Concerned about issues like flooding, pollution, food safety, traffic congestion and the threat of China, many wealthy Vietnamese are purchasing a second citizenship.
While buying foreign citizenship isn’t a new trend among rich Vietnamese – according to VnExpress, nearly 4,500 Vietnamese renounced their citizenship last year – the issue recently made headlines when businesswoman Nguyen Thi Nguyet Huong was dismissed from the National Assembly after government officials discovered she had purchased Maltese citizenship.
According to VietnamNet, consultancy firms specializing in secondary citizenship experienced a drop in clientele following Huong’s dismissal, however it’s now back to business as usual, as most of their wealthy Vietnamese customers don’t intend to get into politics. Despite high interest in the United States, Australia and Canada, these firms are encouraging their clients to invest in a handful of European nations due to their lax requirements for citizenship: quick approval, a low number of required days of stay, no age limitation and no language requirements.
For instance, the process for obtaining residency in the United States, which can eventually lead to citizenship, takes at least two years. Yet Malta, for example, requires just three-to-four months to complete the process.
In terms of cost, however, some passports are more expensive than others. The United States’ EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program currently requires a minimum investment capital of US$500,000, though this figure is set to increase, while Malta’s Individual Investor Program (IIP) requires a minimum investment capital of EUR1 million (US$1.1 million). Still, achieving Maltese citizenship is comparatively easier, as the small island nation accepts 1,800 new citizens through the IIP, while the United States only allots 700 spaces per country for new residents through the EB-5.
Moreover, countries like Malta and Cyprus offer attractive tax incentives, another reason for many businesspeople to invest in these smaller nations. Furthermore, some countries don’t require applicants to verify the source of their money.
Other popular citizenship-investment destinations include Hungary, Ireland, Portugal and the Cayman Islands.
Obtaining one or more passports is a matter of practicality for what the BBC calls “economic citizens”. By holding citizenship in several countries, these individuals are able to gain access to and take advantage of different economic systems around the globe. For both cash-strapped nations and the agencies which assist applicants for these programs, citizenship-by-investment is a lucrative market worth as much as US$2 billion a year.
Much like their Vietnamese counterparts, many wealthy and powerful Chinese, Russian and Middle Eastern citizens are also buying additional citizenship to diversify their so-called “passport portfolios”.
[Photo via Flickr user European Parliament]
