10 Key Due Diligence Questions: Evaluate Your Chances in 5 Minutes

Quite right. A Due Diligence check is a standard procedure required to assess the risk of significant financial transactions and the reliability of investors. For example, it is carried out when buying a business or before choosing a new business partner.

Without a Due Diligence check, it is impossible to close a significant financial transaction in Europe or the United States, including buying real estate, depositing money in a bank account, or transferring money to another person.
The good news is that you can use the Due Diligence results conducted by our company even after you are granted citizenship or a residence permit by investment. For example, if you open an account in a European bank, you will already know the general procedure and which documents are required.

Furthermore, you can use the same documents, including any affidavits that show that you successfully met all the conditions needed to undergo a Due Diligence check. The general requirements for Due Diligence checks for different purposes are similar.

All countries check the trustworthiness and integrity of investors.

Due Diligence is mandatory, and during the check, the complete picture emerges of the investor, applying for citizenship or residence by investment. Checks are made to verify that applicants and their family members do not have a criminal record anywhere in the world. These checks are made during the Due Diligence process undertaken by any country, including, for example, Cyprus and St. Kitts and Nevis.

The European Union has issued a special Directive on countering the laundering of proceeds from crime and the financing of terrorism, which is enforced throughout the EU. Applicants for citizenship or residence permits by investment are checked strictest of all, as stipulated in the fifth version of the Directive.

In addition to checking for violations of the law and a dubious business reputation, during the Due Diligence process, the sources of the investor's wealth, or Source of Wealth, and the legality of the origin of their funds, or Source of Funds are investigated.

The specific risks associated with the investor's business and past activities are also checked. If the investor previously held a public office, the corruption risks related to its role are investigated. Any instance of the investor's application for a visa being rejected is also an important point, as this may lead to their application for citizenship or a residence permit by investment being rejected.

That's right, these are special multi-industry databases created to check risks as part of the Due Diligence procedure. They contain different blocks of information: on companies, politicians, court cases, sanctions lists, and press publications.

The information from more than 10000 different databases (including all official government bodies) obtained, consolidated, analysed by local analytical teams (in each respective country) and included in the database on 24 hours frequency, meaning that the very recent information available in these databases. This is the complete source of information. We use these databases when carrying out a Due Diligence check on our clients.

The Due Diligence check is carried out by experts qualified to assess financial and legal risks, also known as Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officers. This again shows that combating international money laundering is an integral part of the Due Diligence process.

As a result of the Due Diligence process, only law-abiding investors with a positive business reputation and with no criminal record will be able to obtain citizenship or a residence permit by investment.

This is the correct answer. Before signing the contract with a prospective client, the preliminary Due Diligence check is carried out. Usually, it takes no more than 48 hours.

At the preliminary Due Diligence stage, the following information is checked:
- negative information about the investor in international databases;
- whether they are associated with companies engaging in illegal activities;
- whether they are on the sanctions lists;
- whether they held a position in the civil service (Politically Exposed Person)

The preliminary Due Diligence check is carried out by certified Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officers in our company.

We sign a contract and work only with those candidates who successfully undergo the preliminary Due Diligence. We do not provide support in obtaining citizenship or a residence permit by investment to individuals, who are sanctioned (by UN, EU, US), associated with terrorism, extremist organisations, corruption or any illegal activity.

You are right: honesty and openness are essential in preparing for a Due Diligence check. Even if revealing sensitive information about yourself results in difficult or awkward moments, the risk of your application being rejected can be significantly reduced.

You need to disclose all the relevant information in advance to the licensed agent processing your citizenship or residence permit by investment application. At Oasis Gateway, we follow the EU legislation and specifically EU "Data protection"Regulation (GDPR), which will guarantee to you that all data is strictly processed, stored, protected and further handled according to requirements of GDPR.

The government authority reviewing your application will pay particular attention to any complex offshore company structures you may have or if the investment funds are derived from sources that are not related to your core business and assets.

In order to increase the likelihood of your application being approved, it is necessary to prove the legality of the origin of your funds and income and disclose in detail all the information about your company and its major shareholders and partners. In this way, it will be possible to undergo the Due Diligence check successfully.

It is better to disclose all the information relevant to the application in advance to the licensed agent involved in registering your application for citizenship or residence by investment. Doing so can reduce the risk of your application being rejected to 1%.

This is the correct answer. High-ranking government officials, members of parliament, and senior leaders of political parties are politically exposed persons (PEPs).

They are subject to particularly stringent Due Diligence requirements, as their powerful positions in government or politics expose them to corruption risks.

However, all of them can successfully undergo the Due Diligence check and get second citizenship or a residence permit by investment if they can prove the legality of the source of their income and wealth.