Video Title: Rich People Are Paying for Passports in COVID-Safe Countries
有錢人正購買新冠病毒疫情穩定國家的護照
Date: 2021.08.21 – No.11
Speaker : #ReiAmilcar

News:

Rich people are buying passports for countries with low rates of coronavirus. This lets them travel without visas, enter countries that have banned visitors and live in safer places.

A number of countries have citizenship-by-investment programs (#CIPs), which let people gain citizenship by putting money into the local economy.

Henley & Partners, a business in London that helps people use CIPs, said it had a 42% increase in the number of people applying for citizenship in the first three months of 2020 compared to the last three months of 2019.

Caribbean countries offer some of the cheapest CIPs. For example, citizenship in #Dominica or St. Lucia costs only $100,000.

Nuri Katz of #ApexCapitalPartners, another company that helps people buy passports, told #CNN that there’s a feeling that small countries will be able to manage the virus better than large countries. This has led to increased interest in the healthcare and lifestyle of small nations.

Some countries don’t offer citizenship, but will give people a visa if they pay enough money. For example, an investment of about $2 million in #NewZealand, which has had more success managing COVID-19 than many other countries, would let someone live and work there.

One Italian #millionaire explained to #RobbReport that he wasn’t happy with how his government managed the pandemic. “We want to know there is a safe place, with good medical services, that the whole family can go to at short notice if we need to,” he said. “Only citizenship can guarantee that.”

有錢人正在購買新冠病毒案例比例低的國家的護照。 這使得他們不用簽證就可以旅遊，入境禁止遊客的國家並居住在較安全的地方。

數個國家都提供「公民身份投資移民計劃」（CIPs），讓民眾藉由將資金投入當地經濟體而取得公民身份。

倫敦企業Henley & Partners協助民眾使用CIPs，表示與2019年後三個月相比，2020年初首三個月申請公民資格的人數增加了42%。

加勒比海地區國家提供一些最便宜的CIPs。 舉例而言，多明尼哥或是聖露西亞的公民身份要價只要十萬美金。

另一間協助民眾購買護照的公司Apex Capital Partners中的Nuri Katz向《CNN》表示，人們覺得小國家處理病毒的能力比大國家來得好。 這也導致越來越多人對小國家的醫療服務及生活方式感興趣。

部分國家並不提供公民資格，但如果人們有足夠的錢的話，還是會給他們簽證。 打比方説，在紐西蘭投資約兩百萬美金的話，就能取得在當地生活及工作的資格，紐西蘭和許多國家相比，在新冠病毒這方面處理的成果也是比較好。

一位義大利百萬富翁向精品雜誌《Robb Report》解釋，他對於政府處理疫情的方式並不滿意。 「我們想要知道有安全的地方，有良好的醫療服務，是可以在全家人有需要的時候可以立即前往。」他表示。 「只有公民身份能夠保證那一點。」

Top 5 Definitions and Phrases:

1. at short notice : 在短時間內(without being given much warning or time to prepare)

Thanks for coming to this meeting at such short notice.
感謝您在短時間內來到這場會議。

2. investment: 投資, 投資物 (the action or process of putting money into something in order to make more money)

All the investments helped the charity.
所有的投資都幫助了那個慈善機構。

3. citizenship: 公民權 (being a member of a particular country and having full legal rights)

He lived in Italy for two years before he was granted citizenship.
他在義大利住了兩年才拿到公民權。

4. lifestyle: 生活方式 (the way in which a person or group lives)

They lead an active lifestyle.
他們過著積極的生活方式。

5. guarantee: 保證 (to promise or make sure that something will happen or be a certain way)

Having a lot of qualifications doesn’t guarantee that you will find employment.
有很多合格證明並不保證你就會找到工作。
——

Thank you.

source