What if the said investment fails after the passport was issued? The billionaire will sell the assets thus recouping part of the investment and he would have bought a passport for 10k + some money lost in the said investment. Is the scenario we’ll be looking at?

Good point Jozef. What will be the passport price tag for a monkey, or a dog or a cat, or a horse, or….?

Reminds me of Alfred Sant on TV explaining how a confectionery will collect different CET rates for sweets made from local or from imported flour, or for pencils used in schools or offices.

…which can be rejected…

No one.

From what I can make out, the EUR 10,000 non-refundable payment refers to that portion of the contribution (to the “National Development Fund”) paid up front by the main applicant at the time of submission of the application.

At the same time the applicant undertakes to make the entire contribution, i.e. EUR 10,000 + remaining EUR 640,000, and to remit the remaining EUR 640,000 when called to do so by the Concessionaire.

When the letter of approval in principle has been issued, the Concessionaire shall instruct the Main Applicant to remit the remaining EUR 640,000 within twenty days from such instruction.

According to Regulation 8 (3), the Contribution balance, once received in Malta, is not refundable after the
letter of approval in principle has been issued.

This means that, once paid up, all of the EUR 650,000, be it the deposit or the balance, is non-refundable. The difference between them is the actual timing of the remittance.

One final word, I notice that there is no requirement for the applicant to make an investment by way of a business undertaking employing say X number of people. This hints that the target may only be after the freedom to carry on with their business activities elsewhere in the EU.

Wrong, Max – you can apply for an investor’s visa known as an E-2 whereby person from treaty countries must commit to invest a substantial undefined amount in which case you get a 5 year visa and derivative visas for dependents.

The other way to buy in to the U.S. is to get an EB-5 immigrant investor visa which commits applicant to investing $1 million and creating a certain amount of jobs in certain deprived areas. After 5 years permanent residency one gets to apply for U.S. citizenship.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=facb83453d4a3210VgnVCM100000b92ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=facb83453d4a3210VgnVCM100000b92ca60aRCRD

I think you’re right.

The due diligence fees and bank charges fees are not refundable.

The Non-Refundable Payment is not refundable; in the event of an Application having been denied, the Non-Refundable Payment is to be disbursed by the Concessionaire within five days to Identity Malta to cover its own costs relating to the denied Application.

The Contribution balance, once received in Malta, is not refundable after the letter of approval in principle has been issued.

Seems to me that the 10,000 euros deposit is non refundable even if the application for citizenship is turned down under one of the many safeguards in the legislation – criminal background check, threat to security of company, undesirable applicant period. The rest gets paid back to the applicant. Nothing unreasonable there.

U ajma, they weren’t honest enough to explain their own ministers’ declarations, let laone verify the provenance of funds by prospective applicants.