A huge number of wealthy Americans are buying “golden passports” that give them citizenship of New Zealand, Portugal and other “safe” countries because of fears of an impending civil war in their home country.
Henley & Partners, a company that helps the rich seek citizenship around the world, said sales of US citizens worth between $ 50 million and $ 20 billion have increased by more than 337 percent since 2019, Business Insider reported.
Participating countries – including Portugal, Malta, New Zealand and Austria – offer citizenship or visas, which lead to citizenship in exchange for a large investment in the host citizen and a visit for only a few days there each year.
Latitude Residency & Citizenship and Dasein Advisors, two other citizenship firms, said they had also seen more inquiries from U.S. clients in the past three years than in the previous 20 combined.
“We have all been through the last two and a half years,” Reaz Jaffrey told Insider, referring to the pandemic and civil unrest that followed.
“All this just reminds us how vulnerable and fragile we are, and people who have the means accept that this will happen again – and they don’t want to be caught unprepared.”
Other problems that have allegedly jumped on foreign passports include the likely end of Roe V Wade, which legalizes abortion in the United States, the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, better known as the Don’t Say Gay Act. and fears about the future of American democracy after blacks are important and the January 6 riots.
Portugal is said to provide the most coveted “golden passports” as sales of US billionaires over citizenship have risen by more than 377 percent in the last three years
New Zealand citizenship is popular and provides gold passports to wealthy investors who only need to show proof of 88 days of residence in the country for three years.
Austria offers citizenship immediately to those who contribute $ 3.7 million to the state development fund or invest more than $ 12.3 million in business
Malta also grants European Union citizenship to those who provide more than $ 1 million to the nation after just one year of residence.
GOLDEN PASSPORT REQUIREMENTS
Countries that offer wealth to rich people often call on them to make large investments in their country and provide proof of residence.
Portugal
Payments: Applicants are required to make a minimum $ 200,000 investment in real estate
Residence: Applicants must prove that they have lived in the country for seven days in a year. In return, Portugal offers a “golden visa”, which is valid for five years and which can then be used to obtain a passport.
New Zealand
Payments: Applicants are required to make a minimum of $ 6.5 million investment in real estate, growth investment or government bonds for three years for investor visas 1 and about $ 2 million for four years for investor visas 2
Residence: Applicants for investor status 1 must prove that they have lived in the country for 88 days for three years, and applicants for investor status 2 must prove that they have lived in the country for 438 days for four years
Malta
Payments: Applicants are required to contribute more than $ 740,000 to the National Development Fund, more than $ 860,000 for real estate investments, more than $ 12,000 for charity. To speed up the process, applicants must make a payment of more than $ 925,000 to the National Development Fund along with other investments.
Residence: Applicants must prove that they have lived in the country for at least 36 months for the standard process and only 12 months for the accelerated process.
Austria
Payments: Applicants are required to contribute nearly $ 50,000 to the government, or to speed up the process, applicants must contribute more than $ 3.7 million to the state development fund or invest more than $ 12.3 million in business.
Residence: Applicants must prove that they have lived in the country for at least 10 years, but the accelerated process allows circumvention of citizenship
Dominique Volek, head of private clients at Henley & Partners, said customers were concerned about “the four Cs: COVID-19, climate change, cryptocurrency and conflict”.
Volek told Insider that his company saw an increase in customers during the Trump administration, and after the pandemic hit, wealthy Americans were affected by the reality of COVID’s restrictions in their country.
“In very strict quarantines, there was a time when if you only had an American passport, you couldn’t enter Europe,” Volek said. “I think that made a lot of people with extremely high net worth realize that they were potentially a little more fragile than they thought.”
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was one of the wealthy elites seeking a “golden passport” in 2020, while applying for European citizenship in 2020 through the now defunct Cyprus program.
Along with fears of a new pandemic, worsening storms fueled by climate change and fears of economic collapse, billionaires also fear civil unrest from a divided nation that seems to be getting worse every day.
Over the past three years, America has seen national protests against pandemic restrictions, the Black Lives Matter movement, abortion laws that have gained new strength as the Supreme Court is ready to repeal Rowe W. Wade, voting rights and critical racial theory in schools. .
The country was also shocked on January 6, 2021, when supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in a deadly riot to try to stop the confirmation of Joe Biden’s victory.
In 2022, Americans remain divided over these issues, as well as Florida’s so-called Don’t Say Gay bill and police reform efforts across the country, where liberal cities that passed new laws are experiencing a surge in violent crime. .
Jaffrey said the problems plaguing America had led billionaires to share a concern, a fear for the future of American society.
Among the most popular countries for which billionaires seek citizenship is Portugal, which offers a five-year residence permit that allows visa-free travel to 26 countries in the European Union.
Portugal’s program requires a minimum investment of $ 200,000 in real estate and an average stay of only seven days a year in the country. After the expiration of the permit, individuals can apply for full-time citizenship, which takes an additional three years.
New Zealand, another popular country for “golden passports”, grants permanent residence status to those who invest in residential or commercial real estate, as well as high-growth investments and government bonds.
Visa for Investor 1 in the country requires about $ 6.5 million in investment over three years and requires applicants to stay in the country for 88 days during that period.
The Investor 2 visa requires about $ 2 million in investment over four years and requires applicants to be 66 years old and to stay in the country for 438 days for four years.
New Zealand gold passport holders include PayPal co-founder Peter Teal, valued at $ 5 billion.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was one of the rich elites seeking a “golden passport” in 2020, while applying for European citizenship in 2020 through the now defunct Cyprus program
Among the most popular countries for which billionaires seek citizenship is Portugal, which offers a five-year residence permit that allows visa-free travel to 26 countries in Europe.
Malta offers European citizenship to those who contribute more than $ 740,000 to the National Development Fund, more than $ 860,000 to real estate investments, more than $ 12,000 to charity and provide proof of at least 36 months of residence.
The nation also offers an accelerated process that requires only proof of 12 months of residence, as long as the applicant contributes more than $ 925,000 to the National Development Fund.
Austria provides “golden passports” through direct investment, asking foreign applicants to invest more than $ 12.3 million in business or to contribute $ 3.7 million to the state development fund.
Alternatively, applicants can contribute nearly $ 50,000 to the state residence permit fund and then apply for full citizenship after 10 years.
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