It is the desire of every ambitious and forward-looking person to have a successful business and even aspire further to be recognised beyond the shores of the country and ultimately be accorded a special status, especially as a citizen of a foreign country. Kunle Aderinokun writes about programmes offered by a specialised immigration firm tailored towards assisting individuals in making a giant leap to realise such dreams
Have you ever dreamed of acquiring a dual citizenship? Have you been looking for a safe haven to invest your idle funds and get huge returns or benefits on your investment? You may not need to search further as the opportunity is now somewhere close to you.
Somebody may ask: why do I have to seek a second citizenship? The benefits are legion but basically, one with foreign citizenship is beset with business opportunities, better opportunities for his family and such person can travel visa-free across many countries of the world.
But the caveat is, while the desire is burning, one needs to be cautious as many of the so-called immigration service lawyers/agents, claiming to have the expertise to assist, are scammers. The fact is, very few specalised immigration lawyers have experience in assisting in the complex and important immigration processes of One of the few specialised immigration services that have carved a niche for itself is JTH Lawyers Ltd, a Canada-based firm, which offers full range of services to high net worth individuals (HNWI), seeking to acquire foreign nationality for themselves and their family.
Led by Mr. Julien Tétrault, a Québec lawyer and former President of the Immigrant Investor section of Québec Lawyers Abroad, JTH Lawyers has taken out of its lots, three programmes that are considered the most attractive to Nigerian HNWI.
One of them is the Quebec Immigrant Investor Programme, which was created in 1986. This Programme leads to Permanent Residency in Canada. An individual with over CA$ 1,600,000 net worth can qualify if he is in a management position. But the programme, which is about to re-open on August 31, 2015 comes with limited number of applications. It will however be opened till the end of January 2016, but could be suspended earlier if maximum quota is met. Required investment of 800,000CA$ can be financed by Canadian financial institution.
The US EB5, operational since 1992, is an employment-based programme, which leads to permanent residency (green cards) to United States of America is another offering from JTH Lawyers, which is concluding arrangements to establish an affiliate office in Nigeria. The company currently see a peak of applications as the required investment is scheduled to increase from US$500,000 to US$800,000 for files submitted after September 30, 2015. Process is fast and straightforward. The required investment must create minimum 10 jobs per investor. Benefits of this programme include: possibility to live, work, study in USA, settle anywhere in the country, and the pathway to USA citizenship.
The third offering is an opportunity to be a national of Antigua & Barbuda. This programme leads directly to citizenship through purchase of real estate for a minimum amount of US$400,000. With over 130 visa-free countries, this Commonwealth passport is a privileged option for people looking for passports, make their travels less cumbersome and make income from foreign real estate investment.
This category has the advantages of owning of the Antigua and Barbuda passport, which will be issued in three to four months and enable investor to travel visa-free to more than 130 countries (Canada, UK, Schengen region, Hong Kong, Singapore and many more). It, as well, comes with the opportunities to reduce taxation.
“With the Quebec Immigrant Investor Programme about to reopen for limited time at end of the month, with the US EB5 expected to increase the investment requirement significantly at end of September, and with current exciting investment options in Antigua leading to fast track passports, time is of essence for any person considering immigration by investment. We invite High Net Worth individuals seeking for immigration flexibility to contact us with no further delay as time is of essence,” Tétrault told THISDAY.
Tétrault, who is so unassuming and passionate in assisting desirous individuals, pointed out: “I have helped over 1,000 businesspeople and their families, from over 60 countries, into getting permanent residency in North America (Quebec, Canada and U.S.A.).” According to him, “I feel very sorry each time I talk to victims of scams and fraudulent / incompetent so-called immigration representatives, but I feel proud that JTH experience lawyers with innovative approach and committed to the market they serve, can be there to assist the high net worth individuals seeking ultimately second citizenship.”
He noted that “It is now a worldwide trend: majority of HNWI whether in China, UAE, South Asia and now even Nigeria, seek to obtain second citizenship since they realise they cannot rely on one single passport in today’s world.”
Tétrault, who started his legal career in 2002 in Hong Kong within a Canadian law firm, said he had dedicated his career into assisting businesspeople from all over the world to immigrate to Canada through the Quebec Immigrant Investor Programme. “Mostly coming from China and its neighbouring countries at first, HNWI from rest of the world started to be more conscious about the need for immigration alternatives, and the opportunity to do so by investment, grew in popularity within business communities. As time went by, other immigration by investment programmes emerged, and we expanded our offer of services to meet our client demand.”
He revealed that “from my office in Montreal, I have started to have Nigerian clients in 2010 in collaboration with HSBC: HSBC would market the Quebec Immigrant Investor Programme and retain me as the lawyer in charge to represent and assist their clients.
When HSBC decided to shut down its operations in Nigeria few years ago, I was confronted to the choice of following HSBC footsteps, but instead I decided that I would not let my clients go and opted to continue and even enhance my presence in Nigeria by opening a permanent office in Lagos.”
On his experience in Nigeria, which has shaped his perception about the country, Tétrault narrated: “As one can imagine, reaction back home in Canada was a midst of surprise and suspicion about my choice. I could hear: ‘Why do you want to go to Nigeria?’ or ‘Aren’t you afraid to go there, we hear so many news about security issues?’ and so on.
For me that had worked in China and travelled the world, going to Nigeria was an obvious choice: from all the countries I have visited, few had people as welcoming and warm, and few countries would offer such business opportunities. Even from the first day of my first visit to Lagos, I surprised my Nigerian host by leaving my hotel alone to wander the streets of the city and getting a better feeling of it, eating Nigerian food, getting acquainted with the culture, and so on.
“I have now an office in Lagos and working my way towards obtaining Nigeria citizenship, as dual citizenship is a must for anybody that travels. What I want for my clients is same as I want for myself: avoid having to request visa to travel any country, enhance social status and broadening business options.”