Why wealthy Vietnamese chose to naturalize Cyprus, Saint Lucia, Portugal

Not only going to the United States, Canada, Australia or Europe, many Vietnamese choose to naturalize foreign countries such as Cyprus, Saint Lucia and Grenada. What is the reason for these decisions?

Settling in developed countries is the dream of many Vietnamese families. Along with the trend of globalization, destinations are becoming more and more diverse.

The Caribbean and the Mediterranean are two regions that are being chosen by many Vietnamese.

“The United States and Canada are traditional destinations, but a change has recently begun. Many people choose the Caribbean to easily travel between countries,” said Dominic Volek, commercial director of the company. Henley & Partners company, share with Vietnamese BBC News.

Henley & Partners is a company specialized in investment migration (investment migration), with two forms of investment for residence by investment and investment for citizenship (citizenship by investment).

Volek said that in 2019, Vietnam accounted for 20% of the company’s customers in Southeast Asia.

“The number of rich people in Vietnam is huge. They care about global travel and welfare policy. You can say that Vietnam is a fertile market, similar to Nigeria and India,” he said.

Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Dominica, and Saint Lucia are the places where many Vietnamese choose to invest in citizenship in recent years.

Learn about these countries, to become a citizen, you just need to be financially eligible and comply with government regulations without having to go live there, without knowing the language.

Mr. Volek said: “Our Vietnamese clients often choose islands such as Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Grenada.”

“A Vietnamese family of four can obtain citizenship here in six months without leaving Vietnam. The total cost is between US $ 150,000 and US $ 250,000. With passports from these countries, they can go to many countries without complicated visa procedures.” .

Specifically, if they want to naturalize in Saint Kitts and Nevis, a person with a family of up to four can do one of the following: donate $ 150,000 to the Sustainable Development Fund; or buy property with a value of at least $ 200,000 over seven years, or buy property with a value of $ 400,000 over five years.

After currently investing or donating the above, applicants and family members will be granted citizenship within 60 days.

Saint Kitts and Nevis passport holders can travel to 156 countries without applying for a visa in advance. This is a huge difference, as Vietnamese passport holders can only be visa-free in 54 countries.

Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Dominica and Saint Lucia are small island nations in the Caribbean, of which the largest country in terms of area is Dominica, at 750 km2, only 1.3 times the island of Phu Quoc. And the largest country in terms of population is Saint Lucia with 181,000 inhabitants, not even the population of Phu Quoc.

However, the common characteristic of these countries is that their GDP per capita is much higher than that of Vietnam and their passports are more powerful than Vietnam, which is why they are chosen by many Vietnamese.

“Ease of travel is one of the most important factors in the decision to choose citizenship,” Volek said.

Investing in Grenada citizenship could also be a transition to the United States on an E-2 visa.

The reason why the Vietnamese changed their address from the USA, Canada to countries like Cyprus, Malta is because naturalization is easier. While Cyprus and Malta passports are as strong as Singapore’s, visa-free for over 180 countries.

“The appeal of Cyprus and Malta is that you will become an EU citizen. If you become a citizen of any EU member state, you will enjoy the freedom of residence,” Volek said.

To obtain Maltese citizenship, applicants must: donate € 650,000 to a government development fund; invest € 150,000 in government-designated stocks or bonds; purchase of a property for a minimum of 350,000 euros over five years or lease of a property for five years for 16,000 euros per year. From the above, donations are irrevocable, investments can be recovered.

With a Maltese passport, a person can travel freely within the EU and the Schengen bloc and can travel to 184 countries without applying for a visa in advance.

“By naturalizing Malta or Cyprus, you will have a strong passport like Singapore, visa-free for 180 countries,” shared Volek.

Not only is it easy to travel, people with citizenship of Cyprus or Malta can go to other EU countries such as Germany, France, Italy, Belgium … to live, work, buy a house. Their children enjoy a developed, low-cost or free education from these countries.

In addition to investment citizenship forms, many Vietnamese people also choose investment residency investments. With this form, after making some investments and paying fees, a residence permit will be issued to the applicant.

One of the destinations that has emerged recently is Portugal with the “Golden Visa” program.

Typically, a popular form of investment is in real estate, ranging from 350,000 to 500,000 euros. Once you have a residence permit, you can go to Portugal to live and work and your children go there to study. The education of children and the need to travel are also the main reasons why many people choose this path.

For example, Mr. Truong Van Hoang, a businessman from Ho Chi Minh City, settled in Hungary after having some success in Vietnam. He chose to buy real estate in Hungary with around 5-7 billion VND and was granted a temporary residence card. For him, this is a way for the family to have more options.

In sharing with the BBC about this form of investment, Hoang said:

“I did not give up my Vietnamese citizenship, I just chose to have an extra space to stay and travel more easily. As if you want to have more places to rest in Da Lat, so the summer in Hungary really likes it.”

“At the same time, this investment also helps my family to travel easily, my children to enjoy a better education. Currently my son is studying here, he plans to finish university at an international school in Hungary.”

“Studying Hungarian schools in Hungarian is free. And international English study costs, but not higher than Vietnamese Australian schools in Vietnam,” shared Mr. Hoang.

Mr. Hoang added: “To bring the whole family, wife and children to Hungary, I paid nearly 2 billion VND to the service company, the remaining around 5 billion is for real estate investment.” you should always keep real estate, not sell it. ”

With Hungary, Mr. Hoang shared that, depending on the payment of taxes, citizenship can be awarded to dedication. Currently, his family is still in Hungary with a permanent residence card: “There are many Vietnamese who live here for 30 years without any citizenship,” he said.

According to Portuguese policy, the government does not require spending many days there to maintain a residence permit. The requirement is to live only a minimum of seven days a year for five years. Another attraction is that a person with a residence permit in Portugal will not need to apply for a Schengen visa.

Consequently, after five years of receiving the residence card, if the applicant maintains the investment, lives there seven days a year, reaches the basic level of proficiency in Portuguese, he can apply for admission. citizenship, become an EU citizen.

In addition to new destinations, traditional markets such as the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand … remain the first choice for Vietnamese families.

For the United States, the EB-5 visa is the most common form and typically has a minimum investment of $ 900,000. After that, you can get a green card and come to the United States to live for a specific period to apply for citizenship.

Representatives from Henley & Partners shared: “Vietnam has a lot of wealthy and emerging people and they are becoming more and more global. Their company size has also expanded, so they need to travel a lot to work. The demand is increasing year after year.”

“Canada is also the place of choice for many people and this immigration program is only available in Quebec. But now the program is closed and could reopen in the second quarter of 2021,” he said.

According to this company, Vietnamese clients are usually between 40 and 60 years old, successful entrepreneurs. Also, young people succeed early.

The Henley & Partners representative said that Covid-19 caused great difficulties to the market and had a great impact on the choice of customers.

Mr Volek said: “I have seen interest from wealthy clients in some other countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, where Covid-19 protection is very good. Once you invest, you will get a residence permit. Live there, far away. of epidemic foci.

With Australia, investment of 1.5 to 5 million AUD. In New Zealand, investments range from NZD 3 million to NZD 10 million.

In addition to the epidemic, President Donald Trump’s policy also made America, which is the first-choice destination, complicated.

“Considering the current situation and the way the United States government operates, the epidemic, the riots and now the upcoming elections, it appears that many customers are looking for other options,” Volek said.

Representative Henley & Partners analyzed further: “When the election takes place in any country, we will see the phenomenon of one side against the other. That creates a situation of uncertainty. If you are not interested. you can still choose the election results. But if you are concerned about the current situation and the election results, you may have to consider it. ”

However, Volek still claimed that the United States is a very important market.