Garant IN Enters India, Aims for 11k Residency, Citizenship Clients

New Delhi, Feb 19 (PTI) Amid a raging debate on deportation of illegal Indian immigrants from the US, a global residency and citizenship provider is setting up its shop in India with plans to serve 8,000-11,000 individuals here in a year.

Andri Boiko, Global CEO and Founder of Garant IN which started its business in 2008 and has offices in Dubai and Moscow, told PTI in an exclusive interview here that he was amazed after finding out that people were paying huge sums of money for Dunki-like terrible routes when legal and officially approved ways were available to relocate.

Three planes full of illegal immigrants, each carrying over 100 persons who had taken Dunki and other illegal routes to the US, have arrived in India in recent weeks and more such people are expected to be back soon.

Some are being moved to Panama and Costa Rica before they return to India. Most of these people had paid tens of lakhs of rupees to their agents to shift to the US.

Asked about their plans for India, Boiko said India is a big country and he believes it is the country of the future.

"There is an economic boom in India and the number of entrepreneurs and businessmen is growing very rapidly. We can help them find ways to expand their business, arrange for studies for their families all over the world, and get residency and citizenship and a freedom to go whenever and wherever they want without any visa restrictions," he said.

Boiko, who is here to finalise his company's India operations, said he was earlier planning to start with Mumbai but given the size and diversity of the country, they are now planning to set up offices in Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru also, among other countries.

"We will start within a few months," he said. The company has already hired three employees and plans to raise the head count to 20-30 this year and further higher depending on the business requirements.

India had 8.5 lakh HNIs or millionaires at the end of 2024 and it is expected to double by 2027.

Asked about his target for India, Boiko said, "Our main target is HNIs. Our expectation here is for at least 2,000 families a year (as clients) and this is a large number. This would mean approximately 8,000-11,000 individuals after taking into account their family members."

He further said that the majority of their clients do not leave their home country completely.

"What they get is a kind of liberty to travel around the globe. We create those possibilities for them. Now, there is a popular trend to travel, which is like chasing the weather. So, for example, you spend a few months in Delhi where you have your business, a few months in Europe, be it France, Spain or wherever they want to be, and a few months in Dubai," he said.

"It's like chasing the weather because most of the businesses can be managed online also. People do not go away forever, because the main country where they live is the country where they make the money or where their business is located," he added.

Boiko said their statistics show it is not necessary that people leave their country permanently.

"Going by the cases we have handled since 2008, only about 10 per cent of people leave their country to settle abroad completely. People go, they travel and they come back," he said.

Boiko said India is seeing an economic boom and there is no need for the people to move their businesses to Europe or Dubai.

They may want to establish new companies to expand their business to Europe, the US or the UAE, but their main residence will be in India and even for those who want to set up business in other countries, they are welcome as they can create more jobs and pay taxes there," he said.

Asked about the countries likely to be preferred by Indians for residency or citizenship, he said Garant IN is providing services for France, Spain, Grenada, Hungary, Switzerland and Portugal, among others.

"The most interesting destinations right now are France, Spain and Grenada. These are the destinations that open the doors to entire European Union, to the UK and a lot more places.

"When some HNI buys a Grenadian passport by doing some investment, he gets the passport but some of them actually never go to Grenada or the Caribbean. Some of them do go, but most do not. Similarly, when you get French or Spanish residency, you can live wherever you want in the European Union," he said.

He said the mindset about traditional destinations like US, UK and Canada is changing.

"Everybody used to think that if we go to US or UK they will get a better life. Maybe, some will get it but the US passport is not one of the best passports. Some will go to the US to get birth citizenship for their child, but they also get tax obligations.

"On the other hand, you can help the child get a French or a Grenadian passport and the child will not have any obligation. French passport is ranked as the second best in the world and it is ranked much higher than the US passport," he said.

Asked to elaborate about Grenada, he said it is a country in the Caribbean and it gives you visa-free travel across the European Union, the UK, the possibility to get a 10-year US visa easily, an easy Australian visa and you have zero tax obligation.

"On this passport, you can open companies in many European jurisdictions, you can buy properties and moreover Grenada has a very tight relationship with the US, UK and they do very good due diligence. Besides, we have never got any refusals from Grenada," he said.

On the time and money, he said the French residency can take 2-3 months, and Spain is the same, while a Grenadian passport usually takes 6 months.

"In Grenada, the average cost of a case is USD 350,000 but for this amount you buy a share in a hotel, these are big chains and you can sell it in five years," he said.

"In France, the cost of residency is 20,000 euros and before you get citizenship in five years, the total cost would be 70,000-80,000 euros. You will have to pay this partially during the five-year period," he said.

On Dunki and such illegal routes, Boiko said the most interesting fact that I have figured out is that people have paid huge money for this terrible and illegal route.

"The first thing anyone should check is whether the programme is absolutely official or not. The second thing they should check is the bonafide of the agent and pay only the approved official fees," he said.

He said it is part of their mission to spread awareness about the legal and official routes to get residency and citizenship.

"We are doing as much as we can. We will help people as much as we can and we will expand as much as we can. We will do everything so that the majority of Indians know about legal ways, and know about us because we do all our work legally and we deal only with official programmes," he said.