24 UGLOBAL IMMIGRATION MAGAZINE
have performed in terms of health , the consequences of the pandemic — because they are colossal and unprecedented in recent history — are prompting the world ’ s wealthy to invest in multiple residence and citizenship solutions . Some are in search of a health sanctuary for their families to retreat to , others are looking at expanding or diversifying their businesses or having a new location from which to run their operations .
This growing demand represents a huge opportunity for governments if they choose to create or develop investment migration programs . By May 2021 , the damage caused by Covid-19 to the global economy is estimated to be triple that resulting from the 2008 financial crisis , and the road to recovery could be a long one . 4 The race for states to attract foreign direct investment and wealth has begun in earnest and it will impact the investment migration industry positively in the foreseeable future .
In the past decade , several countries in Europe , such as
“ Currently , the EU programs alone attract around 3 billion euros in investment to the EU annually .
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Greece , Ireland , Malta , Portugal , and Spain , set up and launched successful investment migration programs that have proven to generate billions in terms of revenue — currently , the EU programs alone attract around 3 billion euros in investment to the EU annually . 5 But today , although the EU member states are competing to attract foreign direct investment as much as the rest of the world , there is a debate as to whether they should be allowed to do so through investment migration . Some member states have argued that the detriment caused by the loss of talent and wealth outweighs the benefits it brings . 6
Despite the rumblings in Europe , elsewhere , residence- and citizenship-by-investment is booming . In the Caribbean , five countries have long had investment migration programs in place — in 1983 , St . Kitts and Nevis was the first country ever to start one 7 — and are fully cognizant of how citizenship programs can assist fragile , single-product economies that are frequently subject to natural disasters . As soon as the first lockdowns were implemented last year , several of these small-island nations had the foresight to introduce new options to their programs , many tailored to families and extended families . 8
Other countries , from Central Europe to the Caucasus or the Pacific Ocean — and very recently , Malta in the EU — and notably those reliant on tourism , have launched digital nomad visas , allowing foreign nationals to stay longer if they are working remotely , which is the norm nowadays . In theory , these visas can not only compensate for lost tourism revenue , but they potentially allow greater financial flows