In the immigration by investment industry, we sometimes come across clients who say they want to “wait and see” before making a decision on whether or not to move forward with EB-5, E-2, Grenada, Turkey, or other immigration by investment programs. “Wait and see” could refer to any number of family, economic, political, or personal reasons for wanting to delay proceeding with the investment and government application. While it is prudent to carefully weigh your options before deciding on a particular immigration program or investment option, we have seen clients fall into the “paralysis by analysis” trap, meaning they get so overwhelmed by different options, different “what if” scenarios, or over-analysis of the numbers or potential risks that they are simply unable to move forward. The flood of information and over-analysis paralyzes their capability to move forward.
When making financial investments, sometimes this extreme level of patience and analysis can pay off because it allows one to filter through many potential opportunities until one that finally meets their criteria lands in front of them. However, when immigration through investment is the objective, it almost never pays to wait on the sidelines and sift through countless options, searching for the perfect one. The reason is that immigration is a very politicized and polarizing issue in most countries, and thus it is subject to the whims of policy makers, elections, and political climates. Immigration policy represents opportunity that is “here and now”, but may not be available in the future. It is often hard to predict if and when change to immigration policy will come, but often times it is unexpected. And more often than not, the new policies put in place are more restrictive than the policies that preceded them. Let’s just take a look at a few examples in recent years:
- In March 2019, Cyprus suddenly announced that their citizenship by investment program would include a mandatory 75,000 EUR donation to the government, that the investment be sustained for 5 years instead of 3 years, and that applicants have a valid Schengen visa¹
- In November 2019, the United States EB-5 investment amount was increased from $500,000 to $900,000, and the criteria for qualifying projects was made much more strict²
- In January 2020, Portugal suddenly announced that they will no longer be accepting Golden Visa investments in the major cities of Lisbon and Porto³
- In May 2020, Canada’s Quebec immigration investment program announced it would be suspending applications until April 2021°
There are many more examples to point to, but the overall trend shows that in most cases, these immigration by investment programs are tightening, not loosening up. With more protectionism likely to follow in the wake of the pandemic, it it likely that we will see even more tightening of immigration by investment policies. In the US in April 2020, for example, the EB-5 program narrowly escaped inclusion in a temporary immigration ban that was intended to help the US recover from the pandemic (as we reported HERE).
Once decided on a country and program that is right for the investor and their family, the investor should waste no time in moving forward. The only thing for certain with immigration policy is that the opportunity is here and now, and that any applicant that files before any changes take effect is sure to be grandfathered in under the existing policy. With EB-5, this is especially important for investors from retrogressed countries like China, India, and Vietnam. We’ve seen in the past instances where investors who waited months to make a decision ending up adding years onto their visa wait time as thousands of investors filed applications ahead of them, and thus pushing them to the back of the visa queue.
Ultimately, participating in immigration by investment programs requires a certain degree of trust from the investor: trust in the migration agent, trust in the immigration attorney, trust in the project developer, and trust in the rule of law. The investor should spend ample time vetting these different stakeholders in their immigration journey, but once trust is established, don’t get bogged down with paralysis by analysis. Seize the moment and the opportunity now to secure a better future for the family.
¹https://www.mondaq.com/cyprus/investment-immigration/787282/changes-to-the-cyprus-investment-program-new-criteria-will-apply-starting-from-the-15th-may-2019-for-investors-seeking-cyprus-citizenship
²https://www.natlawreview.com/article/longstanding-eb-5-visa-program-undergoes-significant-changes
³https://www.goldenvisas.com/portugal-plan-major-golden-visa-changes#:~:text=On%20Monday%2010th%20February%2C%20the,purchase%20outside%20of%20these%20locations.
ºhttps://www.cicnews.com/2020/05/quebec-suspends-immigrant-investor-program-again-0514419.html#gs.8nrvtk
