US losing to more ‘favorable’ destinations for Indian Immigration
- Headline Immigration
Zofeen Maqsood
- 1
- 3 minutes read
Emerging as the top immigration destination for Indians, Dubai has even earned the moniker – “5th City of India”
In the past few years, as more and more work-based H-1B visa holders in the US continue to live with the possibility of not obtaining citizenship or permanent residency within an acceptable time frame; there have been greater enquiries on alternate routes to obtain a citizenship.
While the demand for EB-5 visa has been going consistently up each year among high net worth Indians since 2016, if immigration reports are to be believed then the US may be fast losing its spot to other more ‘favorable’ destinations.
READ: Canada plans to lure 10,000 H-1B techies from Silicon Valley (June 29, 2023)
Interestingly, Asian destinations like Dubai and Singapore are now topping the list increased by more immigration friendly regulations.
According to a wealth report, there will be a rise in India’s affluent population, reaching up to 80 percent of the current numbers by 2031.
As some of the other European countries may be ceasing their immigration programs, it looks like Dubai and Singapore will gain from the current situation.
Pre-pandemic, Portugal was fast emerging as a favorable destination for immigration but immigration consultants say that it may have reached its full potential.
The announcement regarding the termination of the Portugal Golden Residence Permit Program, which attracted significant investment in Portuguese real estate and other ventures, also now makes it a less viable option” says, Sunita Singh-Dalal, Partner, Private Wealth & Family Offices at Hourani & Partners, one of the leading commercial law firms in UAE.
READ: Why do US, Canada & Western Europe attract Indian Students? (November 29, 2022)
With wealth migration levels swinging back to pre-pandemic times, immigration reports suggest that the highest proportion of wealthy families relocating this year are considering Australia, the UAE, Singapore, the USA, and Switzerland as their top preferences while the largest net outflows of millionaires are expected to come from China, India, the UK, Russia, and Brazil.
Sunita Singh-Dalalni says “Prohibitive tax legislation coupled with convoluted, complex rules relating to outbound remittances that are open to misinterpretation and abuse, are but a few issues that have triggered the trend of investment migration from India. Dubai and Singapore remain preferred destinations for wealthy Indian families.
The former, also known as the “5th City of India,” is particularly attractive for its government-administered global investor “Golden Visa” programme, favorable tax environment, robust business ecosystem and safe, peaceful environment.”
Singapore, Switzerland, and the UAE have all become immigration magnets because of being safe havens not only for living but also for preserving wealth.
They have also established themselves as highly attractive business hubs where companies can thrive in fiscally advantageous jurisdictions with favourable corporate tax rates as well as zero wealth and inheritance taxes.
1 Comment
The H-1b and Green Card programs have big problems, but notice, they are never fixed. This is because the backlogs are huge repeat business for immigration lawyers, and immigration lawyers are the ones that companies hire to lobby Congress and the President. We could fix the H-1b and Green Card program, with one change. Allocate H-1b visas based upon salary. This would tend to spread the H-1b visas across a greater variety of countries, and the Green Card backlog would shrink.
The U.S. can’t eliminate per country caps, without risking diversity in our communities. Diversity is critical for civil rights and our pluralistic Democracy.
If we have to eliminate caps, to fix this, then lets also fix the H-1b and Green Card programs by putting control of the process into the hands of the workers, and keep it out of the hands of companies. In the past, immigration was always under the control of the worker (not companies), and this helped preserve the 13th amendment rights of workers, which this country paid dearly to secure (from a situation caused by dominance (European dominance) in U.S. politics and laws). Clearly, we need diversity and we can’t allow one ethnic groups to overdominate and marginalize or even enslave another.
Diversity is critical to our Democracy and Freedom, and we can’t scoff that away.