【BBC】全球国籍购买指南

国籍购买并非新鲜事。然而，随着英国脱欧、川普上台等事件的发生，民粹主义兴起，闭关锁国情绪增强，对于第二甚至多重国籍的需求或将持续增强。

全球国籍购买指南

译者：刘   璠

校对：倪凌晖

策划：戴秀平

本文选自 BBC | 取经号原创翻译

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On a recent flight, I was idly flipping through the inflight magazine, when I came across an unusual advert promising “a unique strategy to safeguard your future prosperity and security.”

在最近乘坐的一趟航班上，我漫不经心地翻阅着机内提供的杂志，忽然看到了这样一则特别的广告，宣传说：我们有独特的理财策略，能为您未来的财产和安全保驾护航。

The advert was plugging what it called “citizenship by investment.”

这则广告所大肆推销的是它所谓的“通过投资获得国籍”的理财策略。

I’d heard of citizenship-for-sale initiatives in the past, and – prompted by the ad – I briefly wondered whether a second citizenship beyond my American one was something I might need. Is this something that people other than the uber rich are considering, and for reasons other than tax optimisation? And if so, why?

我早就听说过投资移民项目。看到这则广告，我稍稍地琢磨起来，除了美国国籍，我是否可能还需要第二个国籍。这是不是除了超级富豪之外的其他人正在考虑的事？而他们这么做是不是有除了获得最优的税务待遇之外的原因？如果答案是肯定的，那又是为什么？

“The global rise of populist movements, together with an ever-increasing sentiment towards the creation of insular societies have all contributed to the unpredictability of our rapidly changing world,” explained the advert.

广告解释道：“全球范围内兴起的民粹主义运动和持续增强的闭关锁国情绪，都为我们这个快速变化的世界增加了不确定性。”

insular /??nsj?l?(r); ??ns?l?r/ adj. only interested in your own country, ideas, etc. and not in those from outside 只关心本国利益的；思想偏狭的；保守的

As more countries tighten their borders and paths to immigration, a new industry is working to bypass those restrictions – for a hefty fee.

随着越来越多的国家收紧边境监控和减少移民渠道，一个新的产业正拼命避开这些限制规则（当然，这一切都是为了丰厚的收入）。

hefty /?hefti/ adj. (of an amount of money 钱的数额) large; larger than usual or expected 很大的；超出一般的；可观的

Investment citizenship programmes are not new. They’ve been around for decades, primarily as a way for countries to boost their incomes. Canada and the Caribbean island of St Kitts and Nevis started theirs in the 1980s and the US and UK began similar ones in the 1990s.

投资移民项目并非新鲜事。它已经存在了几十年，主要作为一些国家增加收入的方式。加拿大和加勒比的圣基茨和尼维斯（St Kitts and Nevis）在80年代启动了投资移民政策，美国和英国在90年代也开始实行类似政策。

The specifics of different investment citizenship programmes vary by country. They allow foreigners to invest in real-estate projects and businesses, buy property, or to donate money directly to a country’s government in exchange for a visa or passport.

投资移民政策的具体措施各国不一。有的允许外国人投资房地产项目和公司，购买不动产，有的则允许他们直接出资捐助政府以换取签证或护照。

St. Kitts and Nevis launched its initiative in 1984, one year after the fledgling country claimed independence from the UK. The aim was to get more money flowing in from entrepreneurs who saw value in tropical beaches and low taxes.

圣基茨和尼维斯在1984年启动了投资移民政策。就在1983年，这还是一个刚刚从英国独立的新国家。该政策的目的是为了从企业家那里获得更多的资金。而这些企业家们则看中了这个国家的热带海滩和低税率。

fledgling /?fled?l??/ n. a person, an organization or a system that is new and without experience 初出茅庐的人；无经验的组织；新体系

It only attracted a few hundred participants in the beginning. But, by 2009, backed by a marketing campaign, passport holders of the island nation were given visa-free access to the 26 Schengen area countries and demand increased rapidly.

起初，该政策仅仅吸引了几百个参与者。但是，到了2009年，这个岛国的护照持有者可以免签26个申根区国家。在市场营销的助推下，该国的投资移民需求激增。

The industry has seen huge growth in recent years. 2014 marked the first year that the US ran out of immigrant-investor visas before the end of the fiscal year.

投资移民行业近年来迅猛增长。2014年，美国首次在财政年度结束之前用完了所有投资移民签证额度。

London-based CS Global Partners, the consultancy firm that made the inflight-magazine advert I read, shepherds investors through the legal process of procuring a passport through investment. The firm says interest in their services has grown fourfold in the past year.

总部位于伦敦的CS Global Partners就是制作这则我看到的机内杂志广告的咨询公司。它向那些想要通过投资来获得护照的客户提供法律咨询服务。该公司称，去年，对他们的服务表现出兴趣的人增加了四倍。

procure /pr??kj??(r); pr??kj?r/ v. to obtain sth, especially with difficulty （设法）获得，取得，得到

“We are definitely seeing big shifts,” says CEO Micha Emmett. “The traditional market still exists – very much so – but we’ve seen [people from] countries that were never interested in second citizenship by investment options before now coming online making inquiries. For example, we saw a 400% increase in enquiries from Turkey in March.”

公司CEO Micha Emmett说：“毫无疑问，我们正在见证一场大变革。传统市场依然存在。这毫无疑问。但是，我们看到，有些国家的公民从前并没有对通过投资获取第二国籍感兴趣，但现在他们却也通过网络前来进行相关咨询。例如，三月份来自土耳其的咨询量就增加了四倍。”

Events including the decision by Britain to leave the European Union and the 2016 US Presidential election are driving new interest.

包括英国脱欧和2016年美国总统大选在内的一系列事件都在促使越来越多的人考虑投资移民。

UK citizens are now seriously weighing their options, Emmett says.

Emmett说，英国公民目前正在认真地权衡他们的选择。

“In terms of what happened in the UK with Brexit, on the day that the vote was announced, our phones rang off the hook, I was approached in the street by people, there was a very apparent panic,” she adds.

她又说道：“就英国脱欧方面而言，在结果宣布的那天，我们的电话就被打爆了。我走在街上都会被人拦着提问。恐慌情绪显而易见。”

A changing clientele

变化中的客户

Wealthy, private investors from emerging market economies are driving the trend, according to The International Monetary Fund.

据国际货币基金组织调查，来自新兴市场国家的富有的私人投资者正在推动这股投资移民浪潮。

Data from the controversial EB-5 visa programme in the US, which allows foreigners to invest in real-estate projects in exchange for a fast-tracked green card application, shows the demographics are shifting, according to Peter Joseph, executive director of Invest In USA, an industry trade organisation for the programme.

“投资美国”（Invest In USA）的执行董事Peter Joseph透露，有关EB-5签证政策的相关数据显示，参与该移民政策的人口数据正在变化。这项富有争议的政策允许外国公民通过投资房地产项目获得绿卡快速申请通道，而“投资美国”正是一家帮助客户申请EB-5签证的组织。

“We are seeing a few countries adding to a diversifying trend. China is the predominate source [of applicants], making up about 80%, but places like Vietnam, India and Brazil have been sources of growth in the past few years,” he says.

他说：“我们看到一些国家加入到了这股逐渐多样化的浪潮中去。中国是申请者的主要来源国，约占80%。但是在过去的几年中，如越南、印度和巴西这样的国家成为了移民申请的增长来源。”

Paul Williams of La Vida Golden Visas, which specialises in second residency and citizenship within Europe, works with clients from over 50 countries. Since Britain voted for Brexit, he says, he has seen an interest from UK citizens for the first time.

La Vida Golden Visas的Paul Williams为来自50多个国家的客户服务过。他说，自从英国公投脱欧，他第一次看到了英国公民的移民兴趣。该公司专门办理欧洲境内的第二居住权和国籍申请。

Citizenship: a hot commodity

国籍：炙手可热的商品

The most well-known programmes are in the Caribbean, where white sand beaches, low investment minimums, non-restrictive residency requirements and quick processing times combine to attract investors.

最著名的移民目的地当属加勒比国家联盟。在那里，白色沙滩、低投资门槛、无居住期限要求和快速的办理流程，都吸引着投资者。

For example, to become a citizen of the Caribbean island of Dominica, which sits between Guadeloupe and Martinique, you’ll need an investment of $100,000, with no requirement to spend any time on the island and no wait-time.

例如，只要投资10万美元，你就可以成为加勒比多米尼克（Dominica）的公民。这个国家坐落在瓜德罗普（Guadeloupe）和马提尼克（Martinique）之间。那里没有居住期限要求，办理手续也是“立等可取”。

And, such programmes are important economic drivers. In St. Kitts and Nevis, passports are the country’s largest export and the money generated from the programme is seen as responsible for lifting the nation out of debt and fuelling a construction boom.

这样的投资移民计划是重要的经济增长来源。在圣基茨和尼维斯，护照是这个国家最大的出口商品，从中获得的资金似乎帮助该国摆脱了债务，还推动了当地建筑业的快速发展。

The IMF says Citizenship by investment programmes amounted to 14% of St Kitt’s GDP in 2014, and other estimates say the programme may have accounted for as much as 30% of the government’s revenue in 2015.

国际国币基金组织称，2014年，投资移民收入占据了圣基茨国内生产总值的14%。其他数据显示，从投资移民中获得的收益可能占据了该政府2015年收入的30%之多。

But increasingly, richer countries are offering ''citizenship for a price''. Comparable programmes in New Zealand cost NZ$1.5m($1.06m) – a popular move among Silicon Valley’s tech elite recently – or ￡1m ($1.28m) for the UK and $500,000 for the US.

但是，越来越多的发达国家也开始开放投资移民的渠道。新西兰的移民价值为150万新西兰元（约合106万美元），而近期该项目更是成为了硅谷科技精英们的热门选择。同样的，投资移民英国需要100万英镑（约合128万美元），美国需要50万美元。

Joseph says the EB-5 programme is hugely valuable for the country, delivering over $1 billion dollars to the US economy each quarter.

Joseph称，EB-5计划对于国家有着巨大价值，每季度为美国经济创造超过1亿美元的收入。

“We’ve seen exponential growth since the financial crisis in 2008 to the tune of an increase of over 1,200% from 2008 until today,” he says.

他说：“自2008年金融危机以来，EB-5项目迅猛增长。08年至今，共计增长超1,200%。”

Increased interest in the US programme is due in part to the relatively stable economy and safe investment environment, but also thanks to the low investment minimum. The EB-5 programme requires the $500,000 to be invested areas lacking jobs and cash, but critics argue the low minimum is a loophole being exploited by developers.

对于EB-5项目日益增长的兴趣，部分来源于美国相对稳定的经济状况和相对安全的投资环境，但同时，也来源于它的低投资门槛。EB-5项目要求50万美元的投资用于缺乏现金和就业机会的地区。但是有人批评说，低投资门槛恰是一个正被开发商们利用的漏洞。

Although the US caps the total number of visas granted each year through the programme to 10,000, the number of applicants has no limit. Interest, it seems, doesn’t either. “There are currently over 23,000 investor petitions for a visa number.” Joseph says, “That’s just how many that are pending right now.”

尽管EB-5项目每年只有1万个移民配额，但申请者依然源源不绝。同样地，对投资移民美国的兴趣，似乎也依然高涨。Joseph 说：“目前，有超过2.3万张的投资移民申请表等待获取签证号码。这还只是现在正在排队申请的数量。”

pending /?pend??/ adj. waiting to be decided or settled 待定；待决

At last count, 23 countries from Cyprus to Singapore offered some kind of investment residency or citizenship scheme and more are being created with similar programmes proliferating across Europe. Almost half of all EU member states now offer some form of investment residency or citizenship programmes.

根据最新消息，从塞浦路斯（Cyprus）到新加坡（Singapore）的23个国家，已经开始推出一些投资居留或投资移民的计划。而更多的计划正在制定中，这些计划与如今那些在欧洲迅速发展起来的项目相似。如今大约一半的欧盟成员国出台了一些形式的投资居留或投资移民项目。

Mobility is key

流动性是关键

For as little as $35,000 (in Latvia) or as much as $10 million (in France), foreigners can buy legal status to live, work and bank in a number of countries. Perhaps more importantly, by extension, they buy access to visa-free travel to countries around the world.

从拉脱维亚仅仅3.5万美元的投资移民门槛到法国高达1000万美元的门槛，外国公民可以在许多国家购买到合法身份，从而在那居住、工作和开户存款。再则，或许更重要的是，他们购买的是到一些国家免签旅游的权利。

And, there’s an informal rating system for the most sought after passports. “Some people in the industry determine [the value] by the number of visa-free countries a person can travel to. So I think at the moment the data out there is that on the German passport you can travel to more countries than with any other citizenship in the world.” Emmett says.

此外，有一个关于最热门护照的非官方评级系统。Emmett 说：“一些业内人士以某护照可以免签前往的国家多少来决定该护照的价值。所以根据数据显示，我认为现在拥有德国护照可以比拥有其他任何护照免签前往更多的国家。”

In a globalised world where political isolationism is paradoxically on the rise, this freedom of movement is an attractive element of such schemes.

在这个全球化的世界中，矛盾的是，政治孤立主义正在逐渐兴起。而这种移动的自由正是这些移民项目的亮点。

Andrew Henderson, an American entrepreneur and founder of the Nomad Capitalist, a blog, podcast and consulting company, has four passports and is working on his fifth. Multiple citizenships provide him with a multitude of entrepreneurial options, he says.

美国企业家、Nomad Capitalist的创始人Andrew Henderson拥有四本护照，并正在申请获得第五本。他说，多重国籍赋予了他大量的创业选择。Nomad Capitalist是一个博客、播客和咨询公司。

He says investing in programmes in the African archipelago of Comoros and the Caribbean Island of St. Lucia give him more opportunities and lower taxes.

他说，投资移民去非洲群岛的科摩罗（Comoros）和加勒比的圣卢西亚（St. Lucia）使他获得了更多机会和更低的税率待遇。

“For me it’s about how I could have better options, better tax treatment, better treatment as a person and get the same visa free travel.” he says, adding that he expects investment citizenship to rise.

他说：“对于我来说，这意味着我怎样可以获得更好的选择、更优惠的税务待遇、作为人的更好的待遇以及免签旅行。”他还补充道，他希望投资移民的机会能够增加。

“I think the world is going more nomadic.  People don’t want to be in once place. They want to have one or two or three bases for lifestyle reasons and pay reasonable taxes, and that’s what becoming more accessible.

“我认为世界正在变得流动起来。人们不想呆在同一个地方。为了体验不同的生活方式，他们希望能有一个、两个、甚至三个根据地。他们希望获得更合理的税率。而这些正在逐渐变得触手可及。”

While not everyone with multiple citizenships will reside in multiple nations, Williams says the industry can be viewed as a barometer of turmoil in the world.  He says many of the investors he works with see these programmes as a safety net.

虽然不是每个拥有多重国籍的人都会在不同的国家居住，威廉斯说该行业可以看作是世界是否动荡的风向标。他说，很多他服务的投资者把这些项目看作是预防不测的保障措施。

turmoil /?t?:m??l; ?t?:rm??l/ n. a state of great anxiety and confusion 动乱；骚动；混乱；焦虑

“Most of our clients do not go and live in the country they invest in,” he says. “They see it as more of an insurance policy. They know that they’ve got that second residency, so if they ever have to jump on a plane they’ve got that option.”

他说：“大多数我们的客户都不会前往或者居住在他们投资的国家。他们更多地是将此视作为一个保险措施。他们知道自己获得了第二居住权。这样的话，如果哪一天他们不得不坐上飞机离开，他们总知道该往哪飞。”

Your country for sale

你的国家待价而沽

Such programmes aren’t without controversy.

这样的移民项目并非没有争议。

After all, should citizenship be for sale? Detractors say no.

毕竟从根上来说，国籍是否能够被贩卖？批评者们说，不能。

Earlier this year in the US, two senators, Dianne Feinstein and Chuck Grassley, introduced a bill to get rid of the EB-5 programme, arguing that it is too flawed to continue.

在今年早些时候，两位美国参议员Dianne Feinstein和Chuck Grassley，提出了一项议案，意在废除EB-5项目。他们认为，这项计划有严重缺陷，不应当再继续下去。

“It is wrong to have a special pathway to citizenship for the wealthy while millions wait in line for visas,'' Feinstein said.

Feinstein说：“当数以百万计的人正在排队等待签证的时候，为富人们开辟快速移民通道是错误的。”

Detractors also argue these programmes unfairly favour the rich and are unattainable for everyone else. They also cite concerns about money laundering, criminal activity and backdoor access to countries that circumvent normal immigration systems.

批评者们也认为，这些项目并不公平，它们偏袒有钱人，而这对于其他人来说是遥不可及的。他们也担心这些项目会引发洗钱和犯罪活动，并认为这些项目打开了进入那些已经规避正常移民系统的国家的后门。

circumvent /?s?:k?m?vent; ?s?:rk?m?vent/ v. to find a way of avoiding a difficulty or a rule 设法回避；规避

Indeed, the intersection of large sums of money and international real estate deals is ripe for fraud.

确实，当大笔资金遇上国际房地产交易，极有可能引发诈骗事件。

Just this month an FBI Investigation uncovered a $50 million visa fraud operation involving Chinese investors in the EB-5 programme. And in April, the Securities and Exchange Commission brought charges against a man in Idaho who they say spent Chinese investor’s money on new homes, cars and a zip line for himself rather than the real estate projects it was meant for.

就在本月，FBI调查破获了一起5000万美元的投资移民欺诈案，涉及申请EB-5签证的中国投资者。4月，美国证券交易监督委员会（the Securities and Exchange Commission）指控一名爱达荷州（Idaho）男子将中国投资者的钱为自己购买了多处房产、多辆汽车和一飞索项目，而不是用于该房地产投资项目的投资目标上。

The St. Kitts and Nevis programme ran into trouble with the US Treasury Department when suspected Iranian operatives were caught using their St. Kitts passports to launder money for banks in Tehran in violation of US Sanctions.

圣基茨和尼维斯的移民项目受到了美国财政部的阻挠。原因是伊朗的嫌疑情报人员被发现使用他们的圣基茨护照为德黑兰的多家银行洗钱，这违反了美国的制裁规定。

Controversy surrounding the US EB-5 programme reached the upper echelon of the White House as the Kushner family’s real estate company was accused of conflicts of interest for using Presidential son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner’s name in a pitch to lure Chinese investments in a New Jersey property development. And the programme’s reputation for shady deals is not going away.

围绕美国EB-5项目的争议也牵扯到了白宫高层。库什纳家族的房地产公司在一次宣传推广中利用贾瑞德·库什纳（Jared Kushner）总统女婿和白宫高级顾问的身份，吸引中国人为新泽西的一处不动产开发项目投资。这引起了人们对于库什纳是否涉及利益冲突的质疑，对于该项目交易合法性的疑问也久未散去。

echelon /?e??l?n; ?e??lɑ:n/ n. a rank or position of authority in an organization or a society 职权的等级；阶层

But in a world where borders are closing, demand for these services will most likely continue to grow, experts say. 

但是，专家说，随着各国边界监管越收越紧，对于这些移民服务的需求很有可能持续增长。