ST. KITTS AND NEVIS CUTS REAL ESTATE MINIMUM INVESTMENT AMOUNT

The Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis, which has the oldest citizenship-by-investment program in the world, has cut its minimum real estate investment amount in half. To obtain citizenship, the program now requires a $ 200,000 pre-approved real estate investment instead of the original $ 400,000. If bought at $ 200,000, the owner cannot resell the property for at least seven years.

E. U. COURT RULES RESIDENCY RIGHTS FOR SAME-SEX COUPLES

In June, the European Union’ s top court ruled that the term“ spouse” is gender neutral. For immigrant investors in a same-sex marriage, the ruling assures E. U. residency rights for spouses, even in member states that don’ t recognize same-sex marriage. The ruling was in response to a case of a Romanian man who wanted his American husband to live within him in Romania, which does not recognize same-sex marriages.

AFRICAN ISLAND NATION STARTS CBI PROGRAM

Mauritius, an African island off the coast of Madagascar, is working on establishing a citizenshipby-investment program. It starts at $ 500,000 for a passport, which grants visa-free access to 145 destinations. The spouse and dependents of the main applicant can each pay $ 50,000 per passport. For $ 1 million, Mauritius will offer full citizenship to an applicant, and $ 100,000 for the applicant’ s spouse and each dependent. The funds are planned to go into a national sovereign fund used for new capital projects and public debt repayments.

LATITUDE MERGES WITH DUBAI CBI FIRM

British investment firm Latitude Consultancy has announced a merger with RIF Trust Investments LLC, a Dubai-based citizenship-byinvestment company. Eric Major, Latitude’ s founding partner and CEO, predicted that the move will drive further consolidation of the CBI industry.“ Beyond the market success witnessed by RIF Trust over the years, what excites me the most about this merger is the people we are bringing together,” he said in a news release.

UAE LOOKING TO ATTRACT INVESTORS, PROFESSIONALS

The United Arab Emirates is loosening its residency laws in a bid to attract investors and highly skilled professionals. The plan aims to give long-term visas for up to 10 years to specialists in science, medicine and research, as well as“ exceptional students.” The program will also allow foreign investors 100 percent ownership of their UAE-based companies, a change from the current law requiring that an Emirati owning 51 percent of shares, unless it’ s in a free zone.

TO MEET LABOR DEMAND, JAPAN LOOKS TO BOOST IMMIGRATION

Facing a labor shortage and aging population, the Japanese government recently announced that it wants to ease immigration restrictions in a move to bring in more foreign labor. No target numbers have been announced, but the worker visas may be good for five years and allow a skilled worker ' s family members to come in the country as well.