If you are looking for a second passport but you are not sure if you should apply for the citizenship by investment program (CBI), or residency by investment program (RBI) also known as Golden Visa, you should consider various factors before deciding.
Although both programs propose second citizenship to investors after a certain period of time yet depending on you and your family needs there are a lot of aspects to be considered to find the best solution.
In this article, we carefully went through the different angles of these schemes to help you choosing the best option based on your desires.
1.Grant Citizenship
The most important factor you need to consider is the time becoming a CITIZEN.
There is a huge difference between CBI and RBI citizenship grant time. CBI programs offer citizenship as short as 45 days for Vanuatu or 4 months for Dominica.
European RBI programs offer residency within quite the same amount of time, but it takes 3 to 10 years before becoming a citizen.
CBI programs are for the people who are seeking to have their second passport within the shortest time without the need of physical presence or leaving their home country.
While RBI programs also known as Golden Visa or European residency will grant citizenship after a few years of obtaining residency of destination country.
The similarity of no need of physical presence before getting citizenship is the benefit of RBI programs as well.
2.The Investment Amount
The minimum investment amount is of course a very important factor to consider choosing between the RBI and CBI programs.
As you may have heard, the Caribbean CBI schemes are famous for their affordable price, as an individual can invest as low as USD 100,000 to obtain the second passport. In contrast, the European programs are considerably costlier, in which the minimum entry point starts from USD 250,000. Below you can find some of the minimum investment amounts of various CBI and RBI programs:
Citizenship By Investment Programs:
- Antigua | from USD 100,000
- Dominica | from USD 100,000
- St. Lucia | from USD 100,000
- Vanuatu | from USD 130,000
- Grenada | from USD 150,000
- St. Kitts | from USD 150,000
Residency By Investment Programs:
- Greece | from EUR 250,000
- Portugal | from EUR 280,000
- Spain | from EUR 500,000
3. Investment Option
Caribbean countries’ CBI programs offer multiple choices for the investors, such as purchasing a pre-approved real-estate, contribution to the government, share option, finance option or in some cases infrastructure option.
Whereas, in most of RBI programs in Europe there is either the real estate acquisition or capital investment, which starts from EUR 1 million.
4.Visa Free Travel
Although European passports are more powerful than Caribbean ones, you have to consider that with European RBI programs, while waiting for your citizenship allowance period as it was discussed in section 1, you are allowed to move only within the Schengen area and live, work or study in the country you get your residency through.
Whereas the immediate Caribbean passports facilitate unrestricted global mobility to many destinations around the world including Schengen Area, the UK, Singapore, Russia, Australia and China.
However, when you pass the required time to grant your European nationality and to have your passport, European passports offer almost all countries around the globe including Canada.
5.Two different world as the lifestyle
Caribbean countries are tourists’ heaven with picturesque scenery, temperate weather, charming beaches, and friendly people that make them a wonderful place for vacation or retirement.
These countries do not have high tech industries or factories like the metropolitan areas.
They might not be the destination for young passionate people seeking to develop in their jobs.
European countries provide a modern and advanced lifestyle with a thriving economy, high standard healthcare, and great universities.
Therefore, they are attractive destinations for having a family, finding desired job positions, and expanding a business.
The advantage of expanding the business in the largest economy of the world, the European Economic Area (EEA), is having immediate access to more than 500 million consumers.
Depending on your goal, both programs can offer you a high-quality lifestyle in a different way.
While Caribbean islands benefit from stable social and political situations and high-standard healthcare and education services, Europe’s dynamic economy, state-of-the-art universities, advanced healthcare services and colorful cultures are all the reasons for a first-rate lifestyle.
6.Confidentiality
All the CBI and RBI programs guarantee your confidentiality, and any information will “NOT” be shared with your home countries’ government.
Although, you can take advantage of the minimal taxing system in most of these countries if you are a resident of high-income tax countries like Canada or the USA.
MICS Global suggests you assessing your family and business needs before asking for any advice.
Taking our advice into account, you will be the best person to select the most effective solution for you and your family considering your own needs.
MICS Global professional team is ready to assist you to opt for the best scheme for you and your family and guide you in every step of the process.
If you are interested in having the preliminary assessment of your situation, you can get a consult from one of our experts by contacting us on our website https://mics.global/ .
