“Getting a Golden Passport Feels Like You Suddenly Have VIP Access”: IM People in The News This Week

Investment migration people and firms in the news this week included:

• Tom Rosenfeld of CanAm
• Ahsan Nasratullah of Global City Regional Center
• Alexandros Risvas of Risvas & Associates 
• Kristin Surak
• Dominic Volek of Henley & Partners
• James McKay
• Caterina Cappellari and Erika G. Litvak of Greenberg Traurig Law
• Pace Law Firm
• Arton Capital
• Edgar Pulido of Solid EB-5

The Philadelphia Inquirer – How rich immigrants won U.S. residency by investing $1.4 billion in Philly projects

The PIDC deal made Philadelphia a center for EB-5 investments at the beginning of the program’s busiest years, said Tom Rosenfeld, head of CanAm.

[…]

CanAm recruited visa-seeking investors, mostly in China, the largest source of EB-5 applicants nationwide. PIDC found the projects and developers. Initial projects were small. “There was little knowledge or positive history regarding the program,” Rosenfeld said. “A $500,000 immigration investment, by any family, is a big deal.”

[…]

Developer Ahsan Nasratullah says he first sought EB-5 investments in 2012 for the Crane, a mostly market-rate, 150-apartment high-rise tower in Chinatown. PIDC, he said, wasn’t sure the project was an EB-5 fit.

[…]

Unlike its larger rival CanAm, “we have to go to businesspeople we know personally, not agents and brokers,” he said. “People I knew in Bangladesh had contacts in Malaysia, so we approached them. And we knew some immigration lawyers in Africa. We located a dentist from Canada who wanted a visa.”

Ekathimerini – Piraeus becomes new magnet for Golden Visa suitors

According to Alexandros Risvas, head of the Risvas & Associates law office, the majority of investors are now looking for properties in Piraeus and the wider area which are not affected by the change that concerns Athens and its suburbs.

The Economic Times – A passport to everywhere

Kristin Surak, associate professor of Political Sociology at the London School of Economics, UK, and author of ‘The Golden Passport: Global Mobility for Millionaires’, says that India has one of the lowest ranks when it comes to visa-free access, so travel for Indian citizens can be incredibly challenging.

[…]

“And it’s not just entering, even transiting through countries can be a challenge,” she says, recounting how a colleague had to pay an extra 1,000 pounds to fly from Delhi to London because he couldn’t transit through certain countries using only his Indian passport.

[…]

“Getting a Golden Passport feels like you suddenly have VIP access. That peace of mind is very important,” says Surak. “And it also fits with the self identity of people as being successful global citizens because there is still a strong hierarchy of countries”.

[…]

“The US is still the target, primarily because of the education opportunities it offers,” says Dominic Volek, group head of Private Clients at Henley & Partners, an international residence and citizenship advisory firm. Education is a big driver for investment migration, particularly in countries like the US, Canada, Europe and the UK. Dubai, Singapore and Australia are some other countries that clients are looking at, he says.

[…]

“We see a lot of families build a portfolio of countries that they can move to because no place is perfect,” says Volek. “For example, Europe is great but if the Russian- Ukraine conflict and other things that are happening there escalate, then it may not be a good Plan B anymore. So then, what’s my Plan C? Maybe residence in Mauritius,” he adds.

National Law Review – Visa Options and Tax Considerations for Latin American Investors and Companies

Caterina Cappellari and Erika G. Litvak of Greenberg Traurig write a piece detailing the various visa options and the subsequent tax considerations Latin American investors should consider

Against this backdrop, some Latin American investors and companies are showing increased interest in investing in the United States, attracted by its geographical proximity, access to a large consumer base, historically stable economy, and legal system. At GT, we have seen a sharp uptick in the number of inquiries from Latin American investors looking into establishing businesses as a vehicle for migration.

[…]

There are several pre-immigration planning steps that can be taken prior to the individual’s immigration. In view of this, any individual considering immigration to the United States should seek individualized tax advice on a pre immigration basis in order to determine the effects of the potential change of U.S. tax residency and the options to alleviate the effects of such change.

Forbes – New Index Presents Different View Of Value Of Passports For Investors

According to the Pace index, it adds depth to the evaluation because it takes into account three main factors.

1. Weighted Scoring: Countries are scored on a scale of 1 to 10, with 75% of the weight attributed to GDP and 25% to tourism.
2. Simplicity with Depth: While the method is simple, it introduces thoughtful complexity. For example, to negate the Covid-19 impact, 2019’s tourism statistics are used. This ensures a passport’s overall appeal is gauged, independent of specific temporal fluctuations.
3. Transparency: Setting itself apart, the Pace index offers complete transparency. Using publicly accessible data, it employs openly available code for data cleaning and analysis. Thus, the methodology stands open for scrutiny.

[…]

That said, however, there are other indexes that are helpful, although arguably for different purposes. The Henley passport index and the Arton Capital passport index, and the CBI index immediately come to mind. But there are still others.

El País (Colombia) – Esta es la visa con la que podrá vivir en Estados Unidos; así puede aplicar

According to Edgar Pulido, international director of Solid EB-5: “I would say that the program is currently recovering and gaining great momentum in Colombia, while remaining cautious; The United States is seen as a solid passport worldwide.”

Additionally he added that; “When the program reopened there were people sitting waiting ready to move. The changes in the program gave them new opportunities that were not available before .”