BEIRUT — Fearing visa hassles could cost him
his job in
Dubai while an economic collapse dashed any homecoming options,
Lebanese executive Jad splurged around $135,000 on a new citizenship for
himself and his wife. Within a month of making the payment last year, the
43-year-old businessman received a small package in his mailbox. Inside were
two navy blue passports from the
Caribbean island nation of Saint Kitts and
Nevis — his ticket to visa-free access to more than 150 countries, including in
Europe.
اضافة اعلان
This was a major upgrade from the
Lebanese passport,
which is ranked among the worst in the world and has become nearly impossible
to renew because the cash-strapped state is running out of stocks. “Three years
ago, I would not have imagined I would buy a passport,” said Jad, who had
previously grappled with lengthy visa procedures for business trips.
“But now because of the situation in Lebanon — and
because we can afford it — we finally did it,” he said, asking for his full
name to be withheld for privacy reasons.
A Saint Kitts passport ranks 25th in the world while
Lebanon languishes at 103rd on the Henley passport index for freedom of travel.
With a population of under 55,000, it started selling citizenships a year after
gaining independence in 1983.
Citizenship by investment schemes have become a
booming business internationally, attracting the well-to-do from volatile
countries like Iraq, Yemen, and Syria.
Some EU member states, including Bulgaria,
Cyprus,
and
Malta, have also operated “golden passport” schemes, but they have run into
opposition from the European Commission over the back door they offer to EU
citizenship. Wealthy Lebanese, mostly living in Gulf or African nations, are
now among those hunting for passports that offer easier travel and a safety net
from the economic crisis at home.
‘This is not just a
trend. It’s a solution.’
Commonwealth Caribbean
nations are particularly attractive because of their long-standing schemes
offering citizenship within months in exchange for a lump sum. Applicants are
not even required to visit. When Jad first went to Paris as a Kittitian,
officers at passport control told him: “You come from a nice country.”
“But actually I have never been there,” he said.
Jad’s Lebanese friends in the Gulf were also
shopping for “island passports” or investing in real estate in
Greece and
Portugal to obtain residency as part of so-called “golden visa” schemes, he
said. “This is not just a trend. It’s a solution.”
Lebanese expatriates in Gulf states have long borne
the brunt of political bickering and rifts between their capitals. Last year,
several Gulf countries cut diplomatic ties with
Beirut for months after a
Lebanese minister criticized a Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen. Kuwait
limited the number of visas granted to Lebanese, and many in the diaspora
worried other Gulf states would follow suit.
“That made me think: if I have a problem here, I
don’t want to jeopardize my work in the Gulf,” said Dubai-based businessman
Marielli Bou Harb. The 35-year-old bought Saint Kitts passports for his family
of four last year, encouraged by a hefty discount as the
COVID-19 pandemic
beleaguered the island nation’s tourism-dependent economy.
A single passport usually costs around $150,000, a
sum funneled into a sustainable growth fund for the country, which only installed
traffic lights in its capital Basseterre in 2018. Other Caribbean islands
including Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, and Saint Lucia also sell
passports.
‘Buying their
freedom’
Few people can afford such a
purchase in Lebanon, a country in an
economic crisis that has seen the currency
nosedive, banks freeze deposits, and most of the population fall into poverty.
Yet demand for foreign citizenship has spurred a boom in passport consultancy,
with firms advertising on social media, billboards, and even inside Beirut’s
airport.
Among them is Global Pass, converted in 2020 from a
real estate company after Lebanese started complaining of higher visa rejection
rates. “Our business has grown by at least 40 percent from 2020 to 2021,” said
founder Ziad Karkaji.
Even international firms are raking in a profit.
Jose Charo, who heads the Beirut office of Swiss-based Passport Legacy, said
Lebanese now account for one-quarter of the company’s clientele. Their number
has grown fivefold due to the economic crisis that was made worse by a
devastating explosion at Beirut’s port in 2020, Charo said.
Having Grenadian citizenship makes applying for a US
investor visa easier for businesspeople, he said, while those looking to retire
or settle abroad can invest around a quarter of a million dollars in Greece or
Portugal to secure permanent residency. “The industry will keep on growing,
unfortunately for this country but fortunately for us,” Charo said.
“They are buying their freedom.”
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