Immigrant investor programs

Immigrant Investor Programs are programs designed to attract foreign capital and business people by providing the right of residence and citizenship in return. These are also known as citizenship-by-investment programs. While several countries currently offer investors citizenship or residence in return for an economic investment, the concept is relatively new and was only brought to the focus around 2006.

Immigrant investor programs usually have multiple criteria that must be fulfilled for the investment to qualify, often pertaining to job creation, purchasing of real estate, non-refundable contributions or specific targeted industries. Most of these programs are structured to ensure that the investment contributes to the welfare, advancement and economic development of the country in which they wish to reside or belong to. It is more often more about making an economic contribution than just an investment. The U.S. EB-5 visa program requires overseas applicants to invest a minimum of anywhere from $500,000 to $1 million, depending on the location of project, and requires at least 10 jobs to be either created or preserved. When these criteria are met, the applicant and their family become eligible for a green card. There is an annual cap of 10,000 applications under the EB5 program.

The Malta Individual Investor Programme, which Henley & Partners was contracted in 2014 by the Government of Malta to design and implement, is similarly capped at 1,800 applicants. Applicants are subject to a thorough due diligence process which guarantees that only reputable applicants acquire Maltese citizenship. Moreover, applications from countries where international sanctions apply may not be accepted. Applications from a particular country can also be excluded on the basis of a Government policy decision. The minimum investment for this program is $870,000 with a non-refundable contribution of $700,000.

A large majority of users of such programs are wealthy Chinese seeking legal security and a better quality of life outside of their home country. More than three-quarters of the applicants to Canada's (since canceled) immigrant investor program were Chinese.

Quebec Investor Program The Quebec Immigrant Investor Program is a Canadian program which allows investors who intend to settle in the province of Quebec to invest money in canada. The Quebec government said it would accept a maximum of 1,750 applications to the Immigrant Investor Program during the period of January 5 to 20, 2015. Applicants with an intermediate-advanced aptitude in French are not subject to the cap and may apply at any time. The program has been associated with the lack of housing affordability in Vancouver.

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