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| Dear Reader,
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Barely a few hours since a new Commander-in-Chief has taken the oath of office that the roll-out of electoral promises has begun in earnest, seemingly shocking half the world’s population who perhaps didn’t believe this would happen. Well it has and the new president has brought his habits of the campaign trail to the Oval Office. Expect plenty of Executive orders in the next four years, more than Barrack Obama’s 275, but possibly less than Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 3,522. What is absolutely sure is that the new administration will monopolise world headlines, in part through its own actions, and in part due to the opposition party’s hate campaign.
The question many people dealing with the US EB-5 programme are asking is centred on the future of this highly successful job creation programme that is currently nearing another extension to be debated by Congress in March, the impact of the US election on the programme is assessed by Ron Klasko, the IMC Regional Office for North America in this edition.
Farzin Yazdi, from Guardian Stockbrokers in London, analyses the 80% increase in demand for the UK Tier 1 Visa programme in light of BREXIT which is perhaps not too surprising in that the UK, and especially London has always been a destination of choice. Attracting migrants because of all it has to offer in the areas of education, finance, rule of law, and quality of life. The UK government is clearly doing a great job at communicating this through its global network, and in our opinion doesn’t need to publicly hold hands with fellow world leaders – brand GB is very much alive and kicking.
In other developments, Mark Stannard looks at the changes that have taken shape in the Caribbean over last few months and in particular the beautiful island of St Lucia which has made striking changes to its CBI programme which the Investment Migration Council is looking into.
Now that spring is almost in the air, the attention of our small, but efficient Secretariat is focussed on preparations for the annual Investment Migration Forum taking place between the 5-7 June at the Grand Hotel Kempinski, Geneva. This year’s ‘Davos’ of the Citizenship-by-Investment industry, expects to attract in excess of 400 delegates, from 40+ countries with 50+ speakers sharing their knowledge and experiences. For more information please visit the dedicated site www.investmentmigrationforum.org
Happy Reading, and see you in Geneva! |
Bruno L’ecuyer
Chief Executive
Investment Migration Council |
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| Articles from our Members |
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| Edward Beshara |
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| Skipping the Long Wait-Line to Obtain U.S. Permanent Residency by Investment |
In the United States, the EB5 program allows wealthy foreign national investors to obtain U.S. permanent residency to be able to live and work in the United States, indefinitely. After five years of permanent residency, the foreign national can apply for Naturalization (U.S. Citizenship). The term EB5 means, Employment Based Category 5, and is the bases for permanent… Read more > |
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| Dr Stéphanie Laulhé Shaelou |
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Citizenship-by-Investment Scheme ‘there to stay’
in Times of Renewed Economic Growth |
Traditionally, citizenship has been a legal status entailing the registration of an individual, including coming from a third country, with the government of a given country and his/her acceptance into that country’s political framework through legal means. Citizenship ‘by exception’ is the citizenship acquired in exceptional circumstances by an individual from another… Read more > |
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| Farzin Yazdi |
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Brexit – 80% rise in UK Investor Visa
applicants |
The first set of figures released by the UK Government, after the Brexit vote, shows a significant increase in the number of new applicants for the UK Tier 1 (Investor) visa to 72 main applicants with 133 dependents. This is an increase of 80% from the previous quarter of 40 main applicants. Breaking down into the country of nationality for the main applicants, this remains …. Read more > |
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| Michael Krakat |
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| Becker’s Long Shadow: Close Call for Australian ‘Uniform’ Residence-By-Investment scheme? |
High-end investor Residence-by-investment (‘RBI’, in form of Significant- and Premium Investor Visa)[1] have long been but one segment within the overall choice of Australian immigration options: Its main systemic concern is the integration and regulation of the large influx of global migrants, keeping the overall intake under political control, allowing the Minister… Read more > |
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| Mark Stannard |
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| St Lucia Citizenship-by-Investment Program – January 2017 Changes Will Lead to Increased Application Numbers |
The 28th May 2015 was a proud day for the Caribbean countries of Dominica, Grenada and St Lucia, as it was on this day that they signed visa waiver agreements with the European Union. They joined Antigua and Barbuda and St Kitts and Nevis, who were both granted visa waiver status by the EU in 2009. The immediacy of the overnight introduction of the new-found freedoms… Read more > |
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| Ronald Klasko |
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| Impact of the U.S. Election on EB-5 |
Investors, regional centers, developers and others in the EB-5 industry have raised questions regarding the impact of the U.S. Presidential election on the U.S. EB-5 green card program. The short answer is that the impact on EB-5 is likely to be less than its impact on other areas of U.S. immigration law. At one level, everything remains the same. The Republicans controlled… Read more > |
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| Thomas Jacobsen |
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| The Malta Key Employee Initiative |
Situated in the middle of the Mediterranean, as a full member of the European Union (EU), Malta is an ideal jurisdiction from which to do business within the EU and also outside the EU. A number of international businesses have established a presence in Malta for this reason, taking full advantage of Malta’s strong legal and regulatory system, excellent commercial… Read more > |
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| We are happy to welcome 21 new members from 15 countries. |
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Ajay Sharma
Alexandre de Damas
Alexandros Emmanouil Varnavas
Alamir Zaid Al Hindi
Andrea Merrel Marion St Bernard
Chrysoula (Chriso) Kitti Savva
Daniel Huber
Daphne Chandra |
Dionysia Kokkinou
Francisco Javier Alvarez De Soto
Jonathan Mc. Namara
Julia Elizabeth Thomas
Ka Yui Ho
Kelly Sheree Whiter
Lily Huang
Milica Erokhin |
Stephanie Laulhe Shailos
Stuart Wakeling
Sylvie Ma
Timur Siditkov
William August Stock |
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| Important Events for your calendar |
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| Global Immigration Law Summit |
C5’s inaugural conference will bring together leading lawyers in this area with senior HR and Global Mobility professionals and will offer timely legal analysis and discussion on the key immigration topics that are impacting upon businesses which include the immigration implications of Brexit. Read more > |
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| 2017 International Migration Summit (IMS) |
A biannual summit which provides wonderful opportunities for attendees from all over the world, including government officials, real estate developers, attorneys, accountants, funds and Chinese immigration agents, to share global immigration information, related policies and laws, as well as expertise and experience with each other. Read more > |
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| 10th Annual EB-5 Regional Economic Development Advocacy Conference |
On April 26-28, Invest in the USA (IIUSA), the national not-for-profit industry trade association for the EB-5 Regional Center Program will hold its 10th Annual EB-5 Regional Economic Development Advocacy Conference at the vibrant Marriott Marquis in Washington D.C. An event which combines the right balance of
grassroots advocacy, advanced education, and business development opportunities. Read more > |
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