France, Italy or Grenada Financial independence can get you settled there with freedom to roam world!

NEW DELHI, Jul 20: If you earn Rs 5-10 lakh a month, or can invest a few thousand dollars in a startup or a hotel, or just buy an apartment, a global immigration consultant is promising to get you settled in several countries, and the options range from France and Italy to Greece and Grenada.

“The choice is obvious. You can buy an apartment in Gurugram but that won’t allow you to live in Italy, for example, but if you buy an apartment of the same cost in Italy, you can live there or anywhere else in Europe along with easy access to so many other countries,” said Andrew Boiko, founder of global immigration major Garant.in.

Given the strong interest among rich Indians to settle abroad, the Dubai-based company has opened a full-fledged office in New Delhi and plans to follow it up soon with an office in Mumbai and then a few in central and southern parts of the country.

Speaking with PTI, Boiko said his company has received more than 4,000 ‘requests’ in just three months from India and the countries that are topping the charts for Indians to move to, include France, Italy, Greece and Grenada.

A key factor he noticed among Indians wanting to shift abroad, Boiko said, is that Indians are like investors even when it comes to moving abroad.

“Indians are very pragmatic. They don’t want to pay a donation (asked by some countries for citizenship or residency) for nothing, as they want the money back. They also want a return on their investment,” Boiko said.

And it is here that programmes like financial independence and investments are being liked by Indians looking to settle abroad, he added.

Under the financial independence programme, a person needs to show a steady income flow beyond a certain threshold to get a residency in a country, and that gets converted into citizenship after a few years, subject to eligible terms and conditions.

While European and Caribbean countries mostly offer investment-based or financial independence programmes for citizenship after a prescribed period of residency, most of the Middle East offer long-term residency (mostly up to 10 years) in lieu of donations (a fixed amount to be paid to the government) or investments, Boiko said.

Asked how much income one has to show for shifting to countries like France, Italy, Greece or Grenada, Boiko said it is roughly 5,000-10,000 euros or Rs 5-10 lakh per month.

While countries like France and Italy are preferred as potential destinations for Indians is understood, Boiko explained why Grenada also figures on the top.

The Caribbean country is considered among the safest places in the world, and a Grenada passport allows you visa-free travel to entire Europe, the UK, Hong Kong, Russia, Singapore, UAE, etc, along with easy access to the US, he said.

Besides, this Commonwealth nation also allows you to stay or do business in any country in Europe permanently and several other places, he added.

Known as the ‘spice island’, Grenada is one of the smallest countries in the western hemisphere and comprises just a few islands with a total population of about 1.25 lakh.

Boiko said another programme that could sell like a hot cake in India could be the soon-to-be-unveiled Argentine golden visa.

He explained the Golden Visas are generally quick ways to get a residency in some countries, which can lead to citizenship in the future.

“Some of the countries, like European Golden Visas, allow you to get a citizenship in 5-10 years,” he said.

“On the other hand, in the Middle East, you are unable to get citizenship in most cases. You can only have residency, but that can be for up to 10 years,” Boiko added.

Residency also allows one to do business in a country, live or study there and also have their families, but minus citizenship, but European Golden Visas have a big advantage in terms of visa-free access to entire Europe and also several other Latin American or American countries, he said.

It also gets much easier to get a UK visa, Australian visa or US visa if you are in Europe, he said.

Boiko said it makes good business sense for the countries also as their companies have to facilitate easy access for their customers, or foreigners to buy property or make investments in companies, banks or bonds, as all of that would help grow their economy.

“It’s like a mutual beneficial cooperation,” he explained.

Boiko said there are also Golden Passport programmes, like Malta and several Caribbean countries, which grant citizenship in the very beginning, or in 6-8 months’ time.

But the terms like golden visa and golden passport can mean different things in different countries.

For example, in Portugal, Boiko said, one needs to establish a company or invest in a company and create a particular number of jobs, pay taxes, etc.

In the UAE, one can get a Golden Visa if he or she works in a particular company that must fit certain criteria, and the person needs to get a particular amount of salary, he noted.

Asked which are the most preferred countries and programmes among Indians, Boiko said the financial independence or stable income programme tops the chart.

“So, for example, if you are getting stable income for at least half of a year or one year and your monthly declared income is more than 5,000 euros a month, you can get a residency,” he said.

In case of countries like France and Spain, you can get a permanent residency after five years, followed by citizenship after 6-7 years, he noted.

In addition, there are classic golden visas, such as in Italy, which require you to make an investment that you can also redeem in two years, he added.

“When you invest in Italy, you get a residency within 2-3 months and you get a permanent residency after 5 years,” he said.

Most importantly, after 10 years, you can get the citizenship of Italy, and the Italian passport is one of the most powerful passports in the world, Boiko pointed out.

“If you want, you can sell your property in Italy with good returns after two years and then buy one in Gurugram,” he quipped.

Boiko said the countries conduct proper due diligence before granting any residency or citizenship, as they are not interested only in getting fees, but also in bringing in investors or contributors to their economies. For some countries, people need to clear language proficiency tests before finally getting a citizenship.

Asked about various payments one need to make before moving abroad, he explained there are various components, including processing fees for due diligence, profile-checking and KYC etc, application fees for visas and residency and immigration, while some cases also involve a donation that one needs to make in case of some countries and that could run into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In cases of investment-based residency or citizenship, the investment amount made by a person remains his or her own, he said.

Not all countries ask for donations, he said.

Asked about illegal means like the ‘dunki’ route to move abroad, Boiko said some people basically get fooled into such routes, and it happens because they don’t conduct proper due diligence of the people they are dealing with.

“In today’s times, you can hardly trust anyone a hundred per cent. One must check the law before trusting anyone or anything,” he said. (PTI)

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