Nationality is a matter of pride and joy, many will argue, and many will fight to defend this belief. And rightly so. But while some would prefer to live and work in their country of origin, others have turned to second residency and citizenship. This is increasingly so for the wealthy who are looking for options to safeguard not only their investments but also their families. Their motives can vary from adverse effects of macroeconomic policies and political instability to a desire to increase their mobility and quality of life.
Investing in a second residency or citizenship has never been easier. Today, more than 20 countries are competing to attract savvy investors for their know-how, capital and entrepreneurial spirit. High net-worth investors have been given a wide range of options and destinations to choose from and many firms offer advisory services to facilitate the process. In the past decade this has become a considerable industry that has attracted over US$50 billion in foreign direct investment to many countries.
Becoming a “global citizen”, as coined by Arton Capital, one of the industry leaders with the largest global footprint, has intensified in the last five years. More and more wealthy individuals look to diversifying their investment portfolio to and are interested in options that lead to residency and citizenship. Armand Arton, president and CEO of Arton Capital, says that obtaining a second residency or citizenship is seen as an insurance policy and as a risk optimization tool while retaining and enjoying the many benefits that come with it. And the gains are plenty – ease and convenience of visa-free travel, personal safety and security, access to world-class education for children, open door to medical facilities for the entire family, exposure to a bigger market, secure wealth, inheritance and tax planning and the confidence that the next generation will inherit these benefits.
Investment options leading to residency and citizenship vary from the acquisition of government bonds, real estate and donation to at-risk capital investment in a business. Investment amounts for a family of four (a couple and two children) range from US$200,000 (Dominica) to GB£2,000,000(UK). In addition, application, processing, government and due diligence fees are payable.
The first residency investor programme was started by Canada in 1986 and St Kitts and Nevis started the first direct citizenship programme in 1984. Since then many other countries have followed suit and many more are likely to do so. Currently, Canada, UK, USA, Hungary, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Spain and Portugal all offer such programmes, as do the Caribbean islands of Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Dominica and St Kitts and Nevis. While the UK, USA and Canada require extensive periods of physical residence, the rest do not.
Options are many and so are the destinations. So how can one pick the best? According to Arton, all the programmes offer something beneficial which makes it hard to single out a winner. “There is always however the best match – a programme that best fits a client’s goals. For us, each client is unique and each programme is different so in order to juxtapose them, we designed various tools and processes to determine the profile of the client, their objectives and the programme which fits that.” Arton Capital was the first in the industry to empower their partners and investors by providing a suite of tools on their website. Visitors to artoncapital.com can explore and interact with comparison, cost-calculating, goal-setting and educational tools. “It is revolutionary,” according to one of Arton Capital’s certified partners.
The Passport Index – the newest addition to Arton Capital’s smorgasbord of informative tools – is the world’s first on-line interactive tool that collates, displays and ranks the passports of the world. With over 3 million visitors in the past month alone, the Passport Index has become a global phenomenon. “Working in an industry that is so sensitive to origin and nationality, we wanted to display the diversity, the beauty and the power of the world’s passports,” explained Arton on one of his exploratory trips to Monaco where the annual Global Citizen Forum will be held in October 2015.
Inevitably, as the industry is gaining attention and popularity, it is also becoming the target of criminals, terrorists and other undesirables who can damage the noble cause behind global citizenship. Robust due diligence, background checks, verification of source of wealth and anti-money laundering measures are in place to ensure that only people of good character succeed. Arton Capital recognized early on the need for global governance and it became a founding member of the Global Investor Immigration Council whose mission is to establish best practices and ensure integrity and transparency throughout the industry.
One thing is certain, borders should not be boundaries as we live in a world where we are more interconnected than ever. Global citizenship is not a trend – it is a way of life.
Jere Ehiribe
