More than 40
The decision was made based on the recommendation of the Chairman of Board of Directors of the Club H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, during the board of directors meeting held today at Emirates Towers.
According to Savory & Partners, about 23.7
"The UAE has turned into an important hub for securing the Caribbean or the European second citizenship. Over the past 6 months or so, there has been a remarkable increase of 67.6
The data showed that 17.4
Imran Farooq, CEO of AAA Associates, a Dubai-based immigration advisory, says that even if few investors and businessmen have to disburse assets to afford higher and better benefits, these are wise decisions in their best interests, hence it suits them well.
Veronica Cotdemiey, CEO of Citizenship Invest, said it is correct to say that some people make a big financial effort to obtain a second nationality, while others don't have to.
"The security the citizenship applicants have when applying for the programmes we promote is that they don't have to pay the largest lump sum of investment until their citizenship is approved. Therefore, they don't have to make any financial commitments until they are certain that their citizenship has been approved," she said. She noted that the need for obtaining a second citizenship or passport has increased tremendously over the past 4 years because expats in the region are recognising the importance of this and are investing part of their finances to obtain a second nationality. This trend has been pushed even further with the recent addition of value-added tax, she added.
"Every expat whether they were from Arab or Asian origins is looking for the best way to grow their businesses, secure their family's future, protect their finances and move freely around the world and a second nationality allows them to achieve all this," she added.
Among the expat communities seeking a second passport in the UAE, Pakistanis are No.1 followed by Syrians, Indians, Lebanese, Egyptians, Palestinians, Jordanians, Iranians, Iraqis and UAE nationals, according to the Savory & Partners report.
The top destinations for second passports are Commonwealth of
Around 56 per cent of UAE residents seeking second citizenship apply with their families while 41
Cyprus citizenship, meanwhile, is the most favourite programme when it comes to Europe - but an applicant has to invest