The new
craze of obtaining second citizenship is catching up with the Ultra wealthy and
super rich classes of people in India and China. The second citizenship or the
global citizen is the process of obtaining residence in a foreign land. High
Net worth (HNW) or rich Indians are individuals with net worth of $ 30 million
or more and constitute one of the largest populations of individuals abroad.
Already
China and India has sizeable number of individuals in foreign lands. As the
precedent has been set, more and more people are moving to newer lands. In most
of the cases, the reasons for such a movement is for better standard of living,
greater stability and security, tax efficiency, ease of travel, increased
options for children’s education and investment opportunities. In order to
obtain such secondary citizenship, individuals have to shell out money for
making business investments in the new land to a tune of around £ 1 million for
Britain or $ 500,000 in potentially risky projects
(various
foundations or partnerships). Investor initially gets EB5 visa (temporary
residence) and after two years he can get permanent residence (green card) if
the business has created more than 10 jobs. Dual citizenship is recognised in
US. After 7 years of residence second citizenship is possible. It just costs
0.5% of their liquid assets or 0.1% of their net worth to enjoy the positive
benefits of the country.
As per Britain’s Migratory Advisory Committee India is the fifth largest nationality to infuse funds in UK after the introduction of the investor VISA scheme in 2008. Under this scheme individuals are required to make business investments of minimum of £ 1 million in government gilts or loan but a British passport is not offered. Russian Oligarchs top the list with 850 followed by Chinese (496), US citizens (96), Egyptian millionaires (46) and Indians (44) in order. Billionaire Pallonji Mistry got Irish citizenship under similar scheme. One in every seven ultra high net worth individuals (UHNW) in the World- of the 2,00,000 UHNWs 27,000 are either an Indian or Chinese. Other countries which offer second citizenship are St. Kitts and Nevis, Common Wealth of Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, Austria and Australia. While permanent residency can be obtained from Hong Kong and Singapore by making business investments citizenship is ruled out as dual citizenship is not recognised.
As trillions
of wealth is being generated in Asia which constitutes 60% of world population,
more and more HNW individuals are moving off shores for various benefits which
they are unable to get in their home lands. Europe is the most popular destination
in terms of UHNW secondary citizenship applications. A study
carried out in China, revealed the pattern and reasons for self-willed migration. It was found that most of the upper middle class are
trying to move to different countries. Most of the skilled people are not seeking
better employment opportunities or better political freedom but a better quality
of life. Most of them are tired of the persistent rat race, one child policy,
stressed life, and slackened safety- net. A vast majority of them are leaving
for the country for good. Unlike the past waves of migration, people are now
leaving the country not for financial gains. As a result in the past decade
nearly 1 million Chinese have obtained permanent resident status in Canada.
They are now making up for the large chunk of resident populations in America
and Australia as well. Their residency has nearly doubled in Italy accounting
to almost 1,20,000. With a steep surge
in the Chinese migration, countries like Canada have begun to step up their
barriers. But the economically hit south European countries are easing up the
regulations to lap up the cash reserves of skilled Chinese business men into
their countries.
Greece and
Portugal are now offering residency at a much lower investments than in Canada.
The super wealthy Chinese are now literally spread all across the globe. As the
real estate has picked up in China, people are selling off their immovable
assets in Beijing and are moving to different countries that offer them more
positive benefits. For most of them living abroad has become a less costly
affair too. While it is necessary in America, Australia or Canada to stay there
to qualify for citizenship- referred to as immigration
jail, is not mandatory in Italy or Greece. Of late, these exit routes from
mainland are mostly availed by the corrupt Chinese officials to migrate to foreign
lands since anti-corruption drive has been intensified. Now with the worst ever
pollution threats and rampant corruption Chinese are in search of safe havens.
The motto seems to be: if you want to be a millionaire stay in China, else move
out and enjoy life.
This study
clearly portrays the effects of the lopsided growth of China though hailed and
emulated by various countries. India is next in line, itching for similar
growth phenomenon. The economic prosperity evident in China is absent in India
as of now. But as we are progress towards a better growth rate and higher per capita
income with inadvertent destruction of the natural resources, India is at
potential risk of falling into the same trap. No doubt substantial economic
gains would enhance the purchasing capacity of the citizens, but the quality of
life might be sub-standard. Development should better lives of the citizens in
every aspect- better quality of life, availability of basic needs like safe
drinking water, electricity, housing facilities, education and enhanced social
security through conservation or optimum utilisation of natural resources. In
short, good governance is the key for a vibrant nation else the citizens with
big pockets might flock to foreign lands for a superior quality of life.
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