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Key Takeaways Global scrutiny is reshaping Citizenship by Investment, making programs stricter, slower and increasingly expensive.
CBI remains valuable, but opportunities are shrinking as regulation and compliance intensify.
Citizenship by Investment (CBI) is a legal procedure where the government of a state provides citizenship to a foreign national in return for a substantial economic contribution.
Instead of spending some years in a foreign land, acquiring the language and having some relation in the country, the person qualifies by making some sort of investment, often made in a government fund, a designated piece of property or a national project.
In the case of individuals, the attraction of the CBI lies in mobility and security. The additional passport may mean visa-free access to additional countries, or access to a different financial infrastructure or political stability to fall back on in a worst-case scenario.
On the other hand, countries engaged in the delivery of these passports see the opportunity created by the CBI as an important way to raise funds for the development of infrastructure or healthcare or even disaster relief.
This system worked for a number of years with remarkably little international intervention. As long as the programs were compliant with national law, sovereignty applied. This is no longer the view. It has been a number of years, however, since the Citizenship by Investment industry began to face close examination, especially from the European Union.
This situation has been outlined as a global “crackdown” in the world of CBI.
Related: Why Passports Are the New Portfolio Play for Wealthy Entrepreneurs
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