Emigration specialists reveal a spike in the number of South African citizens investigating or applying for foreign citizenship or residence abroad.<\/p>\n
This is according to a report in the Mail & Guardian<\/a>, which notes that, currently, having a South African passport enables citizens to enter 97 countries<\/a> without the need for a visa.<\/p>\n Some countries enable wealthier citizens to buy citizenship or residency, with the UK, US, Malta and Cyprus the most popular options for wealthy South Africans, the M&G said.<\/p>\n Residency in the UK can cost as much as R38 million, followed by Cyprus and a US green-card at R34 million, and R12 million, respectively.<\/p>\n For those who like a tan, some islands in the Caribbean can cost as little as R1.2 million to obtain citizenship.<\/p>\n Whatever the cost, local immigration companies are reporting more inquiries.<\/p>\n \u201cUntil the end of last year [2014], we would get an emigration inquiry about once every two weeks. Now we are fielding about nine or 10 emigration inquiries a day,” Chris Watters, a lawyer working on immigration and emigration issues, told the Mail & Guardian.<\/p>\n \u201cThere has been an increase of 50% more inquiries from South Africans in comparison to the same time last year,” said Vice-chairperson at Henley & Partners<\/a>, Andrew Taylor.<\/p>\n He said that the pace of queries has accelerated, to between five and 10 a day.<\/p>\n Taylor told the paper that clients choose to emigrate for the future well-being of their children, through the provision of better education and the prospect of more jobs.<\/p>\n He said that many businesses were also inquiring about access to Europe or Northern America.<\/p>\n Taylor acknowledged that his clients were among the wealthiest 5% in the country.<\/p>\n The most powerful passports in the world<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Important South Africans to be fast tracked for visas<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\nMore on South Africa<\/h3>\n