CITIZENSHIP
BY ANDREW J. TAYLOR
Citizenship-By-Investment
A passport to the world
H
e av y h it ter s i n t he world of globa l
proper t y a re becom ing inc rea singly
i ntere ste d i n i nv e st i n g i n prop er t y
abroad in exchange for an attractive citizenship
or residency package, as a way of protecting their
assets. Currently, there are four citizenship-byinvestment programmes of particular interest,
two in the Caribbean and two in Europe.
Caribbean
The Caribbean is home to the long-established
programme offered by St. K itts and Nevis, as
wel l as a recent ly launched and competitive
prog ramme in A ntig ua and Ba rbuda. T hese
are more affordable than the European options
and start from US$250,000 (R 2.5 million) plus
fees. These programmes offer citizenship and
therefore passports that currently allow visafree travel to the most desirable destinations,
including the EU.
can change at any time, these programmes are
highly attractive as they lead to immediate EU
citizenship; however, they are a lso the most
expensive and require investments starting from
around €1 million (R14 million).
Malta
For some years now, Malta has been a popular
destination for South Africans. Malta enjoys
double taxation agreements with various countries
EU
The two main citizenship programmes in Europe
are offered by Cyprus and Malta. The latter is
the only citizenship programme that allows visafree travel to the US. W hile visa-free waivers
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Offshore Handbook 2014
www.reimag.co.za