, social and cultural investments would not have been possible to make to the extent that they have been in recent years.

“The direct injection of debt-free liquidity into a sovereign wealth fund (rather than increasing the debt burden for future generations) has allowed Malta to be more autonomous with its monetary and fiscal policy than would have otherwise been the case. It creates a safety net against the volatility that countries around the world are having to manage, which is particularly damaging to smaller, tourism- and global trade-reliant economies such as Malta.

“We are fully aware of the potential inherent risks in handling client applications for residence and citizenship and have invested significant time and capital in recent years to create a governance structure that is committed to the highest of standards, with due diligence at its heart.

“However, ultimately it is the responsibility of the countries involved to investigate and vet applicants. As a private company, we are neither required by law to do so, nor do we have access to the same level of background information, contacts and resources that government authorities have. Even so, our processes are well documented and are significantly more advanced than those of the majority of other investment migration industry participants, and they do regularly result in the rejection of potential clients – a position on which we pride ourselves.

“It is fundamentally false and potentially defamatory to suggest that there is a systemic problem, or that the programs we are involved in are for nefarious purposes. They are not. In reality, and while we continually strive to do better, proportionately only a very small percentage of applications – significantly less than 1% of all applications over a period of many years – have later been called into question or been found to have been potentially misused, as is evidenced in multiple independent analyses.

“We assist hundreds of clients each year to enhance their mobility, personal security and quality of life, nearly all of whom can be characterized as positive actors who have created businesses, jobs and significant societal value. They do so additionally by also investing in the countries we introduce them to. Henley & Partners makes a positive contribution to the societies and economies of host countries through this very valuable form of immigration, of which more, not less, is required globally.”

 
Source: theguardian.com
Published: 22 April 2021

The Immigrant Investor Program, known by its abbreviated moniker EB-5, has over its three-decade existence grown into a critical source of investment in U.S. development projects. It has generated more than $41 billion in capital investment, saving and creating more than 820,000 U.S. jobs.

This powerhouse of an economic development program is capable of immensely benefitting the nation’s economic recovery by injecting billions of non-Treasury dollars into the American health care, hospitality, education, real estate, retail and restaurant industries, as well as much needed infrastructure improvements.

But its future is in jeopardy.

Direct investment

Here’s how the program works: EB-5 allows foreign investors to gain permanent U.S. residence by investing a minimum of $900,000 into development projects in “targeted investment areas.” To qualify for one of 10,000 EB-5 visas available each fiscal year, immigrants can invest directly in a job-generating development, or invest through “Regional Centers” approved by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to spur growth in specified areas.

Unless renewed by Congress, the EB-5 program is set to expire on June 30. The EB-5 Reform and Integrity bill, introduced by U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) aims at, among other goals, program reauthorization.

Long-term (five-year) reauthorization would bring stability to Regional Centers and investors, enabling stakeholders to avoid worrying about how long the program will be in place. “Perhaps more impactful, however, is the program’s opportunity to become better,” says Aaron Grau, executive director of Invest in the USA (IIUSA), a not-for-profit industry trade association for the EB-5 Regional Center program. IIUSA advocates for the bill’s reauthorization, while also educating the public and the government about the program’s advantages. “A five-year runway, a Congressional endorsement of the program’s value, gives the program a confirmed seat at the table as Congress begins chewing its way through ‘comprehensive immigration reform’ and the most important matter to the EB-5 community: securing more visas,” Grau adds.

EB-5 capital provides a secure revenue source for developers and the real estate industry, he continues. “Assuring the program’s integrity, stability and ability to expand means the bill’s broad impact on the real estate industry will be confirmation of continued capital and the opportunity to increase its amount and availability. It’s worth noting the current minimum investment an EB-5 applicant can make is $900,000.”

Success stories

Over the past half decade, a number of successful commercial real estate projects have been funded by EB-5 dollars. The EB-5 Regional Center Program provides crucial funding for job-generating developments such as office buildings, mixed-use facilities, hotels and warehouses — among others — from coast to coast.

Among notable projects: In the City of Brotherly Love, the former Philadelphia Naval Base was transformed into a 6.5-million-square-foot business campus serving more than 130 companies, providing more than 10,000 jobs.

Brooklyn witnessed $200 million in EB-5 capital go to finance City Point, a 1.2 million-square-foot mixed use development. About $65 million in EB-5 investment made possible the building of KPMG Plaza at Halls Arts in Dallas. This 18-story office building has generated 2,000 American jobs, and is home to international and local companies.

Seattle’s Home Plate Center, a Class A retail and commercial office development near the Seattle Mariners’ home stadium Safeco Field and Seattle Seahawks’ home facility CenturyLink Field, was enabled via $155 million in EB-5 financing. In Riverside, Calif., a 2,000-acre trade and logistics center and 1 million-square-foot business park owed their expansion and construction to $49.5 million in EB-5 financing.

Clearly, much is riding on the program’s reauthorization, a point Grau makes clear.

“If the EB-5 Regional Center Program is not reauthorized on June 30, the commercial real estate development sector will lose a very valuable piece of capital investment,” he says. “An already-suffering industry sector will suffer an additional setback and [lose a] source of inexpensive capital.

“Projects that would have otherwise been viable will have to seek capital elsewhere — likely from more expensive sources — or no longer remain viable.”

Source: forbes.com
Published: 26 April 2021

At a Glance

The Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship announced new pathways to permanent residence for essential workers and international graduates who are currently in Canada and actively contributing to the Canadian economy.
Eligible applicants will be able to submit applications from May 6, 2021 through November 5, 2021 or until all spots are filled, for a maximum of 90,000 new permanent residents.
Also, additional permanent residency streams will be launched for French-speaking or bilingual applicants in May, under the same eligibility requirements. These will not be subject to a quota.
Eligible foreign nationals will have an additional route to transition to permanent residence in Canada.

The Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship announced new pathways to permanent residence for essential workers and international graduates who are currently in Canada and actively contributing to the Canadian economy.

A closer look

• Eligibility for essential workers. Workers must have at least one year of Canadian work experience in a listed health care profession or another pre-approved occupation considered essential by the Canadian government, including cashiers, contractors and supervisors in certain electrical and construction trades, and transportation workers, among many others.
• Eligibility for international graduates. International graduates must have completed an eligible Canadian post-secondary program within the last four years and no earlier than January 2017.
• Number and type of applications accepted. These streams will start receiving applications on May 6, 2021 and will remain open until November 5, 2021, or until all spots are filled. There are 90,000 spots to be filled:
  • 20,000 applications for temporary workers in health care;
  • 30,000 applications for temporary workers in other select essential occupations; and
  • 40,000 applications for international students who graduated from a Canadian institution.
  • Application process. The government is expected to publish information on the application process soon.
• Additional streams launched for French-speaking applicants. In order to promote Canada’s official languages, three additional streams, with the same eligibility requirements, have been launched for French-speaking candidates who reside outside Quebec. Eligible candidates will be able to start applying on May 6, 2021, as with the other pathways; however, there is no limit on the number of applicants who will be accepted under these programs.

Impact

Essential workers as well as eligible international graduates currently in Canada can benefit from these policies and transition to permanent residence without the need to depart Canada.

In Canada, permanent residence offers benefits such as access to public health care; the ability to live, work or study anywhere in Canada; and the ability to eventually apply for Canadian citizenship.

Background

• COVID-19 recovery. As Canada seeks to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has encouraged addressing labor shortages through immigration as a central part of Canada’s economic recovery. These new permanent residence pathways target workers whose skills and talents are specifically needed in the country and provide an incentive for these workers to remain in the country.
• Global trend. During the COVID-19 pandemic, immigration policies were quickly deployed for essential workers to bypass travel bans and strict health requirements. A key example is in Europe, where 17 countries (out of 48 surveyed in March 2021) have entry ban exemptions for  medical/healthcare/essential workers. In Canada, the government granted permanent residence for certain refugee claimants working in the health care sector.
• 2021 Immigration Levels Plan. The new pathways will also help the country reach the targets set out in the 2021 Immigrations Level Plan of 401,000 new permanent residents by the end of 2021.

Looking Ahead

The new permanent resident pathways show Canada’s continued commitment to expanding immigration in the country as a source of economic recovery.

Source: fragomen.com
Published: 15 April 2021

Chinese investors dominated the Portuguese golden visa during the early years before falling to a record-low in 2020. In 2021, they are returning in force.

Between the program’s opening in 2012 and the end of 2016, Chinese applicants accounted for an absolute majority of golden visas in Portugal, reaching a peak of 81% of the total in 2014 and dropping every year since then. In 2020, only one in four investors came from China. The first quarter of this year, however, has witnessed a significant rebound; 44% of approved applicants so far in 2021 were from China.

The SEF approved 81 new main applicants and 117 of their family members in March, a slight decline from the 100 main applicants approved in February but a notable improvement on the 55 approvals recorded during the same month last year.

The five biggest sources of golden visa investment during the month were

Chinese (31 main applicant approvals)
Brazilians (6)
Americans (6)
Turks (5)
Russians (4)
Americans, notably, have featured in the top five during each of the last nine monthly reports, with the exception of December, and are quickly becoming a regular fixture on that list.

The program saw capital inflows amounting to nearly EUR 40 million in March, down from EUR 52 million in February. About two-thirds of that FDI came in through the Subparagraph 3 option (EUR 500,000 real estate), while the EUR 350,000 property option accounted for some 23% of investments made during the month. Six investors picked the Fund Investment option, which nearly 8% of investors have picked in 2021, double the rate seen in 2020. Total investment in the program so far this year amounts to EUR 125 million.

Overall, the “alternative” investment options continue their relative growth compared to the conventional EUR 500,000 real estate option; 34% of investors have picked alternative routes so far in 2021.

Source: imidaily.com
Published: 8 April 2021

The island of Dominica has a reputation for being the ‘nature island of the Caribbean’ and very soon, it will be open to digital nomads who want to live and work in a place where migrating sperm whales are a major visual feature of day-to-day life.

The government has launched a way to lure working tourists into its mountainous terrain, to share some of its wonderful spoils. It’s also a win-win situation, as it will help local stakeholders and feed into the country’s sustainability campaign.

The Work in Nature (WIN) visa will operate under the following criteria:

Tourists will be able to relocate for up to 18 months to work and live remotely on the island.
Families are also encouraged to apply–children will be allowed access to local schools, under a ‘family bundle’.
The price of the application is $100, and the visa costs $800 for single people and $1,200 for a family.
Applicants have to be at least 18 years old, without any criminal convictions.
The key requirement–and most difficult for most people to achieve–would be the expectation of earning at least $50,000 in income during the year to come, for themselves and to support their families.
Once applying, a response should be issued within seven days.

One of the key aspects of the visa scheme is that it will support tourism stakeholders that have been impacted by the pandemic. The island has strong environmental credentials–since the devastating impact of Hurricane Maria in 2017, it pledged to become the world’s first climate-resilient nation. Each resort must source food locally. The island implemented a plastic ban that was described as the world’s most “comprehensive” by National Geographic, mostly to save the tons of plastic threatening the precious local sperm whales. And in 2022, its first geothermal plant will supply cheaper energy not just to residents but also to the neighboring islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe.

The Minister of Tourism, Denise Charles, said, “this is one of the initiatives which will help boost our tourism industry in our phased tourism recovery approach, while providing a safe environment for persons to work remotely in a tropical environment. Stakeholders and island partners have all collaborated to provide an attractive program which also helps to create the opportunity for economic recovery.”

Dominica has a history of welcoming foreign investors to become citizens under its Citizenship by Investment Programme, where people can become citizens with full rights after making an economic contribution to either a government fund or selected real estate options–this citizenship can also be passed down to future generations.

Source: forbes.com
Published: 13 April 2021