Jean Francois Harvey, a well known personality internationally because of his comprehensive immigration law services to corporations and high net individuals. He argued that if we introduce the Schengen visa then it will not have a negative impact on Caribbean CBI programs.
In October 2023, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union agreed for the EU’s visa suspension mechanism also called “Investor Citizenship Schemes”. The changes were proposed by the European Commission and the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) approved them last March. According to the scheme, it was allowed by EU authorities to remove the visa free travel opportunity temporarily. This change was to make the existing system efficient.
Radolslaw Sikorski, Polish Minister for Foreign Affairs stated, ”Visa-free travel to the EU benefits foreign citizens and the EU alike. But if citizens of third countries abuse this advantage, the EU must have all necessary tools in place to correct the situation.”
Jean Francois said he has more than 30 years experience in immigration law and has seen many changes during these years. He thinks if we impose visa requirements on EU Schengen areas than it will not affect Caribbean citizenship by investment program as most of the people do not want to secure citizenship in Caribbean countries just because of visa free access but also because of many other benefits that Caribbean CBI offers.
Benefits of Caribbean Citizenship except Visa Free Access
A large number of people are now seeking Caribbean citizenship as it offers its investors with beneficial tax policies that do not impose taxes like worldwide income tax, inheritance tax, wealth tax and capital gain tax. This allows the investors to live and manage their expenses efficiently. Caribbean CBI also provides a good quality of life and employment opportunities to the investors. These are the reasons that many people want to become citizens of Caribbean countries.
An Electronic Visa for Schengen States
Francois also said that the imposition of visa requirements for Schengen States does not indicate a travel ban; rather it will just require an electronic visa from the Caribbean passport holders. The visa application process will be similar to the processes followed by Canada and the United States and most of the people will not face any difficulty during this process.
In fact, as compared to the existing visa requirement for Dominican passport holders that was imposed on them by the UK government, our clients will obtain the multiple entry visa within a few days.
Steady Implementation of ETA Systems
In this era where visa applications usually take long processing times, the use of Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) systems is increasing steadily in place of the traditional visa systems. Many Countries like Australia, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom have been using these systems because of their efficiency and scalability, while Europe is finalizing its European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS)
According to Visanews.com, in just one year the United Kingdom has already issued around 600,000 ETA’s to visa exempt travelers. Hence these ETA’s will generate a lot of profit and free resources for more in demand tasks allocation,
Conclusion
Harvey believes that the requirement of ETA for traveling to Schengen states will make their systems more efficient and the change will not negatively impact the Caribbean citizenship by investment program as a lot of investors will still seek citizenship in Caribbean countries due to its benefits regardless of the exemption of visa free access.