Henley & Partners’ contract with Antigua & Barbuda expires in December. Malta makes a convenient replacement.
Even the government of Antigua & Barbuda is smarter than ours (and more democratic in thinking). Henley & Partners was not given a contract to run the ‘citizenship’ programme there, but only a six-month consultancy.
Over the last two years, starting in June 2011, and well before Henley & Partners were engaged, the task force set up by the government of Antigua & Barbuda to examine the potential for a citizenship programme held consultations with stakeholders and members of the public across the country, and participated in many television and radio debates.
A White Paper was published for discussion by the public. International stakeholders were consulted on their own experience and the task force was given a brief to operate (at least ostensibly) without political interference.
Compare this to Malta’s situation, where the sale of passports was not included in the Labour Party’s electoral programme, where the setting up of Identity Malta was done without public announcement, discussion or even a press statement from the DOI, leaving only the mandatory publication of the legal notice in the Government Gazette, which one or two people noticed and publicised, where we had to find out through an interview our prime minister gave to Bloomberg that he has “exciting plans for the sale of citizenship”, and where everything is being rushed through in secrecy, with not even a White Paper or any debate.
There is another comparison to be made. A Maltese passport is hugely more valuable than a Grenadian passport, for the simple reason that it gives the holder free run of the European Union and most particularly, the Schengen area. Yet it is being sold cheaper than a Grenadian one.
The requirements for obtaining a Grenadian passport are:
1. buying property in Grenada for at least USD400,000;
2. paying USD250,000 into a specially-set-up government fund;
3. actual FDI of at least USD1.5 million in a job-creating enterprise.
The requirement for obtaining a Maltese passport is just the one:
1. paying EUR650,000 to the government of Malta.
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Where does it say that passport buyers will pay Eur650,000 to the GOVERNMENT of Malta? That money might well be going someplace else.
More importantly, what cut is this company getting?
Most importantly, who will get a cut from the cut the company will be getting?
Why doesn’t Switzerland offer citizenship for cash too, if it’s such a great idea?
On the first dubious and shady passport issued 15% is going to the entire long-suffering Palestinian nation.
Since the selling of passports was never mentioned in Labour’s electoral programme, can the passport be revoked by a Nationalist government?
[Daphne – That’s a non sequitur. Grounds for revocation of citizenship have nothing to do with whether or not the sale of passports was in anyone’s electoral programme.]
What if the Nationalists declared right away that they will revoke all citizenships purchased under this scheme when in power?Would that be legal? It would put a nice dent in Joseph’s master plan, though there’s also a risk it might also earn him some extra funding for the next election.
Citizens have a right to vote.
[Daphne – That right is qualified. In Malta you must have a vested interest in the country, for instance, if you only live her sporadically, and in Britain, you lose the right to vote if you haven’t made your home there for some years. But then, in Britain the vote isn’t linked to citizenship but to living in Britain.]
Have you ever experienced a long wait in some passport control section of an airport around the world after a long-haul flight, where the passport control officer would not know where or what MALTA is?
Probably you are asked to follow the passport controller to an office where you will have a long wait outside which will look like eternity, officers discuss in an unknown language probably whether they will let you enter the country or turn you back on the next available flight with this strange passport which they have never seen in their cubicle.
The other passengers look at you suspiciously, and while they all have their passports stamped, you’re left alone standing outside the office waiting for the ‘judgement’.
After having your doubtful passport stamped, you will find out that the luggage carousel of your flight was emptied and is handling the luggage of another flight. Then the arduous hunt for your luggage starts.
With this grand (closing down) passport sale, things will get worse for genuine Maltese passport holders traveling abroad. Would the US, Canada and Australia issue traveling visas for Maltese passport holders without increasing their scrutiny?
[Daphne – Maltese people don’t need a visa for Canada, and with biometric passports, don’t need one for the US, either. I don’t know about Australia. The point here is whether a visa requirement will be slapped on us.]
I believe there is some agreement between Malta and the US on the sharing of data on individuals. How would this citizenship sale affect this agreement?
“Have you ever experienced a long wait in some passport control section of an airport around the world after a long-haul flight, where the passport control officer would not know where or what MALTA is?”
No to the first part and yes to the second. You obviously don’t travel much. Has a passport control officer not known where Malta is? Yes, happens entering the US all the time and many other countries (funnily enough the last one this week was a Caribbean island).
After a much repeated conversation about where Malta is (usually with great interest and amusement), and while the officer checks that Malta is in the EU, my biometric passport and me are allowed on our happy way. Your story….well, that’s it, it’s a nice story.
Nadia, I probably am not a globetrotter like I presume you are. I had this experience in Cairo (2 hrs wait),another time in Mexico(45 minutes) , another time in El Salvador (even though I was transferred in Orlando).
In the US with the biometric passport as soon as you put your finger on the reader and look at the camera your name pops up on the screen…but with the Saudi, Russian and Vietnam visas stamped on your passport you are still grilled at Frankfurt and at your arrival in the States.
The last thing you would need is someone suspecting that you BOUGHT that passport which has several country visas stamped on it.
On entering the US ,the question which normally pops up is whether our language is Arabic. I conveniently answer that it is Semitic peppered with Italian and English words. “What’s Semitic?” “It’s like Jewish” I reply.
Another question I am always asked is which Korea I visited, I once mistakenly answered “North”.
Try to enter Saudi Arabia or Kaliningrad with your biometric passport.
Story teller…maybe I’m getting old.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Proud-Maltese-stop-passport-sale/635007573189087
Let’s make it 10,000 likes.
[Daphne – Go right ahead, but they’re obviously people with a chip and a problem. There isn’t a single link to coverage about the issue on this website, even though it’s been the most comprehensive and THE DOCUMENT WAS PUBLISHED HERE FIRST BECAUSE IT WAS LEAKED TO THIS SITE. You can’t have failed to notice that, can you. Says a lot about where they’re coming from, whoever they are. Oh, and the reason I am against the sale of Maltese passports is not because “I’m proud to be Maltese”. That just has to be the stupidest, most xenophobic and jingoistic reason – which is why the site has already attracted Malcolm Seychell and will no doubt be pulling in other Far Right freaks like him. Pride is not a desirable quality and in any case, it should be linked to personal achievement, not facts of birth.]
Pride should be linked with what we achieved as a nation.
Like all Socialists, Muscat tags a price to anything, and he doesn’t cherish any values.
Why shouldn’t I feel proud to belong to this tiny rock which by and large is (has been?)a wonderful place to live in?
Even if Lowell ‘liked’ the site I would still recommend the stopping of Maltese passport sales.
Look at it this way Mark Anthony Sammut and Mario Demarco are in.
[Daphne – You forget that I understand co-branding, Gahan. Just as Malta should never have linked its name to Caribbean jurisdictions/tax havens, so I am not going to align myself with Malcolm Seychell and Norman Lowell. And Mark Sammut and Mario de Marco should have enough sense to do the same. They shouldn’t be in there anyway: they are politicians and have platforms of their own. Facebook groups are for people without a voice anywhere else. And when people have a name with clout, they should use it carefully, otherwise it just becomes worthless currency. And no – nobody should ever be ‘proud’ of their nationality. It’s the wrong word, a skinhead sentiment, the stuff that leads to fascism. I enjoy being Maltese because it’s a whole lot more interesting and unusual than being Polish or Austrian, but there is no such thing as ‘achievements as a nation’. People’s achievements are their own.]
I think we will be called “Malta the public convenience in the Mediterranean” with this citizenship of convenience. Sorry for not relying on you Daphne, but I made my own searches… we are really really CHEAP when compared to other countries.
We are prostituting our nation and leaving it to “il-barrani” to be our pimp.
http://www.economist.com/news/international/21586843-hard-up-countries-flog-passports-papers-please
“One category of applicants consists of rich people from emerging economies seeking convenience and security. Many are Chinese, though since the Arab spring demand is growing from the Middle East.”
“The trade has sometimes struggled to shed a whiff of scandal. Montenegro stopped its scheme amid a row about a grant of citizenship to Thaksin Shinawatra, a former Thai prime minister who was facing corruption charges. In December an Austrian appeal court handed down a suspended sentence and €67,500 fine to Uwe Scheuch, a politician. He had sought a political donation from a Russian businessman applying for Austrian citizenship. In taped conversations Mr Scheuch had said this was “part of the game”.
I think, people who propose such legislation, would even be ready to “sell” their wives if an offer is made.
[Daphne – The Economist article you quote was up on this site around 10 days ago.]
“The Economist article you quote was up on this site around 10 days ago”
Sorry, I was busy and I can’t keep up with all your contributions and the witty comments by Ciccio, Harry and the rest of the clan.
If you keep dishing out articles at this rate, I will have to stop buying Times of Malta.
Gahan, you need to read the Times of Malta every day to hear what Joseph Muscat has said.
Then you need to read this website every day to hear what Joseph Muscat has not said.
Here’s how the citizenship for cash programmes stack up:
Austria –
http://www.austria-citizenship.com/
St Kitts & Nevis –
http://www.nevisstylerealty.com/citizen-by-investment.html
Antigua –
http://www.internationalresidency.com/citizenship/antigua_barbuda
Dominica –
http://www.isla-offshore.com/services/citizenship-dominica/
Grenada –
http://grenadaeconomiccitizenship.com/act.html
Malta –
http://www.ccmalta.com/news/malta-citizenship-programme
And another one, Cyprus.
http://www.mondaq.com/x/249764/general+immigration/Obtaining+a+Cyprus+CitizenshipNew+Rules
This was not in the PL electoral programme.
This is something which effects ALL of us; it effects our national identity, it effects how we all feel about ourselves as Maltese and as a nation.
Then why not put the decision to a referendum?
It is also about artificially making other persons citizens of Malta and of the EU, in return for money. Selling our family name and our soul. And putting them both at risk. Exposing our reputation as a nation to unknown persons.
Besides, since Joseph Muscat is not only selling a Maltese citizenship, but an EU citizenship which permits establishment in 27 countries of the EU, he is selling this ‘multiple’ citizenship on the cheap.
Joseph Muscat and his party compelled us to a vote in a referendum, and then in an election, in order for us to acquire EU citizenship for us and for our children.
Now he cannot simply make others join by selling passports and using the money to pay for his government’s follies.
I do agree that he does not have a political mandate from the electorate to sell Maltese and EU citizenship, and this can be a matter for a referendum.
And by the way. It turns out that the ‘Partnership’ was not the best choice (remember Il-Partnerxipp – l-Ahjar Ghazla?). Full membership is the best choice. If we had a partnership agreement with the EU, Joseph Muscat would not be in a position to sell EU citizenship.
Għaliex tbieh lill-barrani il-passaport Malti,
U ghall-flus li ghandek bzonn, tbieghu lis-sinjuri
Bhal dik il-prostituta li ghal-flus gisimha taghti.
F’din il-gzira twelidt u kbirt u b’hekk jien kburi.
Ghaliex immela, Malti hija,
Ghal min m’ghamel xejn ghal dil-gzira,
Trid tbieh ir-ruh tas-sabieha art Maltija?
Bl-akbar apologija lill-Dun Karm Psaila u ghaz-zbalji tal-ortografija, izda l-hsieb hiereg mil-qalb ta’ Malti mwegga.
M’hawnx ghalik!
Just as the world tightens its noose around tax havens’ necks, even ultra-sophisticated Switzerland is cleaning up its act, Malta travels 30 years back in time to associate itself with these countries.
I wish I could say that it’s unbelievable but this is Labour we’re talking about so nothing really is.
Exactly, how Labour manage to ignore what the rest of the planet’s been doing is beyond words.
But that’s what happens when policy is something you cobble together on the raba’ sular.
This little piggy wants to sell passports, this little piggy wants to pour concrete and this one, well, he’s in it for free.
What was it Muscat said he had, a degree in marketing research? I really don’t think so.
Henley spend money on their horse in election campaigns in hard up countries of the world. The money from the sale of citizenship was already spent here in Malta in 2012. Henley now just need to be reimbursed and make a profit selling our sovereignty to the secret international mafia and fraudsters that found a new home with the Labour Party under Muscat.
I was under the distinct impression that PL had pledged, during the election campaign, to publish all information on campaign contributions. If true, then this would be both from local and international sources. Wishful thinking?