Category: Citizenship

USCIS has published a new policy manual  expanding the scope of Good Moral Character (GMC) to applicable to all foreigners including EB-5 investors to naturalize for citizenship. On Dec. 10, USCIS issued separate policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual about how two or more convictions for driving under the influence or post-sentencing changes to…

Malta has taken new measures  for stricter due diligence checks on IIP applicants and comply with CRS standards of tax exchange for CBI/RBI schemes in Malta. These new proposals were outlined in Draft Budgetary Plan 2020 of Maltese Government. IIP Agency Since May 2018, the Individual Investor Programme (IIP) is being administered by an independent…

Spain offers long term residence permits on economic interest under Law 14/2013, so called golden visas. Spain has further expanded the scope of the scheme and these visas are available for various categories not just for real estate investment. Investors. Entrepreneurs. Highly qualified professionals. Researchers. Workers subject to intra-corporate transfers within the same undertaking or…

Weakest passports severely restrict and deprive people of the travel freedom due to visa restrictions imposed on them. For example the possibility to travel to United Kingdom, EU schengen area, Russia, China for business, tourism and visiting family and friends. These are also the worst passports in the world. In general, the weakest passports come from…

Dubai has emerged as the world’s most important hub for wealthy individuals and the number of millionaires projected to increase in UAE region by 14% in 2024, according to Knight Frank report. UAE needs more immigrants to meet the demand. Immigrants constitute nearly 90 percent of the UAE’s population, only 20% are locals. Weak passports…

Interest is picking up with Ultra high-net worth investors (UHNWI) with second passports and dual nationality. Data from Knight Frank Attitudes Survey 2019 indicates that 36% of UHNWIs already hold a second passport, up from 34% last year, and 29% are considering for second passports 26% planning to emigrate permanently, up from 21%. A record…

The Quebec Government has temporarily suspended immigrant investor program (IIP) for review of the scheme. The intake of IIP applications will not be accepted until Jan 1, 2024. It is widely expected the program will likely reopen in early 2024 once the review of the scheme is fully completed.  One other reason lead to the…

Many clients who come to us asking for golden visas, after seeing the prices, realize later that passports are cheaper and affordable than golden visa schemes, plus saves them a lot of time on the long run. Remember golden visas only offer residency (no citizenship or passport), while Citizenship by investment (CBI) offer Citizenship, Passport,…

Diplomatic immunity for messengers have existed since prehistoric times in foreign relations.  The origins of diplomatic immunity can also be traced as far as back to ancient civilizations of China, India, and Egypt. Roughly 4000 years ago, evidence is found in the indian epics Mahabharata and Ramayana where couriers and diplomats given immunity and safe…

Maltas Individual investor program (IIP) has filled up already two thirds (66%) of the quota limit of 1800 applications. Since the launch of the scheme in 2014 to July 2019, a total of 1198 main investors have been approved for maltese passports , and the 1742 applications received almost reached the 1800 limit. This means…