Residency via investment: A lesser-known way to fund your child's education abroad.

• Residency via investment allows you to seek citizenship in an international country
• You need to invest a considerable amount in the investment migration program
• The program is highly beneficial in providing job opportunities for your children

International education is quite popular among parents who want their children to study and settle abroad. It gives children an added academic edge and helps them diversify their career prospects.

However, securing international education and a job is competitive and challenging. Many families, especially the affluent ones, resort to the investment migration program called residency via investment.

Residency via investment – the concept

Residency via investment is a kind of golden visa program wherein families get the right to relocate to an international country to live, study, work, and get healthcare benefits. Such families must make a specified investment in the chosen country to access the program.

Residency via investment programs is expensive and is usually preferred by HNIs (High Net Worth Individuals) or affluent families. Here's a look at the details of the residency via investment programs of some of the most popular countries:

Benefits of the residency via investment program

If you apply for the residency via an investment program and gain residency, here are some benefits that you can get:

• Good employment opportunities 

After graduation, students don't face employment worries if they have a PR or citizenship. Many employers avoid visa-related hassles when employing fresh graduates. There is only a limited pool of employers who offer jobs on student or work visas. In such cases, there's no room for negotiating the compensation. As such, students get limited job offers at restricted pay packages.

With PR and citizenship, there are more job offers, better room for pay negotiation and the possibility to build a career in an international country.

Also read - Can you invest in a mutual fund in your child's name? Know here.

• Healthcare benefits

As a citizen of the country, you also get to enjoy the government-sponsored healthcare benefits available in the country. You can easily afford high medical treatments and expenses and access quality healthcare.

Things to keep in mind about residency via investment program

While investment migration programs are a good way to fund your child's higher education abroad, there are some things that you should keep in mind. Have a look –

• Given their high cost, you should start saving for them in advance. Since RBI restricts foreign remittances to USD 250,000 in a year, plan a few years in advance to remit the required amount.
• You can invest in equity-oriented avenues for attractive returns over the long term and build up a sizable corpus.
• Know the expected cost before you start saving and the time within which you would need the corpus.
• Assess the processing time of different countries so that you can apply for the program in advance.
• Evaluate the program you are investing in. An ideal program should be around longer and belong to an economically stable country; otherwise, your investment will go to waste.
• Assess the eligibility parameters of the program that you want to invest in. You might have to stay in the selected country for some years to become eligible.
• Also, check the program's restrictions to know what you are getting into. For instance, some programs might not allow marriage during the investment period.

The residency by investment scheme can help your children seek international education easily and give a boost to their career. It is a better alternative, with more benefits than student visas. However, it involves considerable savings. So, explore the various residency via an investment programs and choose a suitable destination for your child's education. Start saving early on so that you can pay for the program when your child dreams of an international education. 

Also Read - Here are some tips for planning a corpus for your child's education

Source

https://www.moneycontrol.com