CS Global Partners and Associates Times hosted a webinar on Residency and Citizenship by Investment Programmes. The Webinar was held on Sunday, March 6, 2022, at 2 p.m. (EST). 

Primary focus of this Webinar was on the new trends in CBI Programmes, due diligence, the application process, and other important aspects of economic citizenship over the past ten years.

The Webinar discussed the significance of such programmes as well as the excellent Citizenship by Investment programmes that exist around the world. Associates Times also invited special guests, Micha-Rose Emmett – CEO and Founder of CS Global Partners, and Paul Singh – Director of CS Global Partners. 

The Webinar discussed the transformations experienced by the Citizenship by Investment programme over the past one decade, and also highlighted the benefits of the Citizenship by Investment Programmes. 

And the interactive session was beneficial for those who genuinely want to take information about the Citizenship by Investment Programme, its features and changing trends.

The guests also mentioned the CBI Programmes offered by several countries, including the Commonwealth of Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, which they described as the World’s oldest and longest-running.

The webinar host asked about certain trends the company recently experienced and what has kept Citizenship by Investment highly desired? Of which Micha replied, “I think the main thing is chaos, as soon as there is a world event or a regional event, we see an uptick of applicants coming from those regions, and it is much understood that with awareness, people realized the importance of getting access to global nations to do business and to educate children.”

“As the world has changed and people have come from different regions, I’ve seen the importance of having second citizenship grow over the years,” she added.

While Paul describes the process for applying to the CBI programme and how the application is screened and vetted: “Citizenship by Investment is the most straightforward, clear-cut, and seamless process for obtaining citizenship. Applications typically feature, you know, seamless, streamlined processing. It’s usually three months, which suits the time-crunched business people, who are extremely busy.”

Furthermore, Paul cited Caribbean CBI jurisdictions such as St Kitts and Nevis and Dominica have excellent processing timelines and are highly efficient. So, generally, it takes a month from the time of submission to the time of approval in principle, and we’ve worked with governments to make the process of an economic citizen as smooth as possible.

Paul added, Nonetheless, despite the swiftness of processing, it doesn’t damage the programme’s goodness, it’s an extensive due diligence process, and all five Caribbean jurisdictions have got an extensive due diligence process. They’ve all ranked very high in the pillar of due diligence, as measured by the Financial Times’ CBI Index, which gave all five Caribbean nations high marks.

While discussing about the CBI jurisdictions, Paul singh said, From the submission of the application, the documentation and the relevant fees being paid on behalf of the agent. We must ensure that the application forms and supporting documents are complete to the appropriate standard. Additionally, agents conduct an initial screening of the applicant, which is their KYC. The process is very thorough. 

While highlighting the type of investments available to applicants, Micha stated that, generally, in the citizenship by Investment world, programmes tend to have two options they generally are a contribution. This non-refundable contribution goes to the government or alternatively an investment in an approved project. 

She further explained that most approved projects tend to be real estate developments in some cases, specifically hotel room investments and then some islands; some countries have bonds; it really depends from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but the two main ones are real estate and a donation investment. 

The host got impressed and cited that both solutions seem very compelling. But at the same time, asked Paul Singh How would an investor know which programme is right for them?

On this, Paul Singh said different types of investors are interested in different investment options, and so anybody can say that the government fund contribution is a more straightforward route. ‘It can tend to be even a quicker route, whereas real estate has it is more complex than the direct contribution route to the government. 

Some investors may choose the real estate route because they want to have a tangible asset, and they may well be looking for a return on it, but in simple words, the government nation route is the quickest, most secure, and fastest route. 

During the Webinar, Mr Paul has tried to highlight which CBI programmes are suitable for applicants who tend to look at the programme’s longevity. You know how well established that the programme is and of course with St Kitts, for instance, being the cradle of citizenship, and the programme was launched in 1984 so of course almost four decades.

Dominica in 1993 almost three decades, so they have run for a long time they’re in held in very high regard by the international community, then a lot of people who have gained citizenship from these particular islands had that tool for many years and its worked for them, and they’ve family additions over time, they’ve had added to the programme as well. 

Micha Emmett stated that the beauty about citizenship by investment programme is really a win-win situation in that the investor who’s coming along and making the investment into the country and obtaining the second citizenship as Paul rightly elucidated in terms of the benefits is also there’s an equal benefit to the country in that as I mentioned earlier about the two routes to investment. 

She further claimed that the direct contribution to the government is so important because it’s non-tax revenue that comes into the country, and it’s so important in terms of building roads, building schools, building hospitals. 

So, we’ve seen some amazing things happen through the government with the revenue that’s been raised by CBI. In fact, particularly a country like Dominica was almost saved by CBI finds when Hurricane Maria hit in 2017 and in terms of the real estate or the investment through the real estate option. 

It’s both a direct investment for the country because it’s building hotels, it is building housing, but there’s also an indirect opportunity for the country, and it creates employment opportunities for the people and the citizens of that country. 

So, all in all, what’s great about working in this industry is that really we are providing a win-win solution for other parties involved.