Extra services that investors are provided with at Immigrant Invest

Adding family members to the program. It often happens that a couple receives, for example, a residence permit in Portugal, and a year or two later they have a child. According to the rules of the program, the investor has the right to add a minor child to his application at any time, even after receiving the status.

In order for a newborn child to also receive a residence permit in Portugal, Immigrant Invest lawyers will submit an application to the country’s migration service. For the addition of a new family member, the investor also pays a fee.

According to the residence permit program in Portugal, you can add any family member who, according to the degree of kinship and age, meets the criteria of the program. These are children under 26 and parents over 65. Adding to the program is possible at any time while the investor has a residence permit.

Elena Ruda,

Chief Development Officer in Immigrant Invest, lawyer

We helped Mikhail and Olga get a residence permit in Portugal. The couple wanted their parents to also participate in the program. But it was not possible to add Olga's mother and father to the application: they did not pass the age limit of the program. A year later, Mikhail was able to add his wife's parents to his application. Immigrant Invest helped Olga's parents get medical insurance and collect all the documents for the adding procedure. Also, new participants had to pass a Due Diligence check, confirm kinship with the investor and a permanent source of income abroad.

Adding requirements and the cost of obtaining a document differ depending on the country. For example, in the Caribbean country of Antigua and Barbuda, you can add your spouse, children, and parents. In Saint Lucia investors can add brothers and sisters, but with one condition: if they apply no later than five years after obtaining citizenship.

Inheritance of a passport is carried out in the same order as the addition of new family members. Their documents are submitted to the migration service, a state duty is paid. The difference between the procedure of inheritance and addition is the cost of fees.

Withdrawal from citizenship. If an investor needs to renounce citizenship received by investment, Immigrant Invest lawyers will help to go through the entire waiver procedure: from collecting documents and submitting an application to obtaining a certificate of citizenship termination.

Extension of documents. When the second passport or residence permit expires, the investor needs to contact the embassy or consulate of his country. There, they can also replace the document if it has been lost.

Not all countries allow investors to renew status on their own. For example, the Residency Malta Agency only accepts documents for renewal of Maltese permanent residence from licensed agents of the program.

Igor Buglo,

Head of the Maltese office, MBA

Immigrant Invest is a licensed agent for the permanent residence program in Malta. We not only help to get the status, but also accompany our clients during the first five years. We notify the investor in advance that it is necessary to confirm the fulfillment of the program conditions. As a rule, we contact investors two months prior to the expiration date. This time is enough to prepare the necessary documents.

When the program department issues a new passport or a residence permit card, our lawyers will check them for errors. If everything is fine, they will immediately send the document to the investor. If the migration service has made a typo, lawyers return documents to them with a request to correct mistakes.

The validity of passports varies from country to country. For example, a Maltese passport is valid for 10 years. Then it needs to be extended. To do this, you must submit an application to the passport office, hand over biometric data, and pay a fee. For the questionnaire, you will also need to fill out Form A on the website of the Government of Malta.

Immigrant Invest has its own real estate department. If clients choose to purchase real estate, department experts negotiate with developers and help to select a property.

The terms of investment programs vary: each country has its own requirements for the minimum cost and location of real estate. For example, Portugal plans to attract investments to remote areas of the country, so from 2022 investors can not buy housing in Lisbon, Porto and other major resort cities.

Immigrant Invest real estate experts are aware of all the changes. They talk about the pitfalls when buying an object and help to avoid mistakes that may occur during the transaction.

During the transaction, the seller may overestimate the price of housing or not provide all the documents, the construction of the facility may be delayed or the project will be closed altogether. Immigrant Invest:

• checks the seller documentatio, as well as the object;

• cooperates with reliable developers and monitors the construction stages of facilities;

• analyzes prices on the real estate market and offers the most favorable options in terms of price and quality ratio.

Examples of investment property in the EU and the Caribbean

Antigua & Barbuda, Saint Marys

$200,000 — $1,500,000

Share and full ownership of villas in a residential complex

92 m² — 156 m²

2

2

Greece, Athens

€737,000 — €1,760,000

Apartments and villa in a new residential project on the coast of Athens

92 m² — 156 m²

1

1

Portugal, Grandola

€515,000

Apartment in a closed condominium near the ocean

221 m²

3

3

Registration of a company. To register a business abroad, you need to know the local legislation. It’s not so quick and easy to figure it out on your own. That’s why our clients trust Immigrant Invest lawyers to register a company.

The procedure for registering a company differs depending on the country. For example, to register a business in one of the Caribbean countries, you do not need to come in person as everything is done through the state portal. The founder fills out a special form, uploads scanned documents, pays the registration tax and waits.

The cost of registering a company in the Caribbean is on average $1,200. Foreign companies are usually registered with an authorized capital of $50,000 and shares with a par value of $1. Although the law does not specify the minimum authorized capital.

After 10 days, the entrepreneur receives a certificate of registration and the charter of the company, also in electronic form. Information about the registration of the company is not entered in the public register.

Bill, 37 years old

Online sales entrepreneur

St. Lucia citizenship for business development

Bill wanted to transfer his business to the Caribbean, open bank accounts in a Caribbean country and in the USA, and develop a partnership with Singapore. The main thing for him was to bring the business to the international level. Immigrant Invest helped Bill obtain a Saint Lucia passport in 3.5 months under the citizenship program for investors. A month later, Bill registered a company in the country, opened a personal and business account with banks in Saint Lucia, the USA and Singapore. Now Bill and his company are not taxed on dividends. Moreover, the corporate income tax is only 1%.

Learn a case

Yacht registration. In order to save on taxes when buying a yacht, maintain privacy and enjoy first-class ports, investors register a vessel in a country of second citizenship. Yachtsmen most often choose Malta, Portugal, Cyprus, Montenegro or one of the Caribbean countries like Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica or Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Each country has its own rules and conditions for yacht registration. For example, Dominica does not allow foreigners to register a yacht in the country, only citizens have such a right. They can get temporary and permanent registration for 1, 3 or 5 years. To obtain a registration document, the owner provides:

• an application with the name of the vessel;

• a certificate of ownership;

• an insurance policy;

• documents that confirm the tonnage of the vessel;

• a copy of the owner’s passport.

The coast of Dominica. In the port of Dominica, owners of yachts and other boats can give the vessel for repair and buy fuel, as well as obtain customs clearance

To optimize taxation, investors receive tax resident status in the country of second citizenship. Let’s talk about the example of Dominica, how an investor can pay less taxes.

It’s not enough to obtain citizenship in the country, you still need to become a tax resident. To do this, the investor:

• receives a taxi ID;

• receives a tax code;

• spends 183 days a year in the country.

A Tax ID is a tax identifier. To get it, you need to fill out an application and submit documents on the portal of the Dominica tax office, then get a tax identification number.

The Tax ID confirms that the person has registered with the Dominica tax system. To pay taxes, you still need to get a tax code.

The Tax Code is the second identifier that is needed to file a declaration and pay taxes. To obtain it, you will need to register on the island.

Kirill, 69 years old

Retired, received citizenship of Dominica in 2020

How to become a Dominica tax resident in two weeks

In 2020, Kirill received a Dominica passport by investment. A year later, the investor wanted to become a tax resident of the country of second citizenship. To start paying taxes in Dominica, an investor needed to:

• have a registration address on the island;

• get a tax ID;

• get a tax code for filing declarations with the tax office of Dominica.

Immigrant Invest helped Kirill obtain tax residency in the Caribbean in just two weeks.

Learn a case

An account in a foreign bank is required when obtaining a residence permit, buying real estate abroad and paying for tuition or medical insurance. The opening procedure takes time, which people in business do not have much of.

Immigrant Invest lawyers open bank accounts on behalf of investors in European, American or Caribbean banks. They also help clients obtain the necessary documents for life and business:

• a driver’s license;

• certificates of non-conviction;

• ID cards;

• a social security number;

• a SIM card.

Vladlena Baranova,

Lawyer, AML Compliance officer, certified CAMS specialist

In August 2020, Immigrant Invest helped the family of Ayzere and Amir to obtain a residence permit in Portugal. They chose to buy real estate. For payments under the program, it was required to open an account in a Portuguese bank. Ayzere transferred an amount equal to the value of real estate and additional expenses under the program to this account. The amount was reserved by the bank and transferred to the developer after signing the purchase and sale agreement.

The children of our clients often go to foreign schools and universities. Immigrant Invest lawyers undertake the preparation of applicant’s documents as the company has translated and certified copies of passports and birth certificates of children. These documents are required to participate in investment programs.

The certificate and the results of the exams of the applicant will be sent to the university immediately after receipt. Then it remains to wait for the decision of the selection committee.

Mikhail and his grandson Yegor,

The investor is a citizen of Grenada. He wants his grandson to graduate ad

Grenadian citizenship to study at a foreign university

Egor is a graduate of a Moscow gymnasium. Since childhood, he dreamed of becoming a doctor and hoped to enter a foreign university in order to later work in his specialty in the USA or Great Britain.⁠ ⁠ The St. George’s University in Grenada was an unobvious but ideal choice for Egor. His grandfather Mikhail, a citizen of Grenada, insisted that his grandson first also receive the citizenship of the country. The second passport helped the family to reduce the cost of studying at the university by seven times.

Learn a case