On 20 March 2020, ABC Radio Australia reported that the government of the Solomon Islands, in the South Pacific, is considering plans for a new citizenship by investment scheme.
In a speech made last week to mark the opening of Parliament, the Governor-General, David Vunagi, stated that “[T]he government is also undertaking due diligence on an innovative investment program that has the potential to bring in huge new investments to the country. This is the citizenship by investment program, where high net worth individuals go through a very stringent process to be considered for citizenship by investment”. He added that “[M]any small countries have implemented this program have generated excess of $100 million US dollars”.
Plans for how the program will operate have been published following work by several governmental advisory groups. The Cabinet is likely to table the bill introducing the new citizenship scheme for consideration by the parliament later this month.
The Solomon Islands are a sovereign state consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania lying to the east of Papua New Guinea and northwest of Vanuatu. The country has a population of 650,000 and a GDP of USD$1.2 billion (2019).
In addition, the Solomon Islands have visa waiver agreements with Canada, UK, the EU Schengen area, Israel and 129 other countries and territories.
Should you be interested in citizenship by investment programs for any country, or require any assistance in making an application for yourself or your family, please do not hesitate to contact Gherson’s sister firm, Discreet Law LLP, for further information.
The information in this blog is for general information purposes only and does not purport to be comprehensive or to provide legal advice. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the information and law is current as of the date of publication it should be stressed that, due to the passage of time, this does not necessarily reflect the present legal position. Gherson accepts no responsibility for loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on information contained in this blog. For formal advice on the current law please don’t hesitate to contact Gherson. Legal advice is only provided pursuant to a written agreement, identified as such, and signed by the client and by or on behalf of Gherson.
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