Latest / IMI Podcasts / This Week in IM - Jul 31: 🇦🇷 Approves CBI Framework, 🇲🇹 Replaces CBI with CBM Model, 🇵🇹 Experts Examine Naturalization Law, ++

Transcript

This Week in IM - Jul 31: 🇦🇷 Approves CBI Framework, 🇲🇹 Replaces CBI with CBM Model, 🇵🇹 Experts Examine Naturalization Law, ++ · IMI Podcasts

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: You're listening to IMI this week.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: This Argentine decree establishes the legal framework and procedural requirements for foreign investors to obtain Argentine citizenship.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: The decree also creates an agency that will receive applications, coordinate security reviews, and submit recommendations to the National Directorate of Migration.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Argentina's citizenship gains additional appeal following the country's application to rejoin the U.S.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: visa waiver program.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Pakistan's tax ombudsman has reprimanded the Federal Board of Revenue for failing to track nationals holding UAE golden visas, setting a deadline for compliance.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: The warning highlights a lack of enforcement of a law requiring data to better monitor outbound wealth.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Pakistani officials suspect widespread noncompliance, particularly by affluent citizens, celebrities, and business figures using the UAE as a tax haven.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Malta's parliament has accelerated a bill that formally replaces its citizenship by investment program with a merit-based framework, emphasizing individual contributions over capital and removing agents from the process altogether.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Ryan Darmanin notes that the reform reflects Malta's evolving national interest strategy.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: Approved unanimously, the bill also introduces an appeals mechanism and updates rules for citizenship by dissent.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: The New Zealand government has updated its Active Investor Plus Visa to encourage more impactful investments.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: The new rules, which now require at least 75% of investor funds to be placed in equities or high-grade bonds, and no more than 25% in bank deposits, have proven successful with 168 applications, totaling nearly 1 billion New Zealand dollars since April.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: James Hall supports the changes, calling them a fix to a minor inefficiency.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Portugal's proposed naturalization law has triggered deep concern across the investment migration industry.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: IMI Pros, Carolina Figueiredo, Madalena Montero, Safac Nervo, Alexandra Cunha Elias, and Alex Ricoso offer conflicting takes on whether the law will pass, how it might apply retroactively to investors, and how it might affect the Golden Visa program in the future.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: Read the full article to understand where the experts stand.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Germany has naturalized over 3.3 million people since 2000, including tens of thousands of Syrians, Turks, Ukrainians, Russians, and Iraqis, whom the EU flags as high risk in its campaign against residency and citizenship by investment RCBI programs.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: Lars Hoffman explores newly released FOIA data, showing Germany's use of citizenship by exception or merit, calls out the EU's hypocrisy, and urges the investment migration industry to push back.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: Argentina has formally launched its bid to rejoin the U.S.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: visa waiver program, which the government is positioning as a product of deepened bilateral trust, particularly between Presidents Javier Millet and Donald Trump.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: As Argentina prepares a citizenship by investment program, entry into the visa waiver program could greatly enhance its appeal by potentially granting investors visa-free access to the U.S.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Veteran immigration lawyer Jean-Francois Harvey argues that a Schengen visa requirement for Caribbean countries with citizenship by investment programs wouldn't significantly harm demand.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: He explains that most of his eponymous firms' clients seek Caribbean passports not for visa-free EU access, but for long-term benefits like tax planning and mobility.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: He views this shift as manageable and potentially even beneficial in the long run.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: Vietnam is proposing a five-year visa exemption program for top-tier foreigners, including social media influencers, with over 1 million followers, senior executives from the top 100 global companies, and internationally recognized artists, athletes, scientists, and engineers.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: The new visa would allow 90-day multiple entry stays and provide a potential path to permanent residency.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: The bill is unlikely to be voted on before fall 2025.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining us today on IMI Podcasts.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Subscribe for free to the IMI Daily Newsletter for breaking news and updates from the investment migration industry.
• 4:56
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