{"id":48772,"date":"2024-01-28T11:44:28","date_gmt":"2024-01-28T16:44:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/?p=48772"},"modified":"2024-01-28T13:44:52","modified_gmt":"2024-01-28T18:44:52","slug":"el-salvadors-1m-freedom-visa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/blog\/el-salvadors-1m-freedom-visa\/","title":{"rendered":"El Salvador\u2019s $1M Freedom Visa"},"content":{"rendered":"
El Salvador announced in December 2023 that they were launching their Freedom Visa program in a bid to attract foreign investment to the country, as well as to attract \u201ctransformative individuals who are interested in building a legacy\u201d. (Source: Forbes.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n So, does the Freedom Visa hit the bullseye or miss the mark? Let\u2019s discuss.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In June 2021<\/a>, El Salvador\u2019s President Nayib Bukele announced a bill to adopt bitcoin as legal tender in the country. With El Salvador being the first country in the world to do this, the move was touted as a step towards greater economic freedom and a way to make it easier for Salvadorans abroad to send money back home. The government also thought it would be a great way to bring in more foreign investment, particularly from crypto investors.<\/p>\n Another move Bukele\u2019s administration has made to increase foreign investment and tourism is his crackdown on crime, specifically gang-related crime, which has plagued the country for decades. Through these efforts, El Salvador has gone from having the highest murder rate in the world to having the highest incarceration rate in the world.<\/a><\/p>\n And it looks like the combo of bitcoin and crime reduction is working, as El Salvador saw a 30% increase in tourism<\/a> alongside a 70% reduction in murders<\/a> in 2023. While it still lags behind other countries in the region, the future looks to be heading in a positive direction for El Salvador, if they can stay on this course.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Doubling down on their commitment to bitcoin as legal tender in a bid to attract more investment, El Salvador announced their new Freedom Visa program in December 2023. All for the low, low price of US$1,000,000!<\/p>\n Per the official government website<\/a>, this is the premise of the Freedom Visa program:<\/p>\n El Salvador extends an exclusive invitation of citizenship to 1000 individuals who aspire to make a difference in the world. Successful applicants are eligible for a fast-track Salvadoran passport, becoming an integral part of this transformative journey. El Salvador is experiencing a renaissance driven by bold leadership, economic liberty, and a commitment to financial freedom. We are actively seeking the brightest minds globally to join us in building this vision of a better tomorrow. Limited to 1000 participants per year, this Freedom Visa program is not just an investment; it’s a commitment to building the country of the future. <\/em><\/p>\n Essentially, El Salvador\u2019s Freedom Visa is a nation-building project. They are trying to attract foreign investment to the country to build up local infrastructure and make improvements in areas like education and healthcare.<\/p>\n If they are successful in attracting 1000 individuals a year to invest in this program, they\u2019ll be bringing in a cool US$1,000,000,000 annually.<\/p>\n Here are some of the program details:<\/p>\n This could be an interesting play for the right type of investor, but it\u2019s definitely not for everyone. Let\u2019s break down some of the pros and cons of both El Salvador as a country and the Freedom Visa itself.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While most people are more familiar with some of the historically well-known \u201ccons\u201d of El Salvador, it offers a lot of pros, too, including:<\/p>\n I found this blog article<\/a> about a female traveling El Salvador alone and she has a pretty positive take on the country. With tourism on the rise and more direct flights being offered, things are looking pretty good for El Salvador overall.<\/p>\n Now that we\u2019ve established that El Salvador has a lot going for it, let\u2019s look at the pros of the Freedom Visa itself:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While El Salvador has a lot going for it at the moment and appears to be headed in a positive direction, it comes with a lot of baggage and still has a lot of work to do to become an investment and tourist hub. Here are some of the main cons with the country:<\/p>\n The Freedom Visa has some significant cons, as well. I found a great article<\/a> that goes over the program and its various issues and these thoughts seem to be shared by many others. Here are the big issues:<\/p>\n The US$1,000,000 cost of the Freedom Visa alone will be a deal breaker for the vast, vast majority of people. Even Malta\u2019s CBI program<\/a> is less expensive, and you come out of that one with one of the best passports in the world.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n El Salvador is clearly swinging for the fences with their Freedom Visa offering. It sounds very interesting in theory, but it appears they need to flesh out the program quite a bit more so people understand what the requirements are and what they are getting in return for their US$1,000,000 investment.<\/p>\n Frankly, I think they are out to lunch on the price. Unless you feel a strong compulsion to be involved in the rebuilding of El Salvador, it\u2019s hard to imagine many people in the market for a second citizenship going this route.<\/p>\n So, while I do think the Freedom Visa has great potential to bring in foreign investment, I\u2019m not sure it will realize that potential without some big changes being made. Especially to the price!<\/p>\n Stay on top of the latest trends in the offshore world by subscribing to Escape Artist Insiders magazine<\/a>, where our experts share their on-the-ground experience and insights to help you build your Plan B. This month\u2019s issue is all about Looking Into the Future, and you definitely don\u2019t want to miss it. Start the New Year off right and subscribe today!<\/a><\/p>\n Thanks for reading and have a great week!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" El Salvador announced in December 2023 that they were launching their Freedom Visa program in a bid to attract foreign investment to the country, as well as to attract \u201ctransformative individuals who are interested in building a legacy\u201d. (Source: Forbes.com) So, does the Freedom Visa hit the bullseye or miss the mark? Let\u2019s discuss. Bukele, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":705,"featured_media":48776,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[39861,35821,9576,12427,39862,39859,2701,39860,2116,39857,39858,2544,39864,18184,2738,39865,12438,39863,2376,2754],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/2-2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48772"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/705"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48772"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48780,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48772\/revisions\/48780"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48772"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=48772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Bukele, Bitcoin, and Crime<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The Freedom Visa<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Pros<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Cons<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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The Freedom Visa is a Big Gamble<\/strong><\/h2>\n