Economic citizenship.
There are about 42 countries worldwide that offer economic citizenship programmes. From Antigua to the USA. I am from Jersey, where for example, if you have capital wealth over £20 million, you may be considered for residency. Jersey companies are the most active in providing economic citizen assistance, and so I have been in contact with one of the most trusted companies in the business, to gain some insight.
In Spain there is currently no programme in place. However it is being discussed by politicians, as they are being lobbied hard by their banking, developer and lawyer friends to come up with something to help clear the glut of bank owned, and developer supported properties. Lawyers in Marbella are pre empting any possible changes in the law, because they are hoping to be beneficiaries, by providing immigration assistance, also on final exchange fees, and other displacement costs. Larger law firms are hoping to benefit from their work in providing due diligence to the goverment on the non EU subjects looking to take up residency in Spain, through investment.
By studying the programmes on offer in other countries, there are a few things that come immediately to mind.
1. The purchase price seems very low, considering that most clients considering such a move, are millionaires. Most programmes start at around the $500k mark. I am sure this figure will change, and obviously it is one being touted by the banks and developers.
2. In other programmes, the developments that can be sold are strictly regulated by the Government. The majority are luxury developments aimed at foreign investors. This is done to maximise the investment amount, and also to protect the local people and their businesses.
3. In other programmes, the marketing of such properties, is strictly regulated. Only goverment approved companies are allowed to advertise citizenship programmes. Lawyers, well established immigration specialists, and approved developers seem to be trusted, but real estate agencies are not. You can imagine if an industry that is unregulated, like the overseas property industry were allowed to promote this, then countries would soon have to cancel their programmes.
4. Due to the large amount of due diligence required, for this law change to take place, it could be years, not months before any citizenship through investment programmes are ratified. Also there is a large chance that any proposals will be blocked by fellow nations within the Schengen States. This has already happened in Bulgaria for example, whose programme was blocked the Netherlands.
Therefore, I would suggest that any lawyers saying that they can provide a service at present, cannot do so, if you adhere to my afore mentioned points.
To summarise, any change in the law will have to pass EU legislation, the purchase amount has not yet been set, so it will be difficult to moneterise a fee, the developments that will be in the programme, have not been decided, and the companies that are allowed offer services to facilitate such a purchase, have not yet been granted authorisation.
The current law on acquiring citizenship in Spain is as follows:
In certain cases it is possible to acquire Spanish citizenship after only 2 years of legal residence, namely if you are a citizen of and were born in a former colony of Spain (this includes most Latin American countries and the Philippines) or if you are a Sephardic Jew. The normal period of time required before you may apply for citizenship is 10 years.
Kind regards,
Ross.
