From our philosophy of freedom, at Mundo, we have been helping readers and followers achieve their financial goals. Together with our partners, we specialize in creating structures that will help an individual to protect their assets from criminals, creditors and governments.

For this reason, through our online portal we have featured different programs and products in order to create these structures. The first step in your asset protection journey is acquiring a second passport and dual citizenship. A second passport opens up the doors for your path to freedom, as it provides freedom to travel without a visa, the opportunity to study and do business in your new home, and in many cases, it provides the opportunity to optimize your finances and improve your returns. For this reason, at Mundo we have covered many different programs that offer citizenship by investment opportunities. 

Today, we have deiced to discuss a very popular destination for tourists and expats and decided to write a piece on the reasons why you, as an investor should NOT acquire a residency or citizenship in Australia.

Australian citizenship through investment

Unlike Saint Kitts and Nevis or Grenada, Australia does not have a direct path towards citizenship by investment, but it does towards residency. Buying Australian citizenship is not possible but, as any ordinary legal resident, you can acquire citizenship after 4 years of being a legal resident and living in the country.

Australia citizenship by investment is then possible through an indirect path via the residency programs. The residency programs through which you can eventually obtain an Australian passport by investment are based on:

• Occupation: You can acquire residency if you are a professional in an area that the Australian government considers to be of relevance for the current needs of the country and the economy.

• Interest: The Australian government wants to know what your interest is in applying for residency and eventually Australian citizenship by investment (indirect citizenship through residency). For this reason, you have to submit and Expression of Interest, that the government will assess and, if approved, will send you an invitation letter that will allow you to apply for residency. It is not possible to apply without the government’s invitation letter.

• Good health and reputation: you will have to run some tests and to present proof that you are in good health. You also need to prove having a good reputation by submitting clean criminal records. The government will research your background and you should not have had any immigration issues in previous countries before, like, for example, living in a country as an illegal alien. 

• Marriage: it is also possible to obtain a resident visa for those people who are married to an Australian citizen. This does not only apply for officially married, but also to the facto relationships. If two people are committed in a monogamous relationship and living together for more than one year, then the foreigner can acquire residency. Homosexual relationships also qualify as long as they meet the said conditions. 

• Investment: The Australian government allows for an Australian passport by investment to be acquired only via residency first. Obtaining residency by investment in Australia is no easy path, that is why we recommend other jurisdictions such as Panama or Portugal.

Australian citizenship through investment via residency path

Investor visa, subclass 891: it is required that you invest 1.5 million Australian dollars, have lived in the country for at least 2 of the past 4 years and hold a “business skills provisional visa” (subclasses 160-165). The complicated part is that the skills provisional visas are currently closed to new applications. 

State/territory visa: This is another great option for investors who want to establish their residency in Australia. It is required to obtain a sponsorship from a state or territory and an investment of at least 750,000 Australian dollars. However, this visa is also not available, so, if you want to acquire the Australian citizenship by investment, you need to have this visa already. 

Business innovation and investment visa (provisional): This is a provisional visa which is great for those who still don´t have a business visa subclass 160-165. The innovation and investment provisional visa, or subclass 188, allows you to live in the country for a period of 4 years and 3 months. Under this status, you have the right to conduct investment activities in Australia.

Once you acquire an Investment provisional visa (subclass 160-165) you can acquire a permanent one (business innovation and investment permanent visa, subclass 188). This permanent visa is the one that will open the path to Australian citizenship and passport. However, this visa is rather expensive since it allows for two different options for investment: 1.5 million or 15 million Australian dollars.

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What is it like to live in Australia

Australia is famous for its biodiversity, great beaches for surfing and the possibility of having different lifestyles. You can choose to have a laid-back beach lifestyle or live in one of the most exciting capitals in the world like Sidney or Melbourne, with all advantages and disadvantages of the big urban centers. 

The Human Development Index places Australia on the second position when it comes to quality of life. As a reference, Canada and the US are in position number 10 approximately. This ranking takes into consideration important factors such as health system, life expectancy of the population, and the level of the educational system. 

Another very important factor in my view is the language. Living in a developed country with a high standard of living and where English is the main language is surely an advantage. I have lived in Russia, for example, and it took me a year to get passed the language barrier. Some of my friends, tough, were never able to pass it. So, if you are an English speaker this is an important factor to consider. 

One of the downsides of Australian residency and citizenship is that the country is really far away. It is difficult to get to destinations such as the US, the Americas, Russia, etc. It takes several connections or long flights to get to the Western world. However, this is a disadvantage depending on the circumstances since you may not want nor need to travel to these destinations after all. 

However, the biggest disadvantage for Australian citizenship are the costs. Due to the fact that it`s a remote country, the prices in Australia are higher than you may expect, and the country is ranked in a position of approximately 11 when it comes to the ranking of the most expensive countries for expats. According to my research, the cost of living for one person is 1,000 USD a month and this does not include housing. Moreover, the amount of required investment for the residency programs is enormous like you can read in this article above.

Why Mundo does not recommend Australia

If you always dreamed of living in the land of kangaroos for other reasons more related to culture or personal preferences, then go ahead, invest your 1.5 million and go through the bureaucracy. If, however, you are a businessperson interested in protecting your wealth and growing your portfolio assets, then there are much more interesting destinations.

Portugal Golden Visa and Non-dom status

We have discussed the advantages of a Golden Visa in Portugal with our expert in this interview. To sum up., there are two ways of acquiring a residency visa in Portugal: real estate investment ad investment funds. The good news is that during COVID-19, the application can be done remotely and you only have to come to Portugal for submitting your biometric and registering you fingerprints. 

Unlike Australia, in Portugal you can get residency through a program and an investment that will get you returns. The investment fund that we propose gives a return of 6 to 7% a year, and with a real estate investment you can have a property in a European country with a high tourism industry. The apartment purchases requirements vary from 280,000 to 350,000 euros, depending on the type of property you acquire:

• Real Estate from 280.000 euro (refurbished properties, interior of Portugal, older and refurbished properties).

• Real Estate from 350.000 Euro (refurbished properties, Main cities of Portugal, older and refurbished properties).

• Real Estate from 500.000 Eur (new properties, Any type of properties in any location).

Moreover, having a Portuguese residency can bring tax benefits such as the non-dom status, which will help you optimize your taxes, being free of worldwide income under certain conditions. For more detailed information about how to acquire non- dom status and about its conditions, please read this article.

Thanks to our wide network of expert, which you can find here, Mundo is prepared to offer the highest level of investment immigration advice. Contact us now and get in touch with our experts.

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