Between 200 and 300 people a year are expected to purchase Maltese citizenship through the Government’s Individual Investor Programme, according to Henley and Partners, which won a public tender to market and manage much of the scheme.
CEO Eric Major acknowledged yesterday that the Government had not cap-ped the number of people who could acquire citizenship annually through the programme.
However, he said there was a “natural limit” to how many applications they could process because of the extensive due diligence needed.
Mr Major also claimed that the number of potential clients who could afford the scheme was limited.
Through the Government plan, wealthy non-EU foreigners will be able to purchase Maltese citizenship for €650,000.
They must also pay €25,000 for their spouse to acquire citizenship and a further €25,000 for each child under 18.
Natural limit to how many applications can be processed
Citizenship for unmarried children between the ages of 18 and 25 and dependent parents aged 55 and over will cost a further €50,000 each.
The Opposition has opposed the plan, pointing out that it does not encourage long-term investment or commitment to Malta.
While the Government has persistently claimed that other EU countries had launched or were planning similar programmes, Mr Major said only three other jurisdictions worldwide offered citizenship against a non-refundable payment: St Kitts & Nevis, Dominica and Antigua & Barbuda.
Questioned on why the Government’s projection for the scheme seemed to show it would generate €15 million for the public coffers next year, Mr Major replied that would be the sum generated from the pilot phase, which was set to end in March or April.
He expected the pilot phase would yield around 50 new citizens.
“It will probably be two or three years down the road before we’re seeing 200-300 new citizens annually,” he claimed.
Despite allegations that the programme was selling Maltese citizenship on the cheap, Mr Major argued that it was actually at the top end of the global residency and citizenship market.
This was because the payment was required all at once and there was no chance of a financial return, which was possible with property, bonds or financial investments that are required by many schemes in other countries.
The CEO added that the Government was minded to increase the price of the programme if there was strong market interest and they were attracting significantly more than 200-300 per year.
Mr Major also said that he was unsure whether the Government would be informing the public how many people had acquired citizenship through the scheme.
“From our perspective there should be no objection to doing this. It is meant to be an open and transparent programme,” he said.
Among other things, the proposals have been criticised because the names of beneficiaries will be kept secret.
Parliament votes on the programme today.