Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa October 2015 | Page 44

GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

Secondary Citizenship

Programmes
Benefits of Long term investing overseas

O

ffshore investment through secondary
citizenship programmes has grown in
popularity in recent years as a viable source of
investment income, ideal if for those who have global
financial needs and want to hold some of their money
outside their home country.
We spoke to George Eid of Arton Capital about the
options currently available to South Africans looking
to invest offshore, and the benefits of secondary
citizinships.
What are the options available to South Africans
wanting to invest in secondary citizenship
programmes?
Global citizen programs basically fall within two
categories: direct citizenship programmes which allow
investors to invest or to donate capital to a government
fund, or buying property to obtain citizenship within
less than a year. However these options are probably
not the most popular ones amongst South Africans due
to the fact that they tend to be non-EU programmes.
Of course what we’ve seen is that South Africans are
looking at EU programmes due to the fact that their
kids could eventually go study, work and live there. For
them the education factor is the most important.
When we talk about the EU programmes there are

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OCTOBER 2015 SA Real Estate Investor

three that we specifically recommend: Cyprus of course
being the most expensive but the quickest – requires the
investor to put R2.5 million into a residential property
for three years and then they can sell it. You’re looking
at a 90 day time frame for them to get citizenship and a
passport. It is expensive of course, generally properties
that South Africans have been exposed to are the
pricier ones in for example in Portugal or Spain we
do advise that they look at the alternatives available to
them.
On the other hand the programmes in Bulgaria
and Hungary require investors to an investment in
government bonds, which can be financed, and it
becomes more cost effective for the whole family.
How long does it take?
There are two options in Bulgaria – there’s the normal
procedure which requires the initial €511,000 (which
can be financed as I mentioned); the applicant gets
their permanent residency in six to eight months while
the family takes another 3 to 4 months to get their
permanent residence and in 5 years they qualify for
citizenship.
As of December 2013 a new law allows investors who
already have one year of permanent residence to fast
track their application. So rather than waiting 5 years,
www.reimag.co.za