Residency And Citizenship By Investment
Canada is the first country in the world to introduce the Residency by Investment Program. On the other hand, St. Kitts and Nevis’ Citizenship by Investment Program, launched in 1984, is the first citizenship by investment program.
One must understand the difference between the terms residency by investment and citizenship by investment.
Under the Residency by Investment Program, the investor retains the passport of the home country but obtains a resident visa of the county in which he/she has made an investment.
Obtaining residency by investment is known by different names in different countries. For example, in Canada and Australia it is known as Permanent Residency, in USA it is known as Green Card, in the UK it is known as Indefinite Leave to Remain(ILR) and in many European countries it is known as the Golden Visa.
At present the following countries offer permanent residency by investment – USA, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand , UK, Malta, Cyprus, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Bulgaria, Ireland.
Under the
Country Citizenship by Investment
Program, the investor obtains the citizenship and passport of another country and may keep the passport and citizenship of his/her home country if permitted by either of the countries.
At present the following countries offer citizenship through investment – Malta, Bulgaria, Turkey, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, Dominica, Antigua & Barbuda, Montenegro and Vanuatu.
