[American Rampage]

NY Times: Give Malta Your Tired and Huddled, and Rich

Quote:

By DAN BILEFSKY - JAN. 31, 2014

PARIS — Having been besieged by the Ottomans, and ruled over the centuries by foreign invaders from the Greeks to the Romans to Napoleon, the tiny Mediterranean island nation of Malta has seen plenty of unwelcome interlopers.

But now, it seems, these foreigners are quite welcome — if they are willing to hand over 1.15 million euros, or $1.55 million, to buy a Maltese passport.

Motivated in part by economic stress, and in part by what some call crass opportunism, the idyllic island 50 miles south of Sicily is selling citizenship for $880,000 in cash and $677,000 in property and investments to applicants 18 or older willing to pay the price.

The Maltese prime minister, Joseph Muscat, has estimated that the program, which is aimed at attracting well-heeled residents from abroad, could bring in $1.35 billion in the next five years, providing welcome financing for schools, health care and jobs.

For the wealthy newcomers, Maltese citizenship offers many benefits, beyond the ability to park their yachts in the azure waters of one of Europe’s most alluring destinations.

Being a citizen of Malta, which is part of the European Union’s passport-free zone, will confer the right to travel among the union’s 27 other member states without border formalities. A newly minted Maltese citizen will also be able to live and work in another European Union country, and will gain the right to visa-free travel to 69 non-European Union countries, including the United States.

Critics accuse the government of pawning the national birthright. So far, those said to be interested in the passports include a former Formula 1 champion, a Chinese billionaire, an international pop star, a member of a prominent Persian Gulf royal family, an American press magnate and a South American soccer player, according to The Times of Malta, a daily newspaper.

While all European Union countries have the right to peddle citizenship to whomever they want, the practice is relatively rare and the union’s justice commissioner, Viviane Reding, expressed dismay last month, telling the Maltese that European citizenship “must not be up for sale.”

Others fear that the proud and picturesque island — with 411,277 citizens, one of the world’s most densely populated countries — risks following in the footsteps of fellow European Union member Cyprus, which has come under criticism for attracting tycoons looking for a convenient place, preferably one with sun and sand, to protect their assets from tax collectors.

Under pressure from European Union officials in Brussels, Malta this week agreed to require foreigners seeking to buy Maltese passports to be residents for at least one year. It has also vowed to carefully vet applicants. Yet initial plans to limit to 1,800 the number of passports granted have been scrapped.

For all the fuss and red-faced reprimands of Brussels bureaucrats, Malta is just one of several countries seeking to woo rich foreigners by offering residency or citizenship.

Cyprus recently slashed the amount of investment required to be eligible for citizenship, to $4.06 million from $13.5 million. It is also offering citizenship to foreigners who lost at least €3 million during the recent bailout crisis. The Caribbean island federation of St. Kitts and Nevis offers citizenship for those who can invest $250,000. Portugal and Belgium offer residency permits leading to citizenship in exchange for big investments. Crisis-hit Spain offers residency permits to foreigners who buy homes worth more than $260,000, with the aim of drawing Chinese and Russian investment.

Nevertheless, the Maltese scheme has attracted scathing criticism from those who say that a warm welcome for the superrich is in stark contrast to the cold reception given to thousands of poor African migrants who have washed up on Malta’s beaches over the past few years, only to find themselves forced to live in grim detention centers, bereft of citizenship.

“Refugees who have been here for years and are paying their taxes and working hard don’t have Maltese passports,” said Herman Grech, the head of media at the Times of Malta, a daily newspaper. “At least have the guts to give passports to everyone. It is completely xenophobic and cynical to only give it to rich people.”

[jimukr104]

Malta has the fattest people in Europe i heard lol.

[Brodiaga]

I can't be fucked paying $1mil+ for any passport. May be a good idea for mafia types trying to hide, though.

[slotek]

Hmmmm..... There is a company I do quite a bit of business with out of Malta, and they are headquartered in Cyprus. Well its good to know where to hide my money if I ever join the ranks of the ultra rich.

[germanico]

Whereas a fully secured fake identity can be bought everywhere else for a couple bills.

This would be useful only for those so rich that they cant hide, and its priced accordingly.

[Daygamer]

There is a lot of countries doing this and for cheap. Check out Hungary, Latvia, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Greece, etc.
In my opinion Belgium maybe the best option, if you can stand to live there. Latvia is good too. Some big house in the greek islands maybe awesome.

[jimukr104]

I would think gangsters would avoid those EU countries due to high taxes.
Getting Israeli passports is popular with rich Russians who can prove being Jewish. They don't get taxed as long as they are non residents.

[Akula]

(02-01-2014 01:58 PM)Daygamer Wrote:  

There is a lot of countries doing this and for cheap. Check out Hungary, Latvia, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Greece, etc.
In my opinion Belgium maybe the best option, if you can stand to live there. Latvia is good too. Some big house in the greek islands maybe awesome.

I also know you can invest $500K in Bulgarian government bonds and basically get a passport (although now it seems it doesn't guarantee you work in the western part of the EU!).

I think Spain is $500k for a "permanent resident' card but not sure about what it takes to get a passport. $1.5m for Malta sounds high though.

Big issue here is taxes and what they tax you on -- but I assume most aren't rapacious like the US is and don't tax globally (yet). That said, if you own property they can make your life miserable as France is apparently doing for overseas property owners (raising property taxes, 'imputed rent' (even if you don't rent it) etc.)

[conservative]

Having multiple passports can be a nice idea, but then you have to think about taxes. If they tax your income (even if you are not resident), that's not a quite good idea, then. Imagine having to pay taxes for your corporate income for 4/5 countries.

That probably explains why few people actually do it. That's only 175 person/year by Joseph Muskat estimations.

[travolta]

(02-01-2014 05:58 PM)conservative Wrote:  

Having multiple passports can be a nice idea, but then you have to think about taxes. If they tax your income (even if you are not resident), that's not a quite good idea, then. Imagine having to pay taxes for your corporate income for 4/5 countries.

That probably explains why few people actually do it. That's only 175 person/year by Joseph Muskat estimations.

They wouldn't be offering this deal if they were planning on raping you with taxes. Most countries only charge high taxes if you live there for a certain period of time during the year, do business there, etc.

[DaveR]

(02-01-2014 01:58 PM)Daygamer Wrote:  

There is a lot of countries doing this and for cheap. Check out Hungary, Latvia, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Greece, etc.
In my opinion Belgium maybe the best option, if you can stand to live there. Latvia is good too. Some big house in the greek islands maybe awesome.

Residence and citizenship are not the same thing...

[DaveR]

(02-01-2014 05:58 PM)conservative Wrote:  

Having multiple passports can be a nice idea, but then you have to think about taxes. If they tax your income (even if you are not resident), that's not a quite good idea, then. Imagine having to pay taxes for your corporate income for 4/5 countries.

That probably explains why few people actually do it. That's only 175 person/year by Joseph Muskat estimations.

Very few countries tax their non-resident citizens... none of the ones I know that are offering citizenship-by-investment programs. The big standout is the US, joined by a bunch of tin pots: North Korea, Belarus, Hungary (limited by tax treaties), Eritrea.

[username]

I remember Ecuador had something similar but it was a lot cheaper, like $25,000 in investments (bank CDs, gov bonds, land) would get you Ecuadorian citizenship after 1 or 2 years. Seems like a much better deal to get a second passport.

[Cattle Rustler]

(02-02-2014 05:26 AM)username Wrote:  

I remember Ecuador had something similar but it was a lot cheaper, like $25,000 in investments (bank CDs, gov bonds, land) would get you Ecuadorian citizenship after 1 or 2 years. Seems like a much better deal to get a second passport.

what usefulness will an ecuadorian passport get you though?

[username]

^ Visa free travel to the major countries in South America, if you lose your USA passport for bullshit reasons like child support on a kid that isnt yours or unpaid taxes you could at least get out using your 2nd passport to start a new life. Potentially could alternate between your two passports to stay in a country longer.

[DaveR]

I think the Ecuadorian program is priced according to its usefulness, as Cattle Rustler pointed out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requir...n_citizens

(02-02-2014 09:24 AM)username Wrote:  

Potentially could alternate between your two passports to stay in a country longer.

That is often mentioned as a benefit of dual citizenship, but I wouldn't recommend it. A Russian friend of mine went to the trouble of buying some overpriced real estate in a banana republic called "St. Kitts & Nevis". He intended to use his two nationalities to spend more time in the UK. End result: it worked for the first two border crossings, then when he tried to enter for a third time he was slapped with a 10-year ban. He was smart enough to ask a border guard in Frankfurt before handing over his passport... same story. If he proceeded, he would have been banned from the Schengen zone for trying to subvert the visa policy. In the end, he found out that his banana-government-approved real estate had been priced well over market value. The only way he could sell it without incurring massive losses was to find another sucker who wanted a useless passport, and he still lost about a fifth of his 'investment'.

I also know an Italian-American who was slapped with a ban for having two concurrent Russian visas (a business visa in each passport). He now does the same thing in Ukraine and they don't seem to mind.

So it may work in some other countries, but not in the larger parts of Europe.