獲取第二本護照 不應買賣"國籍"

I should be sympathetic to people’s need for golden visas, and even more so for second passports. Before I became a British citizen (because I live and work in London), I spent a good part of my life travelling on a Lebanese passport – which was a nightmare when it came to obtaining visas, and even raised red flags at airports. My most chilling moment was in Rome, where I was once accompanied by a security guard from check-in to boarding and made to feel I was a menace to other passengers.

對人們獲取“黃金居留許可”(golden visa)的需求，我本應很有共鳴，至於獲取第二本護照，我就更應心有慼慼。在成爲英國公民（因爲我生活和工作的地方在倫敦）之前，我人生中一段不短的時間裏，一直用一本黎巴嫩護照旅行，用黎巴嫩護照申請簽證的過程簡直像是噩夢一場，甚至曾導致機場的安保人員如臨大敵。最可怕的一次是在羅馬，一名安保人員在我從辦理登機手續到登上飛機的過程中全程陪同，讓我覺得自己好像對其他乘客的安全是個威脅。

I doubt my parents would have invested in a residency permit or a second nationality even if they’d been able to afford it. It wasn’t an easy option, in any case. These days it is much more common to shop for golden visas, permanent residency and even citizenship. The critical ingredient is cash. As financially strained governments have discovered a quick way to boost investment, demand for immigration options has skyrocketed, especially from wealthy Chinese and Russians.

我懷疑就算我的父母有足夠的錢，他們也不會花在用投資換取居留許可或第二國籍上。無論如何，這都不是一個能輕易做出的選擇。近來，“購買”黃金居留許可、永久居留權，乃至國籍的行爲變得普遍多了。其中的關鍵因素是錢。財政緊張的政府找到了一條促進投資的捷徑，人們對移民方案的需求不斷高漲，其中富有的中國人和俄羅斯人對這類項目的需求最爲強勁。

Websites help you pick the best golden visas, quite a few of them European. A growing number of banks, law firms and consultancies are dedicating staff to advising on the most efficient programmes for temporary or permanent residency and a new nationality. Some countries, meanwhile, are openly advertising citizenship.

一些網站會幫助你挑選最好的黃金居留許可，其中不少是歐洲國家簽發的。越來越多的銀行、律師事務所和諮詢公司指派專員，就獲取暫時或永久居留權以及國籍的最高效項目提供建議。同時，一些國家則公開打出出售國籍的廣告。

In the past two years Portugal’s golden visa has been among the most successful. A minimum property investment of 500,000 allows you to live in the country for five years, travel to 25 others in Europe and apply for permanent residency.

過去兩年中，葡萄牙的黃金居留許可項目是此類項目中最成功的之一。最低只需投資50萬歐元購置該國房產，就能獲得該國5年的居留權，在此期間還可自由出入歐洲其他25個國家、並申請永久居留權。

This week the glitter came off the Portuguese scheme when a police investigation led to a string of detentions, including the head of the border agency and a senior justice ministry official. Part of the investment, the police suspect, might have been lining officials’ pockets.

最近，這一項目光鮮不再，在警方進行調查後，包括移民局局長和登記與公證處主席在內的多人遭逮捕。警方懷疑，部分投資款項可能流入了這些官員自己的腰包。

Sometimes scandals are useful, if only to remind us of the side effects of a rapidly expanding financial arrangement. Portugal’s investigation will increase scrutiny of these programmes, though it probably won’t stop abuses. There are plenty of reputable business people who need flexibility of travel and an insurance policy for the future. But dodgy clients, too, are attracted to the schemes.

有時候，醜聞是有用的，即便這用處只是提醒我們注意一個快速發展的財務安排存在的負面效應。葡萄牙警方的調查會促使此類項目受到更嚴格的審查，儘管很可能還是無法消滅濫用職權現象。有許多有身份的商界人士，需要能夠靈活地旅行、並對未來投保。但這些項目同樣也引來了一些劣質的客戶。

Still, the Portuguese debacle could put a damper on a fast-growing industry. According to Christian Kalin of Henley & Partners, Switzerland, residence-by-investment programmes attract about $5bn a year in foreign direct investment; and citizenship by investment another $2bn. Both figures are increasing at 20 per cent a year.

不過，葡萄牙的投資換居留項目醜聞，可能還是會給這個正在快速發展的產業澆一盆冷水。從事投資換居留權和國籍相關諮詢業務的諮詢公司Henley & Partners瑞士分部的克里斯蒂安•卡林(Christian Kalin)表示，投資換居留權項目每年吸引50億美元的外國直接投資(FDI)，投資換國籍項目每年另外吸引20億美元的投資。這兩項數據均每年增長20%。

There’s been so much interest in immigration alternatives that experts have established the Investment Migration Council, whose mandate is to promote the industry and set standards of transparency.

人們對移民方案的興趣如此濃厚，以至於業內專家們已經建立了投資移民理事會(Investment Migration Council)，旨在推動行業發展，設立透明度標準。

Dimitry Kochenov, who runs the IMC, was an adviser on the Malta citizenship programme, which I’m told is the one most favoured by industry specialists. Malta’s residency requirement is only one year, and the total price is less than 1.2m, part of it in an non-refundable contribution to the National Development and Social Fund. There are quicker options: a passport from the tiny Caribbean islands of St Kitts and Nevis, for example, can be acquired for a $400,000 property investment or just $250,000 in contribution to the sugar industry fund – and it doesn’t require recipients to spend any time in the country. Indeed, in May a US Treasury department alert warned financial institutions that some Iranians had been using St Kitts citizenship to circumvent sanctions.

投資移民理事會主席季米特里•科切諾夫(Dimitry Kochenov)是一名馬耳他國籍項目顧問。據我所知，馬耳他的國籍項目是最受業內專家們推崇的項目。馬耳他只要求申請入籍者至少在該國住滿1年，辦理過程總花費不到120萬歐元，其中包括給馬耳他國家發展及社會基金(National Development and Social Fund)的捐款，部分捐款過後不可退還。還有更快的方案：比如，要想獲得加勒比海島國聖基茨和尼維斯(St Kitts and Nevis)的護照，你只需花40萬美元投資該國房產，或者向糖業基金捐贈25萬美元，並且完全無需在該國居住。事實上，5月份美國財政部的一個部門曾向金融機構發出警報，稱有一些伊朗人在利用聖基茨的公民身份規避制裁。

Professor Kochenov says he is promoting a concept, not the sale of citizenship. His argument is that there is no straightforward connection between citizenship and feelings towards a country. “There are of plenty of sceptics around the world . . . People say you can’t sell citizenship,” he says. “But there is a misunderstanding about citizenship. People think of it as a sentiment, not as a legal status.”

科切諾夫教授表示，他推銷的是理念，而不是國籍本身。他的觀點是，國籍和對一個國家的情感沒有直接聯繫。“世界各地有很多持懷疑態度的人……他們說你不能出售國籍，”他說，“但是對於國籍，人們存在誤解。人們認爲國籍代表一種情感，而不是一種法律地位。”

Having spoken to the professor, I am still sceptical. Maybe I’m sentimental. A golden visa I might just about understand. But trading cash for citizenship in a country where you don’t intend to live, or even visit, is a step too far.

在與這位教授談話之後，我還是持懷疑態度。或許我太感性了。黃金居留許可我或許還差不多能理解。但用金錢換取一個你不打算去居住、甚至壓根兒就不打算踏足的國家的國籍，在我看來就有點兒過頭了。