Latha Krishnan

Range Developments, a leading hospitality developer oper-ating in niche, profitable markets around the world, is enticing inves-tors with investment shares in their luxurious hotel park Hyatt st. Kitts in the beautiful Caribbean country of st. Kitts and nevis, which qualify eligible investors to apply for citi-zenship of st. Kitts and nevis.

“We are promoting park Hyatt st. Kitts as well as economic citi-zenship in st. Kitts and nevis, a British Commonwealth country, to clients all over the world. anyone who is financially sound enough to invest $400,000, who has a pris-tine standing in the community and is ready to undergo the due diligence scrutiny of the govern-ment of st. Kitts and nevis, can invest in our hotel and become a citizen of this beautiful island country,” informs munaf ali, Ceo of Range Developments.

Businessmen, sports stars, film artistes and many well-to-do indi-viduals and families from coun-tries in africa, europe, the Indian

subcontinent, Far east and mid-dle east appreciate the value of the visa-on-arrival status, which they can enjoy in 140 countries, if they become citizens of st. Kitts. Having a passport of st. Kitts al-lows them to travel freely when-ever they want, be it for business, education or leisure. In addition, the income they earn from their investment in st. Kitts is not taxed making the programme a very at-tractive one indeed. such people are ready to invest in st. Kitts and avail of the Citizenship by Invest-ment programme that started in 1984 and offers citizenship (after an exhaustive and thorough due diligence process) to those who invest in real estate on the island or make a contribution to the st. Kitts and nevis sugar Industry Di-versification Foundation (sIDF).

“We also run a pre-screen on our clients and ask them several probing questions before we ac-cept them. thereafter, extensive

checks are conducted by the st. Kitts and nevis’ CBI Unit. around July 2012, when we launched park Hyatt st. Kitts, we were also subjected to the approval process of the government in st. Kitts. We are receiving very encouraging re-sponse from clients around the world for this project,” says ali.

the ground Breaking Ceremo-ny, held in June 2013 followed by mobilisation of the contractor to the site this month, is a testament to the rapid progress of the proj-ect. Range Developments recently awarded the construction contract to a world-renowned group.

park Hyatt st. Kitts will en-hance st. Kitts’ hospitality offer-ings, as the island has an increas-ing need for five-star hotels to host close to a million tourists per year (including cruise-ship arriv-als). an architectural masterpiece, the resort hotel will be situated on the picturesque landscape of Ba-nana Bay and promises an unri-valled hospitality experience. this luxury resort hotel will boast 125 rooms in phase 1, with fur-ther phases expected to come on line in coming years.

standard Chartered Bank is the escrow account bank for park Hyatt st. Kitts. all the other eminent partners further add to the attrac-tion of investing in the project. “In-vestors will receive regular divi-dends, benefit from the profitability of the hotel, and subject to govern-ment approvals be granted with citizenship. the hotel will also cre-ate many jobs for the local popula-tion, thus allowing us to give back to the community as per our corpo-rate policy,” explains ali.

khaleej timesADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT

Sadiq Shaban

IF yoU have the moolah, the world is your oyster. Citizenship by investment is a form of economic arrangement whereby one can gain citizenship of a country through capital investment.

While smaller nations such as antigua and Barbuda, montenegro, Dominica, and st. Kitts and nevis are known to dole out citi-zenships in lieu of investments, some big-ger countries like Us, Canada, australia, Bulgaria and the UK also offer options for investors to become residents through various immigrant investor programmes. since countries that allow for such a dis-pensation do not follow the same set of rules, therefore the regulations applicable may vary by state.

a lot of high net worth individuals can obtain a second passport and dual national-ity in a short time frame by opting for se-lected property or business investments approved by the government in several countries. Citizenship can be obtained in st. Kitts in 120 days, without a residence or visitation requirement. you will also have the ability to travel to 139 countries around the world including the european Union, UK, Canada and africa and asia without the need for a visa. applicants are subject to very thorough due diligence investiga-tions to confirm the accuracy of the infor-mation and documents submitted in sup-port of application, to ensure that they have not been involved in any criminal activities (including money laundering and terrorist financing). only after the authorities deem a person fit and proper for citizenship, the process is initiated.

Big countries also are not too far behind. those seeking a UK passport can opt to ap-ply for an investor or entrepreneur visa. Both visas come with the option to apply for “Indefinite leave to Remain” in the UK, an important prerequisite to obtaining citizen-ship. British law stipulates that the appli-cant has to invest a minimum of £1 million into either UK government bonds or share capital in UK-registered companies. appli-cants are encouraged to spend more than 180 days per year in the UK during the qualifying period. after living in the UK for five years, the investor visa holder can ap-ply for permanent residence. the country offers an attractive tax regime for individu-als who are classed as UK resident, non-domicile which includes visa-free travel to 189 countries.

Foreigners can obtain citizenship in Can-ada within three years of residency, with business owners having the option to fast track their investment option with C$180,000 and participate in the Federal

or Quebec Immigrant Investor pro-grammes. the country’s aim is to attract experienced business people with a mini-mum net worth of C$1,600,000 that was obtained legally. applicants need to make an investment of C$800,000, which is ad-ministered by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and is guaranteed by the Ca-nadian provinces that use it to create jobs and help their economies grow. the catch here is that CIC will return the C$800,000 investment, without interest, about five years and three months after payment.

Citizenship by investment is a huge at-traction even in the Us which has an eB-5 Investor programme that allows people to obtain a green card, provided that they in-vest a substantial amount in the Us. as a business applicant, one must invest $1,000,000 in a business, or $500,000 in a targeted employment area, or invest in a regional centre in the Us. after a stipulated period — usually five years — you can apply for Us citizenship.

Countries such as Bulgaria offer a unique citizenship for investment pro-gramme that allows people to gain citizen-ship in exchange for making an investment in the country’s economy. after an inves-tor meets all the requirements and agrees to invest more than €500,000 in the coun-try, he or she is entitled to be granted resi-dency and subsequently the citizenship. Interestingly one doesn’t even need to live in Bulgaria or pay any taxes on wealth, in-heritance or income outside of the country under the programme.

the latest to join the club is Hungary which offers foreigners the chance to attain the citizenship of the country if they invest at least €250,000 in the economy. Inves-tors have to buy special government bonds, leading to preferential immigration treat-ment which allows a foreigner to travel freely within the schengen zone countries for up to 90 days every six months besides other benefits.

— sadiq@khaleejtimes.com

Road to citizenshipInvesting in a foreign passport comes with a host of benefits

EntIcIng InvEstors wIth InvEstmEnt sharEsEnticing investors to st. Kitts with Park hyatt and citizenship eligibility

We have created a nation, and society

of very high standards — complete respect for human rights; no political prisoners; free, fair, and regular elections; 98 per cent literacy; world-class air, sea, and telecommunications infrastructure. In other words, we have put a great deal of effort into ensuring that our country has a sterling reputation. In light of that, therefore, because we have so much to protect and preserve, we are especially vigilant where our due diligence responsibilities are concerned vis-à-vis our economic citizenship programme. We simply cannot allow the negatives that any particular individual may have built up over a lifetime to compromise the positives that we have worked so hard, and so successfully, to establish and maintain.”

— Denzil DouglasPrime minister of st. Kitts and nevis

Image courtesy: Range Developments

Munaf aliCEO of Range Developments

sPEcIalIsts In rEsIdEncE and cItIzEnshIP PlannIngwith more than 23 offices globally, the firm offers wealthy clients an opportunity to invest in nearly two dozen countries and get citizenship

HENLEy & PARTNERS

citizenship by investMent khaleej times / ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT

Latha Krishnan

FoR over two decades, Henley & partners, the global leader in resi-dence and citizenship planning, has been providing its expertise and experience in this specialised area to wealthy individuals and families, as well as their advisors worldwide.

“We have been here the longest time and offer truly international propositions for our clients wish-ing to relocate by way of complet-ing a substantial investment and acquiring residency or citizenship privileges. We are not an immigra-tion law firm that provides visas by way of work permits or business visas. We are very specialised in providing advisory services to what we call an immigrant inves-tor industry,” explains eric major, Ceo of Henley & partners.

With over 200 people and in more than 23 offices around the world, the firm offers wealthy cli-ents the opportunity of investing in nearly two dozen countries in exchange of which these countries provide them residence or citizen-

ship privileges. the highly quali-fied professionals of Henley work together as one team to serve their clients, who also include govern-ments of some countries, who consult them and avail of their as-sistance in the design and opera-tion of investment-related immi-gration programmes.

“our government advisory arm has been growing steadily in im-portance. It is allowing us to create new opportunities for our clients wishing to acquire residence and citizenship privileges of the coun-tries in which they are investing. this is interesting also because governments are calling us to help them either create or launch such types of programmes, or if they have one already, to improve it,” informs major.

a recent example of such ser-vices of Henley is one it has pro-vided to antigua and Barbuda, a Caribbean island country, where the firm helped most recently to establish a Citizenship-by-Invest-ment programme, which officially launches on october 7.

Henley & partners already has a

very important mandate with st. Kitts and nevis, which has one of the most successful Citizenship-by-Investment programmes in the world. the firm was responsible in assisting that government to re-launch the programme in 2006 and helped establish the sugar In-dustry Diversification Foundation (sIDF) and developing global mar-ket awareness about it.

“But the most exciting opportu-nity of our firm was recently awarded to us, following a public tender, and that is a mandate to help the government of malta to establish a new Citizenship-by-In-

vestment programme. malta, a eu-ropean Union member country, will launch this programme later this year. this is a continuation of our firm’s global success to create products that our clients ultimately wish to avail themselves of the privileges these programmes pro-vide,” says major.

Henley & partners provides its residence and citizenship advisory services to wealthy clients of several nationalities in the Uae from its office in Dubai. as yet the firm does not offer inbound services into the Uae but will develop it by next year.

Austria

Malta

St. Kitts and Nevis

citizenship by investMent

Second Home Businessmen services is part of a group and has many branches in Canada, Ku-wait, Ksa and Jordan. mainly it offers immigration consulting to more than nine countries all over the world, and provides job offers in Canada.

immigration through investment

second Home is experienced in providing clients with a full spec-trum of Canadian business in-vestment and immigration ser-vices that will facilitate a quick and efficient relocation of them-selves, their employees across the Canada/Us border, either tempo-rarily or permanently. this in-cludes Investor and Business Im-migration visa, non-immigrant visas, such as naFta-related ap-plications, as well as intra-com-pany transferees, and skilled Worker Immigrant visas. Follow-ing its initial evaluation of the cli-ent’s short or long term Canadian immigration requirements, it rec-ommends the most suitable visa category and provides extensive assistance and guidance on the documentation required, the drafting of employment letters, the review of corporate docu-ments; the preparation of a com-plete submission package for the directors and employees, setting up business, buying existing or

new business sites or operations. It also counsels each individual to the procedure for applying for the visa upon their initial entry into Canada. as per Canadian govern-ment requirements both provin-cial and federal Immigration con-siderations are invariably a facet of any overall business strategy. professionals are readily avail-able to coordinate immigration advice with your tax, legal, finan-cial, and HR professionals in co-ordination with the gItC invest-ments and trading Canada.

consultation services

second Home’s individual clients approach at various stages of the application process. there tends to be some individuals who have not yet received an offer of em-ployment in Canada or are not certain what type of jobs they should be looking for. For these individuals, it schedules a consul-tation and comprehensively re-views the individual’s resume, education background, and fam-ily situation to determine the available options that ensure the best chance of obtaining Canadi-an resident visa. For those indi-viduals with a valid job offer, or who are ready to begin a sponsor-ship application, it provides a

thorough review of the company and individual’s goals in order to determine the best visa category to apply under, as well as assist the individual with document col-lection, application preparations and submission.

processing timeline

as the processing times vary for each Canadian Immigration visa matter, the firm investigates the quickest and least demanding post to approach prior to filing the visa application. Its ongoing liai-son with Canadian authorities, embassies, and visa processing Centres and immigration offices keeps its team of professionals apprised of recent changes to im-migration regulations and trends at different visa offices. this helps ensure that every application is dealt with in a time-efficient and reasonable manner. second Home takes extra care in the pro-cess of your application or setting up a business in Canada since for many it will be a generational change. It does its best to deliver to each individual who lands at our doors to seek help. Its services are monitored for best customer service to ensure the successful outcome of each application.

UnIqUE aPProach to ImmIgratIon

second home Businessmen services finds the best solutions to apply for canadian visas