Citizen by Choice

The firm has seen an uptick across the board, and Blewer says that they’ve seen significant growth in the citizenship and residency programs from Malta, Cyprus, Montenegro, Portugal, Greece, and the Caribbean, especially St. Lucia. Blewer notes that their clients don’t necessarily move to these countries; “some people invest in programs run by these sovereign states only to acquire citizenship and/or residence rights offered by these sovereign states, with no plans of permanently living there.”

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) also announced earlier this year, that the Emirati Nationality Law had been amended to grant citizenship to expatriates. The UAE’s Prime Minister and ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said this change was made to attract and retain individuals with specialized skills. “We adopted law amendments that allow granting the UAE citizenship to investors, specialized talents & professionals including scientists, doctors, engineers, artists, authors, and their families. The new directives aim to attract talents that contribute to our development journey,” he tweeted.

The UAE passport allows visa-free entry to 173 countries where people can live, work and open a business in the UAE without restrictions. In recent years, a larger percentage of the UAE’s affluent immigrant population have been applying for second passports in other foreign nations. The use of services such as ‘citizenship by investment’ programs has skyrocketed.