The first phase of the Anguilla Residency by Investment Programme has been going reasonably well – and preparations are now in progress to launch phase 2 at an Investment Migration event in Geneva, Switzerland , next month, June.
This was told to The Anguillian newspaper in an interview with Mrs. Shantelle Richardson, Director of Economic Planning with responsibility for the programme. According to her, the first phase was originally from November 2018 to April 30, but it was extended to June 30, 2019. The launch of phase 2 is being arranged by Consortium Ltd. the agency which was formed on behalf of the Government of Anguilla by Latitude, a Residency & Citizenship company, and Arton Capital. The Residency Programme in Anguilla has three main propositions. They are Citizenship-by-Investment; Residency-by-Investment and Tax Residency.
The interview with Mrs. Richardson, the able Director of Economic Planning, was as follows:
What has been achieved in phase one of the Investment programme so far?
We have had quite a few applications from mainly North Americans and Canadians. The majority of them are husband and wife couples, some with children, and we have had a few single person applicants. To date, I think we have had about thirteen applications –not thirteen persons as it will be more – but thirteen applications. Most of them would be at least two or more persons.
What really have they applied for?
The applications are for permanent residency by investment. Once they have been approved, and have paid the permit fee, they will be issued a permit residency booklet in that instance. It basically says that they can come to Anguilla free of immigration restrictions. So they won’t be given time in their passports because the booklet states that they have the right to live in Anguilla free of immigration restrictions.
For a single applicant, the permit fee is five thousand US dollars; up to two or more persons the fee is ten thousand; and for each person, above the four, is a thousand US dollars per person. Compared with the normal fee, that is one thousand Eastern Caribbean dollars a year.
What does the math tell us in terms of financial gain so far?
Because processing the applications has taken a bit longer, as we have to confirm that the applicants have no criminal record and the value of their property and we have to work with other departments. To date, I think we have conditionally approved six applications. I think only two have completed the process. I would not be able to sit here and calculate the figure because we have the processing fee, the diligence fee and then the permit fee. So I would have to go back and get all of that information out of the system.
Exactly who are these persons, in terms of qualification, etc., from whom the applications for permanent residence were received?
They are persons who have a property in Anguilla valued at a minimum of 750,000 US dollars. I think they would fall in the category of middle to high income. For phase one, the applicants were required to have owned property in Anguilla, by September 30, 2018, to be eligible under this programme. All of these applicants owned property in Anguilla prior to that date.
One of the amendments we made recently, in terms of the evaluation, was based on our discussions with the agents. They identified that there may be persons who own properties that may be twenty years old. So the chances of meeting that 750,000 minimum value might be hard. In view of that, we categorised the values of the properties. If a property was purchased two years ago or less, the minimum value is 750,000 dollars; if it was purchased in the last three to five years, the minimum value is 600,000 dollars; and if the property was purchased more than five years ago, then the minimum value is 500,000 US dollars. But this is only applicable in phase one. That will not apply in phase two. The minimum value will be 750,000 US dollars. For phase two, there is a build option.
So is there a purchase option in phase one?
No. Because phase one is retroactive, persons could have bought the property and then built – or they could have purchased outright, but it doesn’t really matter in this instance, once they have owned the property on or before September 30, 2018, and it meets the minimum value.
The fact that they were given permission to own property in Anguilla, didn’t that qualify them to live in Anguilla without a permit fee?
It is not a fee to live in Anguilla. It is a fee to live free of immigration restrictions. When they purchase a property, they can come and go as free as they want; but they are subject to immigration controls where they are given time. If they want to stay beyond that time then they have to pay for an extension of stay. What the permanent residency programme is saying is that those persons can come and stay for as long as they want. They don’t even have to leave the island. They can actually move to Anguilla, stay full-time and don’t have to pay for an extension of stay.
In phase two of the residency programme is another component of Tax Residency. Under this part of the programme, persons are required to own property in Anguilla also, but the investment amount is less. It is 400,000 US dollars. If they buy (or build) a property valued at 400,000 dollars, they are required to spend a certain number of days in Anguilla. In addition to that, they will pay the Government an annual tax lump sum of 75,000 US dollars and will be issued a Tax Certificate. That says such a person is a tax resident of Anguilla and paying taxes on the island.
“For some countries that exempt persons from paying taxes in another country. That is mainly targeting persons who do not spend a lot of time in any one place. They move around the world – three months here and three there. They are the kind of persons who are targeted. A programme like this would not benefit Americans because they are required to pay taxes wherever they are in the world. For some countries, that is not the case. Once a person can prove that he or she is a tax resident somewhere else, then they are exempted from paying taxes in their home country. That programme is not in place yet. It is for phase two.
With the bulk of persons coming into Anguilla from the United States, from where are we hoping to attract these tax residents?
There are some European and other countries from where persons would be able to live in Anguilla as tax residents without having to pay taxes in their homeland.
How would you sum up the Government’s thinking about Anguilla’s Residency Programme?
In addition to raising revenue, it affords persons who want to obtain a second home to move to a place like Anguilla to live free of immigration restrictions. Phase one is really to regularise those persons whom we have a history with. They have been coming to Anguilla for years but, because of how they spend their time, they would never be able to meet the regular requirements – so this affords them the opportunity to become permanent residents.
It is not a programme for everyone. We don’t see it being as big as St. Kitts’ Citizenship Programme because it is not the same type of programme. So persons are not getting a passport. It is a smaller niche that is being targeted – not persons desiring passports for ease of travel. Applications for our programme are still coming in and I believe they will continue to be received up until the very last day [June 30, 2019].
Any plans to extend phase one of the programme after that date?
As it is now, there are no such plans for phase one, but I am sure that if there is a good argument to be made [some consideration could be given to it]. But the programme will be ongoing because there is phase two. In phase one the fees are reduced. In phase two, when there is the full roll-out, all the fees will be doubled. The benefit for persons applying in the retroactive phase was to take advantage of the lower fees.
