IM Yearbook 2018/19

INVESTMENT MIGRATION YEARBOOK 2018/2019
IM
Trilogy Limassol Seafront by Cybarco
The investment migration industry is buzzing
with activity as the niche sector goes mainstream.
With its new-found appeal among the
mass affluent and high-net-worth individuals,
the sector is undergoing a mini-boom. Demand is
being driven by a desire for global mobility. More
residence- and citizenship-by-investment (RCBI)
programmes are competing for market share
than ever before. This development has not gone
unnoticed by governments and international organisations,
which are placing programmes under
greater scrutiny following a series of missteps by
the industry. While the industry acknowledges
the seriousness of its shortcomings that have
been reported in the international media, it is also
sending a clear message that it is committed to
working with its global partners in order to ensure
that programmes will not be abused.
Industry Pioneers
Residence-by-investment (RBI) programmes
have existed for decades in countries such as the
US, Canada and the UK to attract people, capital
and know-how. These programmes have evolved
over the years and are now being used to entice a
whole new generation of start-up entrepreneurs
and global innovators. Most countries in the
world today offer some form of RBI programme.
Portugal redefined the concept of residence by investment
and is credited with introducing what is
now known as the golden visa by offering better
conditions and inserting the purchase of property
as an investable asset in an effort to revive
its economy. Their success has led to countries
around the world emulating the concept.
The Caribbean twin-island nation Saint Kitts
and Nevis was the first country in the world to
extend the concept to citizenship by investment
(CBI) in the 1980s. Several other Caribbean countries,
including Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda,
Grenada and Saint Lucia, followed suit over
the years, while the decision of three European
countries – Austria, Malta and Cyprus – to also
offer citizenship is widely considered as the industry’s
biggest leap forward. Turkey and Jordan
are some of the latest additions to the CBI club.
The industry now looks to Montenegro, which is
expected to launch its programme shortly.
Demand Drivers
The true global citizen has very much become
a reality with the emergence of digital nomads,
industrial tycoons, high-net-worth individuals
and globetrotting professionals, but
for those people who ‘don’t come from the
right country’, visa restrictions can make travel
impossible. Rising economic and political instability
has also prompted demand from people
looking for peace of mind; should the need arise,
they and their families have a plan B. While security
and mobility have been the main drivers, increasingly
investors are looking to secure a better
future and lifestyle for their families through
investment migration programmes that offer enhanced
work and study opportunities, as well as
access to world-class healthcare, for themselves
and for their children.
Too Big to Fail
RCBI programmes represent anything between
4% and 25% of GDP in some countries, and they
can be a defining factor between an economic
surplus and a deficit. Across the world RCBI
programmes have been the catalyst for major
infrastructural improvements, including resorts,
harbours, airports, hospitals, office buildings and
luxury residential developments, which in turn
have had a massive multiplier effect on the respective
economies. These programmes are not
only influential in delivering cutting-edge infrastructure,
investments into companies, start-ups
and R&D programmes; they are also having the
effect of generating whole new economic sectors
that did not exist before the introduction of these
programmes. The sector has enjoyed significant
growth over the past three to five years. While
comprehensive data on the industry is not widely
available, it is estimated that the sector now generates
US$3billion in turnover per year.
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