Residency and citizenship by investment exhibition and conference

So - any questions?

Yes, Lebanese are all over themselves trying to obtain a second passport, one that does not require a visa to go to the bathroom as is the case with the Lebanese passport (getting a Schengen visa is so convoluted, one to the United States is even more difficult, and the list goes on!) - please check this link which even if old is still valid (here). So it is only normal for a full exhibition to happen about "Residency and citizenship by investment". 

Currently there is an ad on the streets which advertises a second passport starting 100,000 USD. I know the figure sounds astronomic, but wait till they put you in a glass chamber in front of the whole airport as you land with a valid visa in Europe, for 45 minutes without anyone talking to you from the official security and everyone else at the airport looking at you oddly. Suddenly 100 grand seems acceptable!

French government offers poisoned gift as consolation prize to the Lebanese

 

Remember this post? About the sided love from Lebanon to France? 

Let me begin by saying that Israelis do not need Schengen visas. And that to enter the Schengen space one needs to apply the same papers to all concerned embassies. The papers include: a letter from employer, bank statement, copies of previous visas and passports (with current passport having two additional blank pages and three months valid beyond return date), family civil extract, plane ticket (with return ticket) and hotel booking, the usual travel insurance, 2 photos, means of subsistence (65 Euros per day minimum),  a completed application of several pages, and honestly all this needs to be translated. 

Last time I went in a business trip to the Netherlands that was already 60 papers.

The communique above from the French government offers visas, ability to fly and return and what not... Brilliant one might say. But the devil is in the details. The detail in question? 

"Sans autre restriction que les conditions habituelles d'admission de sejour".

"With no other restriction but the usual conditions of admission for entry".

The conditions I just listed above. Oh and with unemployment rampant and money stuck in the bank, what employer letter and what bank statement do we talk about?

A poisoned gift as consolation prize, don't you think?