Portugal’s Golden Residence Permit Programme (ARI) – As of 31st March 2016
To access the data sheet on the Portugal (GRP) program results as of 31st March 2016, please click here.
Another Canadian to head the Citizenship by Investment Unit
A former senior Canadian civil servant has been named the incoming head of the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) in move that the government of Antigua & Barbuda said will reassure the international community of the programme’s transparency. According to the government’s Chief of Staff, Lionel “Max” Hurst, Chisanga Chekwe, will assume the post of […]
Matteo Renzi’s ‘Migration Compact’ proposals: a step closer to a viable and comprehensive solution to the EU migrant crisis?
Since the outset of the EU migrant crisis over two years ago, countless proposals have been tabled by EU and national authorities, civil society and independent policy exponents to address some of the most salient causes and impacts of this unprecedented crisis. To date, most of the proposals that have been converted into actual policy […]
Global Citizenship Commission Releases a Ground-Breaking Report
A ground-breaking report by a high-level commission, headed by former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, has tabled a series of far-reaching proposals for an urgent reform of the United Nations Human Rights architecture. Composed of some of the world’s notable public leaders and thinkers, the Global Citizenship Commission (GCC) asks the international community to “recognize […]
US government issues CIP warning
The United States Government has warned regional countries offering the citizenship by investment programme (CIP), to refrain from issuing “unless the issuing government is confident beyond a reasonable doubt that the individual is a bona fide applicant”. In a statement issued Wednesday, the US Embassy here said while it does not approve or disapprove individual aspects […]
Investors in Italy – 2016 Quota in Force for Issuance of Work and Residence Permits
Italy opens its borders to foreign investors. From 9 February 2016, applications for investor work permits may be submitted in Italian to the local immigration authorities via a dedicated web site. In effect, on 2 February 2016, Italy enacted the annual decree setting forth the quotas for 2016 that apply for different categories of foreign […]
A National Interest Solution to the EB-5 Legislation Impasse
A long term extension of the regional center EB-5 program failed to pass Congress in 2015 mostly because of intractable differences between rural and urban interests. Various proposals were floated seeking to incentivize rural investments and discourage urban investments by providing a reduced investment amount based on various artificial configurations of census tracts. In the […]
Financial and fiscal transparency – The battle for ‘financial privacy’ is a long agony
In recent years, many countries signed an agreement with the United States, known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. This enables automatic reporting to the US tax authorities of financial data of any Americans with bank accounts in their territory, such as income from savings. These agreements inspired the OECD and the G20 to […]
The Treaty Investor Visa – a Bridge to EB-5
The biggest issue presently in the U.S. EB-5 investment green card program is the long quota waiting list for Chinese national investors, who comprise over 85% of all investors in the EB-5 program. Because the waiting list may exceed 4 to 5 years before the investor can immigrate to the U.S., investors and their representatives […]
Relinquishment of U.S. Citizenship with Existing Alternate Nationality(ies)
The annual number of relinquishments of U.S. Citizenship has grown exponentially in just the last few years. According to data published by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, in 2015, a total of 4,279 people relinquished their U.S. citizenship, 800 more than the previous year. In contrast, the number of renunciants was a few hundred […]
