CITIZENSHIP BY INVESTMENT PASSPORTS AND THE LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

Since 1982, When the Foreign Minister of St. Kitts & Nevis, WILLIAM HERBERT, created the first Citizenship by Investment (CBI) passport programme, which allowed foreign nationals to acquire Kittitian citizenship, complete with travel document, I have been covering the pattern of abuse of CBI by transnational financial criminals, terrorist financiers, and especially corrupt Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs). The clear and present money laundering dangers that they present to the world's financial community have been the subject of many articles on this blog. 

There is another category of victim, however, that is rarely mentioned: the legitimate applicants for such passports, who represent the vast majority of individuals who acquire them, either to facilitate visa-free global travel, or to avoid the stigma of being from a high-risk jurisdiction, or for valid tax planning reasons. These people deserve to know the negative aspects of using CBI passports in international travel and commerce, and we present herein a number of them, in the hopes that they will become more knowledgeable and educated consumers of CBI products. Consider this a legal "Look Before you Leap," if you may.

1. MOST APPLICANTS DO NOT CONDUCT DUE DILIGENCE ON THE JURISDICTION THAT IS ISSUING THE CBI PASSPORT. Unfortunately, most individuals who apply for CBI passports do not retain independent legal counsel before proceeding. Whilst a number of the individuals at the various CBI consultancies are indeed attorneys they do NOT represent the applicants; in fact, they are generally paid a lucrative commission on all sales which they close, meaning that candidly cannot be trusted to disclose any possible negative factors surrounding the specific country that is selling you this CBI citizenship & passport. They are rarely admitted to the practise of law in that jurisdiction, and most likely do not know whether the local legal system is corrupt, and consistently disregards the Rule of Law for political actions. The CBI sales staff cannot and do not advise you on local taxation, customs duties, and other local laws which may impact you, directly or indirectly and what about local punitive criminal laws, the personal danger from violent crime you could face when you visit, or any number of possible dangers and pitfalls you may encounter in the future in your new adopted country? 

2. YOU MAY HAVE JUST PAINTED A TARGET UPON YOUR BACK BY SIMPLY HOLDING THAT CBI PASSPORT: Most of the jurisdictions that offer CBI products are former, or present, tax havens favored by transnational financial criminals, money launderers and members of foreign intelligence services. This means that you have a very good chance of coming to the attention of law enforcement agencies in North America and the European Union whose mission includes the interdiction and suppression of such activities when they impact their economies. Do you really want to be profiled, and become a Person of Interest, solely because you show up, arriving at one of their airports or ports, carrying what they judge to be a high-risk passport?

3. YOU MAY LOSE THAT VALUABLE AND EXPENSIVE PASSPORT FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS AND HAVE NO LEGAL REDRESS. What if the programme is terminated, as recently occurred in Cyprus and Bulgaria? What if the issuing jurisdiction revokes your passport without legal justification? It is extremely doubtful that you can successfully navigate your way through the local courts, to regain the privileges you paid for, as local courts in small island republics consistently favour government, especially corrupt government, over foreign nationals. What do you do then?

4. THE CBI JURISDICTION THAT ISSUED YOU THAT PASSPORT MOST LIKELY ALLOWED CRIMINAL ELEMENTS TO ACQUIRE THEM ALSO. There is generally little Due Diligence, and Enhanced Due Diligence, in that corrupt offshore which issued your passport, probably took cash to sell to international criminals, who eventually beak the law, and get arrested. Guilt by Association is unfair, but is a fact of life. Customs and Immigration officials at countries where these criminal have already committed crimes may not look kindly upon all individuals seeking to enter who happen to hold passports used by notorious fraudsters or other types of white collar criminals.Will you really enjoy being interrogated at length when traveling, and having your possessions regularly searched, with extensive delays?

These are just a few topics that have come to mind; there are several others. Prospective applicants for CBI passports are urged to consult the services of a competent attorney before seriously considering the purchase of a CBI  economic citizenship & passport. Please do not jump in feet first until you are aware of the dangers involved.