The UK Parliament is being urged to petition the European Commission on the “extremely worrying” practice being adopted by a number of member states, including Malta, who are putting their citizenship up for sale.
The call was made in a report presented last week by the Home Affairs Committee of the House of Commons. It warns that if no action was taken “Britain’s immigration controls would be in danger of being sidestepped by those with sufficient wealth”.
While pointing out that Britain had neither power nor control over the policies of other EU countries in this regard, the report warns that the example of Malta should not be followed.
It also recommends that the UK Parliament suspend Britain’s Tier 1 visa route programme for investors. Through this scheme, wealthy individuals from outside the European Economic Area may be granted a visa to reside in the UK for a period of three years and four months on condition that they invest a minimum of €1 million in the UK. This visa can then be extended by a further two years.
The report quotes Professor Sir David Metcalf of the London School of Economics, who chairs the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) and advises the UK government on migration issues. According to Prof. Metcalf the UK’s investor programme, which he compared to the Maltese citizenship scheme, was no more than a means of “selling indefinite leave to remain” in the UK.
He argued that most investors were buying gilts for five years to become eligible for the visa programme, only to sell them once they got indefinite leave to remain.
As a result, he concluded, there appeared to be very little benefit from the current format of this programme.
On the other hand the report says it is “perturbed” by the MAC proposal of selling British settlement by auction, warning that this could be “a recipe for disaster”.
The report, which was published on March 21, was tabled in the Maltese Parliament on Tuesday by Opposition MP Jason Azzopardi during a three-hour debate on the Individual Investor Programme.
Most investors were buying gilts for five years to become eligible for the visa programme, only to sell them once they got indefinite leave to remain
At the end of the debate an Opposition motion to repeal the legal notice laying down the regulations of this scheme was defeated with 30 votes in favour and 39 against.
Under the IIP, an individual from outside the EU can acquire a Maltese passport by paying a fee €650,000, investing at least €350,000 in property and buying €150,000 in government bonds.
The initial proposals did not require applicants to reside in Malta but after fierce criticism from the Opposition and the threat of legal action from Brussels, it was subsequently amended to include a 12-month effective residency clause.
Speaking in Parliament during Tuesday’s debate, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil warned that anyone granted a passport through this scheme, without having lived in Malta for 12 consecutive months, would have his citizenship rescinded by a PN government.
He also said that the Opposition would name all those individuals who would be benefitting from this scheme.