What is RBI?
Residence by investment (RBI) schemes offer a permanent residency against investment in property, government securities or businesses. RBI schemes offer a path to future citizenship usually after five years depending on the country. Portugal, Greece, Malta and Latvia are the most popular european RBI schemes. Most schemes do not require investors to live or move permanently in the country.
Real estate investment is the most popular choice for many..
United States EB-5, Canada, Australia are very popular among rich and wealthy from China. Chinese are the most consumers of the RBI market with over 90% of the share.
RBI schemes were designed to attract foreign capital and business people by providing the right of residence and citizenship in return. These are also known as Golden Visa program. The concept is relatively new and was only brought to the focus around 2006.
Rise of Immigrant Investor Schemes
- 1990 – United States
- 1986 – Canada Quebec
- 1994 – United Kingdom
- 2009 – Bulgaria
- 2010 – Latvia
- 2012 – Portugal
- 2013 – The Netherlands
- 2014 – Spain, Malta, Greece
- 2017 – Italy
RBI/Golden visa market is currently valued at $10 billion and expected to growing at a pace of 20% annually. The property markets in Spain, Portugal, Greece have recovered from the slump five years ago and prices are increasing at a steady rate.
