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Got Rs 45 lakh?
Buy Canadian citizenship
WSN Network
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PAY YOUR WAY
Minimum investment for automatic Canadian citizenship C$400,000 (Rs
1.4 crore).
Canadian bank Desjardins finances 70% if investor makes down payment
of 30%.
Investor has to deposit C$120,000 with bank, which finances
remaining C$280,000 to file application for permanent residency
C$400,000 invested in interest-free Canadian government bonds.
After 5 years, when govt returns money, the bank keeps it all. So,
C$120,000 paid upfront becomes interest on C$280,000 lent by bank |
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New Delhi: Those who have reportedly been paying sums like Rs 30
lakh to become kabootars (illegal migrants) may have missed a trick.
For as little as Rs 45 lakh, an entire family can become Canadian
citizens completely legally. In fact, for a somewhat larger amount,
a family could get become citizens of the US, UK, Australian or New
Zealand too.
The majority of Indians hankering to settle abroad may not know
this, but many Indian businessmen have been utilising schemes
floated by these countries to gain citizenship in return for
investing a few hundred thousand dollars there. What’s more, some
foreign banks are even willing to part-finance your investment.
Governments in the US, Canada, UK, New Zealand and Australia, among
others, are offering citizenship to anybody (and his/her family) who
is willing to invest a certain minimum sum in their country. The
sums vary in each case, as do the strings attached.
In the UK, citizenship comes with an investment of £750,000 (about
$1.5 million or a little over Rs 6 crore). In the US, $500,000 (Rs 2
crore) will get you and your family citizenship, for New Zealand a
million New Zealand dollars (Rs 3 crore).
In Australia, there is no minimum investment stipulated. However, a
commitment to start a business within four years will do the trick.
In the case of Canada, the stipulated minimum investment that gets
you automatic citizenship is 400,000 Canadian dollars or about Rs
1.4 crore. However, a major Canadian bank, Desjardins — with assets
of $130 billion and ranked 92nd internationally — has come up with
its own scheme under which it will finance around 70% of the amount
if the investor makes a down payment of 30%. That means just Rs 45
lakh will do to get you Canadian citizenship.
Citizenship-for-investment schemes have been around for a couple of
years in most cases, but Indians were unable to take advantage of
them as they were not allowed to invest more than $25,000 per year
abroad till December last year. With the RBI increasing the limit
from $25,000 to $50,000 and then to $100,000 last month, ‘buying’
foreign citizenship has become possible. A family of five, for
instance, could take out $500,000 in one go without violating RBI
guidelines.
Desjardins’ offer is a recognition of this fact. Explaining the
scheme, Marc Audet, vice president of Desjardins, said that the bank
offers a scheme under which one needs to deposit only C$120,000 with
the bank. The bank will finance the remaining C$280,000 to file the
application for permanent residency (which entitles you to
citizenship after two years) in Canada.
The C$400,000 are invested in interestfree Canadian government
bonds. After five years, when the government returns the money, the
bank will keep all of it.
In effect, the C$120,000 you pay upfront becomes the interest earned
by the bank on the C$280,000 that it lends you to file the
application.
9 May, 2007
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