Passports of Caribbean residents
Pavel Durov turned out to be a citizen of the UAE, France and the Caribbean island nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, while his brother’s second citizenship was the island’s, according to data published by Le Monde and RIA Novosti.
- Telegram founder Pavel Durov is currently in France, facing six charges for failing to moderate Telegram and administering a platform linked to the criminal underworld. Durov was released from prison on bail in
€
5 million. Pavel’s brother Nikolai, who is believed to be the creator of Telegram’s encryption code, is wanted for refusing to cooperate with authorities in a child sexual abuse investigation.
As RB.RU reported founder of the international consulting boutique Bespalov Finance Alexander Bespalovthe passport of Saint Kitts and Nevis is one of the investment Caribbean passports, which used to be very popular among Russians and were quite suitable for travel due to the large number of visa-free destinations. Durov acquired this passport about 10 years ago through a transparent procedure for the investor for a symbolic amount for him. Now the passport can be obtained by purchasing real estate worth $400 thousand or by contributing $250 thousand on a non-refundable basis to a state fund or social projects.
It is no longer possible for Russian citizens to obtain such a passport, says Bespalov.
“The Saint Kitts and Nevis program is not available to Russians, the same situation applies to other “golden passports” in the Caribbean. The path opens only with another passport. Some first receive Kyrgyz citizenship and then enroll in Caribbean programs,” Bespalov said.
True, it is not a fact that such citizenship is effective. The attitude towards Caribbean passports themselves in Western countries has significantly worsened due to the low quality of candidate verification.
“Roughly speaking, Caribbean passports are obtained by drug lords, fraudsters, embezzlers and similar individuals. In the EU, for example, there has long been talk about canceling or suspending the visa-free regime with these countries, as has long been the case with Vanuatu. Some Western banks very closely examine the transactions of citizens of Caribbean countries, so such passports are not very suitable for international business at the moment. Therefore, it is quite logical that this citizenship was not enough for Durov,” Bespalov explained.
Junior partner of the law firm Emet law firm Arsen Danelyan adds that this is a travel document only. You won’t be able to present yourself as a resident to banks or brokers, for example.
“Compliance is reluctant to accept such a document, it knows and understands well that the passport was acquired through investment and the citizen has no residency in the Caribbean. Most likely, he has never even been there,” said Arsen Danelyan.
UAE Passport After Sheikhs Approval
It is logical that Pavel Durov did not stop at the passport of Saint Kitts and Nevis, but was able to obtain UAE citizenship, although this is not easy to do. Pavel Zhir has been working in Dubai since 2017.
“As we have been saying for a long time with irony: “you can’t get citizenship in the Emirates if you’re not Pavel Durov.” In fact, this is not entirely true, there are other precedents. According to our information, former Real Madrid footballer Michel Salgado received citizenship for special services to the country, and this is the procedure that Durov most likely went through in the UAE, although he didn’t even really play in the Emirates. But the procedure is complicated: the candidacy must be approved by sheikhs, crown princes, executive councils of the emirates and the cabinet,” Bespalov said.
If you go through the naturalization procedure, then in the UAE you can wait 30 years to get a passport, but, for example, doctors and scientists can get one in 10 years.
“Highly qualified specialists have been living and working in the Emirates for decades without becoming citizens of this country,” RB.RU explained. finance and investment expert, founder of the financial club “Multiplier” Evan Golovanov.
There is also an option of investing in real estate (you need to invest about $3 million), but there are very few successful cases, said the founder of Bespalov Finance. But in the UAE, for investing in real estate for just over $0.5 million, you can get a resident visa for 10 years.
Durov’s French passport
Another of Durov’s passports, the French one, is considered by experts to be “one of the strongest in the world.”
“In terms of business in the West, a French passport, of course, provides more opportunities than a UAE passport, so Durov can be understood,” says Bespalov.
According to the expert, it cannot be said that it is very difficult to become a citizen of France. You can apply for naturalization after five years of residence. When studying in France and in some other cases, this period can be shortened. Pavel most likely received French citizenship under an accelerated option, for special merits. In this case, Bespalov believes, France is not the easiest country, there is quite strict control, so reports of several cases of refusal to Durov seem plausible.
- Durov received a French passport in 2021 as an “honorary foreigner” who “promotes France’s influence,” Le Monde wrote. The decision to grant Durov a passport was made by Emmanuel Macron in 2018.
- “We made this decision in 2018, and I think it was completely justified. I think it is right to grant citizenship to outstanding businessmen, athletes, and artists,” Macron justified himself in late August, after Durov’s arrest, speaking in Belgrade, TASS reported. It was planned that Telegram’s headquarters could also move to Paris.
- As a result, his French citizenship made it possible for Durov to be detained in Paris on August 24.
Why do you need a foreign passport?
Evan Golovanov from “Multiplikator” named the reasons why investors obtain citizenship of different countries.
Firstly, it increases mobility, which is especially important for owners of startups, international companies, and corporate executives.
Secondly, if an entrepreneur is engaged in international business – especially technology, like the Durov brothers – then sometimes the company is not focused on making a profit in the “here and now” moment, but is going to grow in capitalization.
“The owners want to take it to IPO, attract institutional financing, and interact with investment funds. Unfortunately, even before 2022, domestic businesses, all of whose owners were Russian, were viewed with caution on the international capital market. They were less willing to cooperate with such companies, since foreign investors felt unprotected. Therefore, many entrepreneurs tried to additionally obtain a second citizenship,” explained Evan Golovanov.
The third reason concerns Durov personally as a systemic player in the communications market.
“One can assume that he wanted to be less dependent on some government agencies, not to allow them to influence his career or the vector of business development,” Golovanov believes.
The expert adds that there are fewer and fewer of them available to Russians, and passports require greater financial investment than before.
“Often we are talking about hundreds of thousands of euros. Oddly enough, the option with Europe remains – however, those who received a European passport often had a residence permit and officially worked in the country for several years. But citizenship based solely on the goals of mobility becomes extremely expensive. Therefore, this option is suitable for very rich people,” the expert said.
Danelyan adds that in the case of the Durovs, entrepreneurs with unlimited resources, having multiple citizenships is more practical than having one.
“A French passport for Europe, a UAE passport for the Arab world, a Caribbean passport for hassle-free border crossing. Many Russians are sincerely jealous of such a diversity of citizenships. Currently, most “passport for investment” programs are unavailable to Russians, and passports for “outstanding services” of countries such as the UAE and France are received by truly outstanding people. But there are still programs and countries that are happy to issue passports and long-term residence permits to Russians. However, their number is decreasing against the backdrop of sanctions pressure and restrictions,” stated Arsen Danelyan from Emet law firm.
Cover photo: EQRoy /
Source: rb.ru
