Completing economic citizenship application forms

Every candidate for foreign citizenship has to complete certain standardized application forms. Completing the forms correctly is crucially important and we discuss the matter in detail below.

When applying for citizenship of a foreign country in exchange for an investment, you have to be prepared to supply a lot of personal information to the immigration authorities. The data that you supply has to be truthful and exhaustive.

Economic citizenship forms can be divided into several classes each class serving its own purpose:

The amount of personal information that you will be asked to share can be different depending on the country whose citizenship you are seeking. In most cases, however, the immigration authorities will want to know if you can supply a clean criminal record, if you have done any military service, if you are a Politically Exposed Person (PEP), and if you have ever been rejected a visa/ a residence permit/ citizenship of a foreign country.  

Avoid mistakes when completing economic citizenship application forms

Most countries granting citizenship to foreigners in exchange for investments require that the applications be filed via an authorized immigration agent. The exceptions from this rule are Turkey and Bulgaria that allow filing the applications for citizenship directly to the immigration authorities.

The immigration agent is going to be of great assistance to you as he or she can give you useful tips and hints related to completing the application forms. At the same time, supplying truthful, precise, and exhaustive information remains your responsibility.

The immigration agent will act on your behalf so you have to familiarize yourself with all the requirements before supplying personal information to the agent. If you make a false statement in your application forms or if you make a grave mistake, you application for foreign citizenship may well be rejected. The most unpleasant things about the rejection is that in most cases, it will entail automatic rejections if you apply for citizenship of another country in the future. Thus, this issue needs to be handled with care indeed.

If you supply false information, get away with it, and obtain the foreign passport, you should not actually congratulate yourself. If the truth comes out later, your passport is going to be annulled in an instant. The money that you will have invested, however, will not be returned to you. Please bear in mind that immigration authorities of all countries granting citizenship to foreigners for investments conduct serious due diligence checks making use of international databases and hiring independent detective agencies.

Let us consider in detail what personal information needs to be supplied when applying for economic citizenship of the following five countries:  

• Saint Lucia;
• Grenada;
• Antigua and Barbuda;
• Malta;
• Vanuatu.

What information should they contain in St Lucia?

If you choose to apply for economic citizenship of St Lucia in the Caribbean, you have to be prepared to share the following personal information with the immigration authorities of the country:

• Have you ever been arrested, detained, wanted by the authorities, found guilty, charged but found not guilty? (Minor violations of traffic rules do not count.)
• Have you ever been denied a visa to a country that has a visa-free travel agreement with St Lucia? If so, you have to indicate the country and the date of the denial. (If you have been granted the visa on a second application, the initial visa denial is not going to be an obstacle to obtaining the St Lucian passport.)
• Have you had a visa to a foreign country annulled?
• Have you ever been declared bankrupt by a court of law? If so, you will have to indicate the country where the decision was made and its date. 
• Have you ever been involved in the process of company liquidation/ bankruptcy procedures?
• Have you ever testified in a court of law?
• Have you ever been charged with any criminal allegation?
• Have you ever been under investigation?
• Have you ever been found potentially threatening for the national security of any country?
• Have you ever been sentenced to prison/ been on probation?
• Have you ever been pardoned for a crime?
• Have you ever acted as a witness in a court of law?
• Have you ever acted as a claimant or a defendant in a court of law as a natural person or as a company director/ owner/ representative? (Divorce cases do not count.) 
• Have you ever been involved in terrorism financing activities of any kind (direct/ indirect)?
• Have you ever illegally resided in a foreign country? Have you ever been deported from a foreign country?
• Has your application for foreign citizenship ever been rejected?
• Have you ever been banned by any authorities from conducting certain types of professional or commercial activities?
• Are you a Politically Exposed Person? This category covers acting/ former government officials with significant public roles. These include military officers, heads of the state, judges, political party leaders, and senior managers of state-owned enterprises. PEP’s family members and close collaborators are also considered PEPs.
• Has a court of law/ a qualified medical doctor ever found you mentally incapacitated?
• Have you supplied exhaustive information about all types of commercial activities that you have been involved in?  
• Have you ever been accused of tax evasion?
• Can you supply conclusive evidence of the legality of your sources of income?
• Can you supply conclusive proof that you have met all your national/ regional/ global tax obligations?

What information should they contain in Grenada?

You will have to supply very much the same information when applying for economic citizenship of Grenada, one more Caribbean country administering a citizenship-by-investment program. The Grenadian immigration authorities will be especially curious to learn if you have had any legal issues in the CARICOM states. Some additional items include the following ones:

• Has your application for a work permit in a foreign country ever been rejected?
• Have you ever been accused of a sexual crime?
• Are you currently under any criminal investigation?
• Are you involved in any type of activities that may tarnish the international image of Grenada?

What information should they contain in Antigua and Barbuda?

The immigration authorities of Antigua and Barbuda will request similar personal information from the applicants for economic citizenship of the country. They will be especially curious if you have ever done / are currently doing any military service in any country. If you have participated in a military conflict, you will have to disclose the details.

In addition to that, you will have to confirm that you are prepared to spend at least five days in Antigua and Barbuda over the first five years of holding the passport of the country. The Antiguan citizenship-by-investment program is the only such program in the Caribbean that requires a personal visit to the country. The local authorities want to promote the natural beauties and the peaceful lifestyle in Antigua in this way.

Finally, you will have to confirm your awareness of the fact that you will lose your Antiguan passport if you are accused and found guilty of treason or of inciting a riot.

What information should they contain in Malta?

Economic citizenship of Malta costs considerably more if compared to citizenship of the Caribbean states. However, Malta is an EU member country, which certainly makes this option worth considering.

Similarly to its Caribbean counterparts, Malta wants foreign applicants for its economic citizenship to be law-abiding people who regularly pay taxes in their home countries and whose sources of income are perfectly legal and transparent. Additionally, the Maltese immigration authorities will be especially interested in your military service history. If you are an army officer, your application will be rejected in most cases. If your home country has conscription laws, you will have to supply detailed records of your military services with the dates and positions/ ranks held.

Besides, individuals who have cryptocurrency wallets are not welcome to apply for economic citizenship of Malta. The same goes for those to whom international sanctions apply.

Finally, the candidate for citizenship of Malta will have to demonstrate the knowledge of relevant Maltese legislation such as ‘Maltese Citizenship Law’, Chapter 188.

What information should they contain in Vanuatu?

The applicant for economic citizenship of Vanuatu (an island state in the South Pacific) will also have to demonstrate that the money that he/ she is investing has been obtained in a legal way. The applicant will also have to prove lack of involvement in terrorism financing.

When applying for economic citizenship of Vanuatu with your family, you will have to supply profiles for all family members with the indication of their biographies, educational backgrounds, employment history, etc. Besides, a fresh letter of recommendation is required as well as a bank statement that confirms your having sufficient funds.

Why you submit the application documents, you will also have to grant the following rights to the Government of Vanuatu without any reservations:

• The right to verify the information about all family members included in the family application;
• The right the request and analyze an information related to the applicant for economic citizenship including credit reports, police records, Interpol records, any electronic records, and any other information that the immigration authorities of the country may deem necessary;
• Disclose the information that the candidate for economic citizenship of Vanuatu has submitted and that the Government of the country has obtained in order to verify it for exhaustiveness, accuracy, and truthfulness.

Expert support in completing economic citizenship application forms

Would you like to extend your business horizons, hedge risks, and freely travel around the world? If so, you have come to the right address! InternationalWealth team will be happy to offer complex solutions to those planning to invest into the economic citizenship of a foreign country. We will gladly help you complete the application forms and support you throughout the application process!