Top Countries of choice for Business Investor Immigration

Image via WikipediaImmigration and residence in a foreign country are most saught by many wealthy investors and business persons including those planning to retire in a foreign country. Unfortunately many are not aware that many Governments abroad encourage and offer a whole lot of significant benefits and incentives to investors and business entrepreneurs, who invest in their country which is why “economic investment programs” are officially adopted by these Governments. This also means that you can legally move, relocate or immigrate to another another country through investment.

The following are quick summary of investment programs available with different countries in Asia, Europe and Carribean.

EUROPE

In Europe, the following are the countries which are widely popular among non-EU and foreign nationals coming from other countries. These countries offer various residence programs for investors against a minimum investment and a residence permit can be obtained.

Austria

The minimum investment needed is EUR 100’000 and it is the cheapest country to gain residence in Europe. No business activity allowed in Austria and confirmation of accomodation such as rental lease and health insurance is the main criteria. Benefits of residence permit include visa free travel to schengen and other 180 countries. Residence permit is issued for one year and then renewed annually.

Switzerland

Switzerland is an attractive destination for wealthy clients who wish to relocate or retire in Europe. Switzerland has a “lump sum” taxation program of a minimum of CHF 150’000 you will given a choice of swiss canton and location to live and granted a swiss residence permit. No employment is allowed. This program is available for retirees, business entrepreneurs and self-employed persons.

Belgium

Belgium is a major international financial center in Europe. To obtain residence in Belgium, you will need to form a new company with office/employees or join an already existing Belgium firm. The minimum investment usually needed about EUR 100’000 along with few additional costs. Belgium is the only country in europe, where it is possible to apply for citizenship after just 3 yrs of residence. Belgium residence permit requires no minimum stay during the year and offers visa free access to borderless schengen countries in europe.

United Kingdom

United Kingdom has an official `Investor Immigration Program` for wealth and high net worth individuals who make a substantial high investment in the economy and development in the United Kingdom. Foreign nationals who are interested to immigrate to UK are required to make a high net worth investment of GBP 1,000,000 (1 million) and getting a UK residence permit is much faster than other countries in about 2 months of time.


Bulgaria

Bulgaria is a EU member country and currently offers a “investor program” for non-EU citizens where upon investing 1 million BGN (approx EUR 530,000), it is possible to get residence permit for 5 yrs. The investment can be placed in a govt guaranteed secure bonds or can be invested in bulgarian business venture.

Bulgaria has low tax rates on corporate and personal income. Bulgaria is likely to join the schengen in the near future.

Latvia

Latvia offers a new residence program for investors and the residence program allows visa free travel in other European and schengen countries. A temporary residence permit can be obtained against a investment of EUR 300,000 in bank term deposit for 5 years of invest appox EUR 100,000 in real estate or by forming a business in Latvia.

Monaco

Monaco is a very popular destination for wealthy millionaires. Getting residence in Monaco is possible against a minimum investment of EUR 1,000,000 (1 million) which has to be invested either with a Monaco bank or in Real estate or with a good mix of both. Monaco is not a EU member country and non-EU persons have to apply through France. There are no income, wealth, gift or capital gains taxes in Monaco and the prices of real estate are very expensive.



ASIA

In Asia, the following countries are widely popular for residence among international foreign investors coming from other countries.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong has low corporate taxes and its a major financial and business centre in Asia. Hong Kong has a “Investor Residence Program” and the minimum investment needed is HK$ 10 million or more (approx US$ 1.2 mill) and this money can be invested in Real Estate or Certificates of Deposit (CD), equities, securities or investment schemes endorsed by HK Immigration Dept.

Singapore

Singapore excels in modern major financial and banking sector in south east Asia. Singapore offers a “Global Investment Program” which encourages overseas investors and business entrepreneurs to make a significant contribution to the economy of the country. The minimum investment needed is SG$ 5 million (approx US$ 4 million) which has to be deposited in a bank or financial institution authorized by Singapore Financial Authority.



CARRIBEAN

The following are the countries in Carribean which are widely popular among non-EU and foreign nationals coming from other countries. These countries offer various residence or even directly “economic citizenship” to those who invest in the development and economy of the country.

St.Kitts and Nevis

St.Kitts and Nevis offers directly “citizenship” to foreign clients and the minimum investment needed is USD 200,000 and there are no residency requirements. The major advantage of gaining St.Kitts Citizenship and passport is it allows visa free travel to schengen and other 180 countries including Europe. Investment in Real estate is also possible with higher amount. No personal visit is needed.

Panama

Panama has a investor program to foreign nationals who invest in the country. The minimum investment is USD 80,000 which has to be invested in agriculture project or USD 300,000 in a real estate or a bank term deposit. A temporary or permanent residence can be obtained under investor, business or pensioner category.

Bahamas

Bahamas is a major offshore “Tax haven” for company formations in the Carribean. Bahamas has “economic investment program” for which a permanent residence is granted foreign nationals who make minimum investment of USD 500’000, in buying purchase a residence (a home or condominim) in Bahamas. The permanent residence grants the investor right to live and work in Bahamas.

Dominica

Dominica offers direct “citizenship” upon investing a non refundable investment of USD$ 75,000 in the economic development of the country. The formalities invoved with the Govt is very strict and the personal interview in Dominica is a must.

Restrictions on Dual citizenship: In the above list, Austria, Monaco, Latvia, Singapore, Hong Kong does not permit dual nationality, which means when you become a citizen, you will need to renounce your previous nationality.





The Northamerica


Canada
Canada has a investor immigration program to foreign nationals who are willing to invest a minimum of CAD$ 800,000 which has to be invested in a government backed term deposit. No interest is paid and financing option is available. Family dependents such as spouse and children under 18 years can be accompanied by the investor. The processing time for application is very lengthy in Canada and it may take about 8-14 months.




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Will these Irish migrants be different from the past?

Image via WikipediaSource: BBC News

The Celtic Tiger is in intensive care and young people are rushing for the exits. But how will a new exodus of Irish to Britain compare with previous waves of Irish immigration, asks Tom de Castella?

A couple of days before Ireland's politicians meekly agreed to the EU's financial bailout, a gleaming new terminal opened at Dublin airport.
T2 cost 600m euros but with the economy in deep recession and passenger numbers falling, it is being seen as a monument to Ireland's economic collapse.
Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary arrived at the opening in a hearse dressed in an undertaker's outfit and bearing a coffin, while a taxi driver told the Financial Times: "I suppose they're getting it ready for all the young people trying to emigrate."
Black humour is rife but beneath the joking lies a serious point. Ireland may be on the verge of sending another wave of migrants to foreign shores.

Many young Irish are now reaching for one of these

In the year up to April 2010, Irish emigration grew by 40% to 65,000 but almost half of those were Eastern Europeans returning home. The difference now is that the numbers are accelerating and it is the Irish who are leaving, according to the country's Economic and Social Research Institute. In July the research body predicted that 200,000 people would emigrate between 2010 and 2015.
"We've always had a culture of emigration," says Jamie Smyth, social affairs correspondent at the Irish Times, referring to the potato famine of the 1840s in which the Irish population shrank by more than 20% after a million people died and another million emigrated.
With a third of under-25s out of work it is the young who are most likely to leave, with Australia, New Zealand and Canada ahead of the UK as destinations according to last year's figures, says Smyth.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

If you can get out you do”

End Quote Claire Weir, 25

Indeed in the first nine months of 2009, there was only a 7% rise in the number of Irish people registered to work in the UK, hardly a major increase. But he cautions that these figures are a year out of date, and since then the UK economy has begun to recover while Ireland's economic malaise has worsened.

Claire Weir, a 25-year-old graduate, is one of the new arrivals to Britain. At the weekend she packed up her stuff, got a lift to Dublin and took the ferry to Holyhead, en route to a new life in London.
The trained photographer is sleeping on a friend's sofa, looking for part-time work in a supermarket or pub to pay the bills while she finds regular photography work.
"I just want a job, I need a bit of money coming in and can't live on thin air. I don't think I can get that consistency in Ireland."

Part of her photography studies involved taking pictures of the many unfinished property developments that now litter Ireland. She and her friends feel betrayed by a political and business class that has indebted the country for her generation. Now they are voting with their feet.
"If you can get out you do. I come from a rural area in County Meath and there are very few graduates left. Four of my closest friends have gone, the others are either in a relationship or at college so can't leave."
Mary Corcoran, professor of sociology at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, says that the boom years were an exception - for nearly every other decade since the Irish state was founded in 1919, emigration has been part of its economic survival.
Emigration reached its apogee in the 1950s when 50,000 people left a year. The outward trend stopped briefly during the 1970s but returned with a vengeance the following decade when unemployment soared. On average, 35,000 people were leaving the country a year during the 80s.
"That is the decade many are comparing today's situation with. People remember airports at Christmas time packed with emigrants coming home and the farewells in January when they all went back again."

Continue reading the main story

A 1950s Irish childhood in Britain

Poet and academic Eavan Boland moved to Britain in the early 50s when her father took up the post of Irish ambassador to London. Despite her family's exalted position in society, she recalls a British establishment that saw the Irish as "a sub race". It led her to write the poem An Irish Childhood in England: 1951, which reflected on an incident when she first went to school in England aged six. "The Irish frequently say 'I amn't' instead of 'I'm not'. But when I stood there in school and uttered the phrase the teacher turned to me scathingly and said: 'You're not in Ireland now'. It was a very small incident but has always stayed with me. We went onto the shores of England as a defeated people."

Britain, along with America, was the traditional choice for Irish people seeking a new life. In the 19th Century it was the Irish navvies who built Britain's railways, in the 20th Century they manned the nation's building sites or worked as domestic help, creating Irish ghettos in the big cities.

"When we think of emigration we think of the famine ships or the people who went to Kilburn in the early 70s and drank themselves into an early grave," she says. But the character of emigration has changed. The Irish population today is far better educated with nearly half of 25-34 year-olds having gone on to higher education, the second highest rate in the EU.
Today's immigrants are more likely to be in IT or business than construction. And whereas in the past the US was easy to settle in without papers, today the Patriot Act and tighter checks makes America off limits to most Irish.
So how will the new arrivals to Britain fare? Highly-skilled graduates in areas such as IT will find it relatively easy to get jobs, she believes. But the construction workers who once had easy pickings on British building sites will now be competing against well established East Europeans. On the plus side, whereas it was hard for previous generations to keep in touch with home, the advent of e-mail, Skype and Ryanair has made it much easier for the new wave of immigrants.

The loss of young hurlers has affected village teams

And neither will they face the same hostility as their forebears. Britain was once a byword for prejudice against Irish workers with the notorious "No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish" signs posted on B&B doors. Later, IRA bombings intensified anti-Irish feelings.
But things have changed beyond recognition for the new wave of Irish arrivals in the UK. Not only has the peace process reset the political context and the boom years given the Irish self-confidence, but the activities of radical Islamist groups have created a new scapegoat, she says.
Poet Eavan Boland, who moved to the UK in the 1950s, believes that despite possible tensions over historical baggage, the new wave of immigrants will not face the prejudices expressed in the past.
"The UK is no longer anti-Irish. In those days Ireland was a country that had been disloyal in World War II by staying neutral. It was Catholic. It was only when it became a republic in 1948 - previously it was a Free State - that Irish people could travel in Britain without papers.
"Now we're all European, we have the same passport and are entitled to free movement. Britain was a great partner in the peace process, people went through a lot together.
"And David Cameron made a beautiful speech about Bloody Sunday that was an extremely healing moment. It's come too far, there's too much understanding. I don't think you can reverse that now."
But with some resentment evident on both sides of the Irish Sea about the UK role in the rescue package agreed this week - British taxpayers unhappy and Irish pride rather injured - it remains to be seen where the relationship goes from here


.

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Canada’s trade deficit moves to surplus

Image by Mikey G Ottawa via Flickr

Ottawa — The Canadian Press Published on Thursday, Jun. 10, 2010 8:52AM EDT Last updated on Thursday, Jun. 10, 2010 11:43AM EDT

Canada’s merchandise exports declined one per cent while imports fell 2.2 in April.
Statistics Canada says the declines were the result of lower prices.
The agency reports export and import volumes rose for a third straight month, though at a slower pace than in the previous two months.
Canada’s trade balance with the world went to a surplus of $175-million in April from a deficit of $236-million in March.
Exports decreased to $32.9-billion in April from $33.3-billion in March.
Export prices fell 1.4 per cent while volumes grew 0.4.

Industrial goods and materials accounted for three-quarters of the decline in exports. Widespread gains in exports of machinery and equipment moderated the overall decrease.
Following two months of growth, imports declined from $33.5-billion in March to $32.8-billion in April, as import prices fell 2.4 per cent and volumes grew 0.2 per cent.
Statscan says the decrease in overall imports in April reflected declines in industrial goods and materials and, to a lesser extent, in other consumer goods, and machinery and equipment.
Exports to the United States rose 0.7 per cent while imports grew 0.9. As a result, Canada's trade surplus with the United States remained at $3.8-billion in April.
Exports to countries other than the United States declined 5.5 per cent, largely the result of a 23.4 per cent decline in exports to the European Union. Imports fell seven per cent, led by decreases in precious metals from the European Union.
Consequently, Canada's trade deficit with countries other than the United States narrowed to $3.6-billion in April from $4-billion in March.

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