February 2, 2014

Malta less of a pushover than America

From the New York Times:
Give Malta Your Tired and Huddled, and Rich 
By DAN BILEFSKY   JAN. 31, 2014 
PARIS — Having been besieged by the Ottomans, and ruled over the centuries by foreign invaders from the Greeks to the Romans to Napoleon, the tiny Mediterranean island nation of Malta has seen plenty of unwelcome interlopers. 
But now, it seems, these foreigners are quite welcome — if they are willing to hand over 1.15 million euros, or $1.55 million, to buy a Maltese passport. 
Motivated in part by economic stress, and in part by what some call crass opportunism, the idyllic island 50 miles south of Sicily is selling citizenship for $880,000 in cash and $677,000 in property and investments to applicants 18 or older willing to pay the price. ...
Being a citizen of Malta, which is part of the European Union’s passport-free zone, will confer the right to travel among the union’s 27 other member states without border formalities. A newly minted Maltese citizen will also be able to live and work in another European Union country, and will gain the right to visa-free travel to 69 non-European Union countries, including the United States. 
Critics accuse the government of pawning the national birthright. So far, those said to be interested in the passports include a former Formula 1 champion, a Chinese billionaire, an international pop star, a member of a prominent Persian Gulf royal family, an American press magnate and a South American soccer player, according to The Times of Malta, a daily newspaper. 
While all European Union countries have the right to peddle citizenship to whomever they want, the practice is relatively rare and the union’s justice commissioner, Viviane Reding, expressed dismay last month, telling the Maltese that European citizenship “must not be up for sale.” 
Others fear that the proud and picturesque island — with 411,277 citizens, one of the world’s most densely populated countries — risks following in the footsteps of fellow European Union member Cyprus, which has come under criticism for attracting tycoons looking for a convenient place, preferably one with sun and sand, to protect their assets from tax collectors. 
Under pressure from European Union officials in Brussels, Malta this week agreed to require foreigners seeking to buy Maltese passports to be residents for at least one year. It has also vowed to carefully vet applicants. Yet initial plans to limit to 1,800 the number of passports granted have been scrapped. 
For all the fuss and red-faced reprimands of Brussels bureaucrats, Malta is just one of several countries seeking to woo rich foreigners by offering residency or citizenship. 
Cyprus recently slashed the amount of investment required to be eligible for citizenship, to $4.06 million from $13.5 million. ...

In contrast, the United States hands out EB-5 visas to investors who pay zilch to the government, and just invest $500,000 (in "targeted" areas) or $1,000,000 anywhere in businesses, typically construction projects. While Maltese taxpayers get $880,000, American taxpayers get nothing.
 

17 comments:

bleach said...

this is the paradox of large scale societies, the bigger they get the less they care about their people, and the fewer people share in the rewards of power... This is why only megalomaniacs and fools support imperialism.

Anonymous said...

it's easy to get US citizenship for some. rich chinese who can afford fly to the USA to have their wife deliver their baby there.

or if you are from mexico, easier. rich or poor, anybody can just cross the border and have their babies in an el paso hospital. instant american.


Anonymous said...

I knew a grad student from Malta who ended up working for the US civil service (DOD). Maltese seem to speak decent English, is this correct for the population at large? I got the impression there was a lot of out-migration from Malta. So you just know a lot of these new "Maltese" might just be passing through...

Anonymous said...

American taxpayers get the shaft. What else is new?

Anonymous said...

Who wants to live in Malta anyways? It is still living in the middle age mindset where outsiders are much less than welcome.

Hunsdon said...

Are there any countries anywhere in the world who are so cavalier with their citizenship as the US?

Anywhere?

Zambia, for instance?

Cameroon?

How hard is it to become an Afghan citizen?

Anonymous said...

The cost of an EB-5 visa is a better area of emphasis than on the investments themselves (why not have foreign investors cover the cost of white elephant projects?). With Chinese nationals, the United States is far behind the curve on this compared with nations. We charge a pittance compared with Australia under our investor visa program.

Anonymous said...

blacks beat whites

andres said...

According to wikipedia, Malta has a population density of 4,077 inhabitants per square mile. Clearly, the place is already full to be accepting more people

Anonymous said...

"Give me your...muddled asses..."

Anon.

Anonymous said...

The whole tone of this article absolutely sickens me.

The EU is a horrible, overbearing dictatorship which seems to specialize in economic stagnation and mass unemployment - which amazingly enough it combines with generations worth of ultra low birth-rates and a truly enormous rate of third world immigration.
I *hate* the EU and dream of the day when, under the influence of UKIP, the UK leaves that pile of shit behind it.
That said, or ranted, under EU rules, of course, 'member' states have absolutely no controls over their own borders. Lately, EU countries run by, let's not put too fine a point on it, nutters, ie Sweden, have engaged in a feminized, pussyfied orgy, (without the fun that this phrase implies, but a load of boot-faced bull dykes), of importing the worst most vicious, useless, trash of the third world.
Eventually all these trash people will have *absolute unchallengeable, guaranteed* right to impose themselves on any EU 'state' and that 'state' can't do a damn thing to stop it.

Now the Maltese are doing something rather intelligent and sensible - importing people who will *benefit* the state and who will not cause trouble.

And yet the shitheads of the NYT are positively orgasmic in their denunciation.

Anonymous said...

Malta was an English colony for nigh on 200 years.

Anonymous said...

Malta is ruled by the Maltese. USA is ruled by the NYT Hostile Elite. The HE is hostile to the historic people of America, thus it will have a terrible immigration policy.

Frankmontgomery said...

Then again, US citizenship=global taxation regardless of residence, and now with FATCA you can't just get a passport and expect to keep your accounts overseas a secret.

The $10b tops the IRS expects to collect from requiring the world to do its bidding is most definitely outweighed by both the cost of implamenting FATCA, plus the opportunity costs of scaring away any investor of means, so even if America straight up sold citizenship, I doubt there'd be too many takers, unless they repealed FATCA.

Anonymous said...

Quite a lot of Maltese immigrants to Canada post WWII, particularly Toronto, though the second and third generation seems to be assimilating and intermarrying. Canada is a melting pot too even if its politically incorrect to say it in public.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2010/11/14/rise_and_decline_of_torontos_maltese_community.html

Anonymous said...

Buy houses in The San Gabriel Valley or Irvine.

Anonymous said...

To Anonymous at 7:58 AM:

All of Canada OUTSIDE QUEBEC is an English-language melting pot, culturally not so much. Btw, for the benefit of non-Canadian readers, the Toronto Star is an extremely left-wing, ultra-liberal newspaper.