Vanuatu’s two Citizenship by Investment Programmes, the Vanuatu Development Support Programme (VDSP) and the Vanuatu Contribution Programme (VCP), have become significant sources of revenue for the Pacific island-state. In 2018, the Programmes contributed around US$90 million to the Government’s reserves, and in June 2019, the Government had already collected approximately US$45 million from its economic […]
Cyprus will soon begin repaying a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), helping further reduce public debt, Finance Minister Harris Georgiades said on Tuesday. “Having repaid what remained of the loan from Russia, we are planning, and have set in motion the formal process for the early and full repayment of the IMF loan,” […]
The government will soon be applying enhanced due diligence checks on foreign nationals who from now on apply for Cypriot passports via the citizenship-by-investment scheme, while at the same time it will comb through past naturalisations to ensure they comply with up-to-date eligibility requirements. Interior Minister Constandinos Petrides said on Tuesday that, following a tender, […]
Cyprus is checking whether foreign investors who were granted a so-called “golden passport” met the programme’s eligibility criteria, a Cypriot government official said Thursday. Government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou said investors could lose their Cypriot passport if the investigation uncovers new information that renders them ineligible. Cypriot passports have drawn wide interest, especially from wealthy individuals, […]
Applicants waiting to receive Irish citizenship from the Department of Justice fear they could now be waiting years before their applications are approved following a High Court ruling in July. In July, Mr Justice Max Barrett ruled in the Jones case that foreign nationals applying to become Irish citizens on the basis of their residence “must show […]
Data protection commissioner Irini Loizidou Nicolaidou said on Monday she is opposed to a blanket publication of the names of foreign nationals applying for naturalisation via the citizenship-by-investment programme, arguing that it would be a disproportionate measure when juxtaposed against the need for transparency. She was speaking in parliament, where lawmakers were discussing a bill […]
A new visa scheme aimed at encouraging overseas entrepreneurs to settle in the UK has been criticised for being too restrictive after only two people were successful from less than a handful of applicants during its first quarter of availability. The “Innovator” visa is one of two new visa classes introduced on April 1 as […]
Opinion of the editor European politicians, Transparency International, Global Witness, the Guardian, and many other outfits ideologically antipathetic to the granting of citizenship or residence permits on the basis of merit have characterized CIPs as a security threat, a money-laundering mechanism, a corruption risk, and a “backdoor to Europe”. The same institutions and individuals have […]
This report is the result of a collaborative analytical effort by the Fragomen Knowledge Group, a think tank of experienced immigration professionals and analysts. To analyze the current environment, the Fragomen Knowledge Group examined and evaluated a number of political, economic and cultural factors and scenarios to identify the key drivers for recent and future […]
The Cypriot Data Protection Commissioner is compelled to appear before Parliament once more to urge lawmakers to place privacy protection above transparency as lawmakers debate whether to publish the names of CIP-applicants. Perdikis gets back on the horse Greens MP George Perdikis has tabled a bill that, if passed, would see the names and other […]
