UGLOBAL . COM 27
“… The proportion of inquiries we receive from them ( South American investors ) are quite high , which means that we can see a great interest in emigrating to Italy …” she said .
Mary Tsiganou , who is the vice president of Synergia SA -- an investment immigration firm in Greece , said the share of her South American clients , most of whom were from Brazil and Argentina , is about 5 %.
“ We do not anticipate any change in this trend ," she said . " The number of requests from South America is almost the same during the last two years . There has been a slight increase during 2020 ."
LATIN AMERICAN INVESTORS HAVE INTEREST IN E-2 , EB-5 ROUTES AS WELL AS MANY EUROPEAN PROGRAMS due to the delays caused by the Italian consulates processing their request , many clients are interested also in emigrating to Italy and to proceed with their projects ( of getting their citizenship ) directly in Italy ,” Shibata said .
Tiago Gali Macedo , who is Managing Partner of NEXT / Gali Macedo & Associados in Portugal , said Latin America in general remains very driven to North American destinations , especially via the E-2 & EB-5 route .
However , Macedo , whose firm currently registers about 5 % clients from South America – mostly from Brazil , Colombia and Argentina , said it seems as if times are changing in the post pandemic world .
“ Only the true UHNWI look into Europe , mainly ( UK / Switzerland / Luxembourg / Malta etc .), driven by tax and family traveling and easy study access ,” he said . “ Portugal has seen
Mexican investors as well as clients from other South American countries are on the radar of Italian firms .
“ We mainly receive inquiries from Argentina , Mexico , Colombia , and Peru . It can be said that they are mostly interested in obtaining their citizenship by descent . However , in the past a shift from HNWI and UHNWI to Portugal versus North America and other European destinations , thanks to the Portuguese RCBI GRP and also the NHR tax benefits .”
“ The shift from Miami to Lisbon is clear , it started around six years ago with a major emphasis in the past three years .