Despite rising criticism of passport-by-investment schemes, Dubai-based real estate and property development firm Kleindienst Group is offering Moldovan citizenship to investors interested in one of its projects.
Called Heart of Europe, the development is based on a group of man-made islands 2.5 miles off the Dubai cost.
Any investor who spends at least AED5m (£1m, $1.36m, €1.2m) can receive a Moldovan passport.
Although the country is not part of the European Union, holders would get visa-free travel to 121 countries; including the Schengen zone, which is made up of 26 European states.
To qualify for a Moldovan passport, investors usually need to have €100,000 (£88,772; $113,225) and pay a €35,000 fee.
However, for those securing a Dubai property with Kleindienst these costs are included in the AED5m investment.
Passport benefits
According to Bayat Legal Services, a firm that specialises in business immigration and economic citizenship, people who successfully apply to the Moldovan passport-by-investment scheme can enjoy:
- Visa-free travel to 121 countries,
- Lifetime citizenship and the inclusion of any dependent family member,
- No interview or travel requirement during the application process,
- No education or management experience required,
- Inexpensive cost of living; and
- Low tax rates.
However, it does say that applicants will go through a strict due diligence process.
This was confirmed by Paddy Blewer, group public relations director at Henley & Partners, the firms that advises the Moldovan government on this type of scheme.
He told International Adviser: “We are aware of [the Kleindienst offering], but all applications would need to go through the standard due diligence, therefore you’re not getting the passport automatically.
“This process of application is no different to any other form of application. Any applicant is treated purely on the merit of the application that everyone goes through.”
Josef Kleindienst, founder and chairman of Kleindienst Group, said: “As facilitators, we are working very closely with the accredited agent approved by the Moldovan government on the ground here in the UAE to ensure the full measures and application processes are followed.
“We strongly believe that an opportunity of the sort stands to benefit both the country of Moldova by adding some of the elite members of this region to their national portfolio; as well as our investors who not only gain global access, but also a secure investment opportunity that comes with 100% returns.”
Security concerns
These types of ‘passporting schemes’ have already been criticised by the European Commission, which expressed security and money laundering concerns over who is entitled to apply.
Such schemes “jeopardise the principle of sincere cooperation” and “have significantly increased the political, economic and security risks for European countries”, the Commission said.
Additionally, the European Union’s commissioner for justice, Vera Jourova, spoke out against passport-by-investment schemes last year saying that “the EU must not become a safe haven for criminals”.
But the criticism doesn’t seem to be stemming the tide, as IA reported earlier this year, Malta has given out some 700 passports to Russian nationals under its investment scheme.
Edward Scicluna, Malta’s finance minister, told IA back in January that 25% of applicants are rejected due to “very strict due diligence”.
Similarly, the UK’s golden visa scheme, which does not offer access to the Schengen zone, has come under fire and has been shut down and reopened as the government works to reform the scheme and make it more palatable.
