Russians are massively trying to buy citizenship of other countries: where they want to go the most

According to search engine statistics, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Russia has become a leader in requests for the purchase of citizenship or residence permits of other countries. And the popularity of the request for the acquisition of EU citizenship increased by 550%, reports Asia Plus.

Photo: Shutterstock

“Acquire citizenship”, “Buy an EU passport”, “Urgent residence permit” – search engines of Russians have been full of such requests since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Many of them are looking for a temporary solution due to financial restrictions and imposed sanctions, but most want to start life from scratch and get open borders.

The EU, US, UK and Canada have been the first to impose immigration restrictions on some Russians in connection with the war in Ukraine. In a joint statement, these countries announced the suspension of the citizenship-for-investment immigration program, including the purchase of real estate.

On the subject: Immigrants sue the White House: their naturalization is unnecessarily delayed

Of the three million Russians who have traveled abroad since the start of the war, only 12 crossed the border to change their permanent place of residence, according to official figures. In fact, hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens are looking for opportunities to stay in other countries, using tourist visas or visa-free entry as the reason for leaving.

In the Facebook group "It's time to blame - all about emigration» about 243000 subscribers, whose members share their stories of moving from Russia, as well as looking for options to legally stay in other countries in the face of sanctions and war.
Telegram also has many groups dedicated to relocation, uniting tens of thousands of Russians.

Judging by the reviews, in addition to the “classic” options for relocation to neighboring countries, South America is rapidly gaining popularity among Russians. The reason, perhaps, is not only an inexpensive standard of living, moderate taxes and the possibility of obtaining accelerated citizenship, but also loyalty to Russia. None of the countries in the region has announced sanctions against the Russian Federation.

For example, a residence permit for Ecuador can be obtained in Moscow in one or two days, without leaving anywhere, and then go to the country in the status of a resident, as Konstantin Amarkor said in the “It's time to blame - it's all about emigration” group.

“The diploma can be legalized remotely by sending it to Ecuador through a trustee. The whole process takes one to two months and costs about $1000. This is how you become a resident of the country. After three years, you will receive the citizenship of Ecuador. Small taxes, good medicine, international schools, warm ocean, fruits, mountains and the Amazon. But the main thing is the second passport in three years. We hope soon that the Ecuadorian passport will be approved for entry into the Schengen area,” added Amarcor.

True, at least the information about taxes is not entirely true: the maximum personal income tax rate in the country is 37%, which puts it in a number of states that are more costly in this regard.

Moving to Argentina is cheaper than all other relocation options, according to Russian journalist Kristina, who has already moved to this country (for security reasons, Kristina asked not to give her last name).

According to her, the only serious costs are air travel, under the conditions of sanctions, one has to fly with two or even three transfers. First you just need to leave Russia as a tourist, you can stay in Argentina without a visa for up to three months.

“Getting citizenship here is very easy. The most popular ways are marriage to an Argentine citizen or enrollment in a local institute. In fact, you just need to send a paid application for $173. Then you can legally apply for permanent residence. Two years later - citizenship. But if you follow the path of marriage or children, then permanent residence here is obtained automatically after registration. So you will quickly become a resident of the country with all the rights and visit the EU or the UK. You can even apply for an LGBT refugee, it's popular here. That is, the costs of citizenship are minimal,” says Christina.

Numerous immigration firms began to offer citizenship and passports to more exotic countries (the business is becoming so popular that even some travel and visa agencies have added the purchase of citizenship to their list of services).

One of these companies is the United Visa Application Centre. Its employees offer not only to issue popular Schengen visas, but also, for example, to acquire a passport of the island state of Vanuatu in one month.

“Currently, this is the fastest citizenship on the planet with a low investment fee. It is enough to have $135000 per person, $150000 for a family of two, and $165000 for a family of three, respectively. The fee includes client due diligence and donations to the Island Support Program. You do not need to visit the island, everything will be done by a licensed agent with permission from the government of Vanuatu.

In return for the invested funds, the client will receive citizenship, a country passport within a month, visa-free entry to 130 countries of the world, including EU countries and the UK.

Also, the applicant will be able to open bank accounts and register an offshore company of international level,” the United Visa Application Center said. True, on May 25, the EU excluded Vanuatu passports from the list of visa-free entry.

In addition to Vanuatu, the agency offers to apply for citizenship of such states as Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Panama and Saint Lucia. The cost of investing in treasured passports is from $100000, but waiting for confirmation is about three months.

There are also alternatives on the market, such as a “golden passport” in Jordan or a residence permit in this country.
According to these proposals, the cost of citizenship through investment in business projects in Amman is $750000, when buying real estate for $282000, you can get a residence permit, and paperwork is processed within three months after payment.

According to the same scheme, but at a lower cost and in a couple of months, they also offer to obtain Turkish citizenship, where the cost of investment in real estate should be at least $ 250000, and the bonus of this program is the ability to quickly move to the United States under the investment program.

However, from June 13, the Turkish government raises the minimum amount of investment in real estate for citizenship by 60%, that is, up to $400000.

“Over the past couple of months, we have seen a huge interest in buying real estate among the citizens of Russia and Ukraine. Turkish banks have started opening accounts in rubles, which will greatly facilitate transactions,” said Ali Kemal Gurdal, head of a construction company in Antalya.

Demand for real estate investment has also skyrocketed in the UAE, where wealthy Russians have been buying apartments since before the imposition of sanctions.

For the middle class in Russia, closer alternatives are being offered - the citizenship of Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Serbia, where many Russians had already left at the beginning of the war. By the way, the legislation of Armenia and Serbia recognizes dual citizenship, so those who wish to move will not have to give up their Russian passport.
In all these countries, it is possible to acquire passports or residence permits for a significant investment.

Despite EU bans, many Russians are still trying to obtain citizenship or residence permits in European countries. This is evidenced by the official statistics of Google. In recent months, the request for the purchase of EU citizenship has grown by 550%.

In terms of popularity in the passport market, Romania is the leader. Dozens of sites on the Internet are full of advertisements for the purchase of Romanian citizenship from $1560. Most of the proposals are not credible. One such agent offered citizenship to a journalist for $3120 "through our relatives in parliament" with a fake certificate of Romanian ancestry.

Another popular destination for wealthy Russians is Switzerland. The non-EU, small and neutral country has always been famous for its strong and secure banking system.

For the first time in many years, Switzerland supported the entire package of sanctions against Russia, freezing the assets and accounts of Russian oligarchs and companies. It is extremely difficult to obtain citizenship of this country today, however, local migration services have noticed a surge in activity for the relocation of Russians.

“After the start of the war, we received a lot of requests from Russians who wanted Swiss documents,” said Ivan Bulgakov, an immigration lawyer from Zurich. – We have developed a company registration system in Switzerland. Their founders are not visible in the public register of AGs. Therefore, we register companies for administrators - Swiss citizens, as required by law. In recent months, we have been contacted by many dignitaries from both Russia and Ukraine. Plus this system - taxes 5%. However, after the war, no one managed to obtain citizenship, the applications were rejected.”

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants, and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York.

In order to obtain legal resident status in other countries, Russians today will need to spend a lot of effort and money, including qualified legal and expert support, so as not to become a victim of fraudsters. But there is no guarantee that the acquired property or citizenship will be preserved against the backdrop of mounting sanctions against Russia.

For example, the European Union has not only frozen billions of euros in Russian oligarchs' assets, but is also reportedly drafting a bill to confiscate those funds in order to send them to rebuild Ukraine. In addition, a number of European "golden passports" issued to Russians for investments were annulled.

Read also on ForumDaily:

'The most depressing city on Earth' is in Russia: how is life there

A pensioner from Canada won $54,5 million in the lottery: he will donate part of the money to Ukraine

Top of the best in USA: personal experience

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.