Latest / IMI Podcasts / This Week in IMI - Oct 29,2023: St Kitts CIU Withholda Funds, EU Targets CBI Countries for Visa Suspension, New Hong Kong CIES to Cost HKD30m, ++

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This Week in IMI - Oct 29,2023: St Kitts CIU Withholda Funds, EU Targets CBI Countries for Visa Suspension, New Hong Kong CIES to Cost HKD30m, ++ · IMI Podcasts

• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: You're listening to This Week in Investment Migration.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: A group of Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian applicants who applied for St.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Kitts and Nevis citizenship through the country's Citizenship by Investment program have started an online petition to get their money back after their applications were retroactively denied by the St.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Kitts and Nevis CIU.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: The applicants say their applications were first approved, but that the CIU later told them they would not receive citizenship certificates or passports because of the ban on Russian applicants.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: The CIU has yet to refund the applicant's donation money some 18 months later.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Earlier this week, the European Commission formally requested expanded powers to revoke visa-free travel to Schengen for countries that operate citizenship by investment programs.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: The current visa suspension mechanism does not provide for such action on the basis of operating a CIP alone.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: The Commission argued that high acceptance rates among CBI programs, as well as the possibility of name changes upon registration, were a cause for security concerns.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: Malaysia's Minister of Tourism revealed figures showing that application volume for the country's MM2H residency program has fallen by 85% since sharply stricter financial and presence requirements took effect almost two years ago.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: The much criticized reforms, coupled with a slowing Malaysian real estate sector, has put pressure on the government to consider a relaxation of the program's terms, which it says it is doing.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Our guest in this week's Ten on the Weekend interview series, Matias Aparcel, says he worries about Portugal's persistence in terminating successful policies like Golden Visa, real estate, and the NHR special tax regime.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Two-thirds of recent capital projects at Grenada's Ministry of Social Development and Housing were directly financed by the country's citizenship by investment program, writes Colin Bishop in an opinion piece for IMI.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: The sharp uptick in CBI investment in the country over the last year, he says, has created a ripple effect throughout the Grenadian economy.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: Just weeks following Portugal's surprise announcement that it planned to end the highly successful non-habitual resident tax regime, the Italian government is tabling a proposal that would make its own lavoratori impatriati regime considerably less attractive.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: The proposal, which still needs approval in the Senate, seeks to reduce the tax-exempt income threshold from a maximum of 90% to just 50% and reduce the regime's maximum duration from 10 years to five.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: An association representing returning Italian workers called the bill a huge own goal for the country.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: As Portugal's NHR special tax regime draws to a close, location-independent entrepreneurs and independently wealthy should consider Uruguay as an option for low-tax living in a country with high standards of living, writes Philippe May.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Beyond sharing Portugal's climate, Latin culture, and Atlantic coastline, Uruguay offers a tax holiday that's very similar to NHR.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: As conflict rages in the Middle East, a quiet EU country with a flexible residency program, Cyprus, is just an hour's flight away and has a special role to play, writes Charles Sava in this commentary for IMI.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: In recent years, he argues, the island has offered a much needed respite for Israeli and Palestinian investor migrants alike, thanks to its proximity to the region, open economy, and flexible residency options.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Hong Kong's chief executive, John Lee, this week confirmed the city state's capital investment entrance scheme would return with a price tag of 30 million Hong Kong dollars, three times greater than before the suspension in 2015.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: Hong Kong's government has been under pressure to stem the exodus of capital and talent in the wake of mass departures in the last few years.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: At least 140,000 inhabitants have left Hong Kong since 2020, and the territory is on the verge of logging its fourth straight year of population decline.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.