Dozens of wealthy Gulf residents, including
royalty, have expressed their interest in signing up for a controversial
Maltese scheme offering European citizenship in return for investment of about
$1.3m, firms involved have revealed to Arabian Business.
Under the Malta Individual Investor Program, which
was announced and signed into law by the Maltese government in November last
year, applicants must make a one-time, lump sum contribution amounting to at
least €650,000 ($885,906) and, assuming they pass all necessary security checks,
would be given a Maltese passport within a number of months.
Malta joined the European Union in 2004, therefore
the citizenship would give successful applicants access to visa-free travel
access to more than 145 countries including Canada, the United Kingdom,
Switzerland, and free access to all 28 EU-Schengen countries.
The scheme received a lot of interest from
potential wealthy applicants in the region, Yann Mrazek, managing partner of
Dubai-based law firm M Associates of Law, which is offering the scheme, told
Arabian Business.
“I don’t know overall but from our practice we have
at least 20 or 25 people in the pipeline ready to go… they are already
convinced. Of course, that depends on the fine print but the money is not the
issue
“We anticipate the €650,000 for one application but
I also anticipate for the country to request a real estate investment of no
less than €350,000… So roughly a total of around €1m for due diligence and
processing. It is not small change but… it looks like a good proposal,” he
said.
Applicants can also apply for their spouses and
family to be part of the scheme, with an additional cost of €25,000 per spouse
and child under 18 years old and €50,000 for children aged over 18 to 25 years
old or parents aged over 55.
Newspaper reports in Malta confirmed that in
addition to Gulf-based high net worth individuals, a former Formula 1 world
champion, an international pop singer, a high profile Gulf royal family member a
South American footballer, an American press magnate, a Singaporean business
tycoon and a Chinese billionaire are among those who already have either
expressed interest or applied for the scheme.
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The program is likely to be popular among wealthy
Gulf locals as it gives unlimited travel access among the Schengen Area of
Europe. Last summer, the UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al
Nahyan claimed Emiratis faced issues travelling within the region.
“Too often, Emirati citizens are stopped at
European borders and turned away because of unclear, complex, and restrictive visa-regulations,”
he said.
While the EU announced late last year it was
pushing ahead with plans to allow UAE citizens visa-free access to the Schengen
Area, the Malta Individual Investor Program would give applicants citizenship
of the island state and free visa-free access to the whole of the EU and
beyond.
The scheme has proved hugely controversial in Malta
and faced opposition from the European Commission leaders.
“You cannot put a price tag on EU
citizenship,” a spokesperson said on behalf of EU Justice Commissioner
Viviane Reding.
In a damning resolution, the European Parliament heavily
criticised the scheme and said “EU citizenship should never become a
tradable commodity”, urged Malta to “bring its current citizenship
scheme in line with the EU’s values” and demanded changes be made “in
order to prevent such schemes from undermining the values that the EU has been
built upon”.
Maltese opposition political parties have
campaigned against the scheme.
“Citizenship is not something which is to be
treated lightly… We oppose the selling of citizenship outright and think it
is demeaning that a discrimination has been created between rich and normal
people. There is a the legal problem that selling Maltese citizenship is also
selling European citizenship,” Arnold Cassola, chairperson of Alternattiva
Demokratika, the Maltese Green Party, told Arabian Business.
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While Cassola said the scheme could be financially
lucrative for Malta, he called on the government to hold a referendum on the
matter.
“The plan is to get over a billion euro and that is
the stated goal. Around €200m a year would be a big injection into the Maltese
economy… [But] as Greens we say there should be a referendum for the people
to decide,” he said.
While the scheme was due to be rolled out in
February, meetings took place between the European Commission and the Maltese
government this week, amid concerns from commissioners about the long-term
impact of the scheme.
In a joint statement issued by the European
Commission and the Maltese government, it was decided that some form of
residency would be added into the terms and conditions for the scheme.
“On 29 January 2014, representatives of the
European Commission’s services and of the Government of Malta met on the issue
of the Individual Investor Programme of the Republic of Malta… with a view to
clarify that this Programme will confer full rights, responsibilities and a
full citizenship status,” the statement, issued by the office of Commissioner
Viviane Reding, confirmed.
“The amendments include genuine links to Malta
through the introduction of an effective residence status in Malta prior to the
possibility to acquire Maltese naturalisation. No certificate of naturalisation
will be issued unless the applicant provides proof that he/she has resided in
Malta for a period of at least 12 months immediately preceding the day of
issuing of the certificate of naturalisation.”
It is currently
unclear how the new residency criteria will impact demand for the scheme, but
Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat last night described it as just “a minor
change” and vowed to push on with the implementation of the scheme.
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