What European Countries Still Offer Golden Visas Now That Portugal and Ireland Have Ended Their Programs?

Bloomberg revealed that Europe’s golden age of golden visas seems to be ending. It pointed out: “For wealthy foreign investors, they offered easier travel, better lives, and even breezier retirements. But the pathway to the so-called golden visas grew narrower this week as two countries popular with the jet-set crowd scrapped their programs.”

On February 14, Ireland’s Department of Justice said its Golden Visa Program would cease after review on this matter found that the program did not meet the government’s policy objectives and that there were concerns about its transparency, governance, and potential for abuse.

Two days later, the prime minister of Portugal, Antonio Costa, announced his country would stop the issuance of new golden visas amid concern that foreign buyers were driving up housing prices.

The decisions came a year after Britain shut down a similar visa program for millionaire investors.

 

The Golden Programs

The idea of a golden visa came after the European Union and the International Monetary Fund launched in 2011 a plan to rescue the Portuguese economy, which was on the verge of bankruptcy at the time.

After the launch of that visa, Portugal was able to raise seven billion euros, with 90% of that money allocated to the real estate market, according to the Portuguese Department of Immigration and Borders.

The Golden Visa is a program for obtaining residency by investment, which gives people the opportunity to obtain permanent residency in a country in exchange for buying real estate, making a large investment, or a donation that varies in size from one country to another.

Golden Passport Programs are an affordable way to obtain an EU passport in return for an investment.

Investors who are part of the Golden Passport schemes do not need to live in the EU country where they invested to obtain citizenship, but EU citizenship is not instant.

For example, Portugal owns one of Europe’s most famous golden passport schemes that grants citizenship only after 5 years of investment. Portugal and Bulgaria are the only two countries in the union that offer the possibility of a second passport for full-time non-resident investors.

Total golden visa applications approved over time. By Echeverria Abogados.

 

European Concerns

In 2022, the European Commission has called for golden visas and passport programs to stop, saying they carry risks related to security, money laundering, corruption, terrorist financing, and organized crime infiltration.

A limited number of European countries have implemented the idea of the golden visa, such as Malta, Greece, Italy, and Spain, according to Mustafa Abdul Salam, head of the economics department at the New Arab newspaper.

However, some other countries that were planning to apply for this visa have declined in recent years due to the influx of Russian investors into Europe to obtain the visa, as the European Union fears that financial crime (tax evasion, money laundering…) will penetrate the European continent through Russian funds.

In addition, Arab investors have also begun to move to Europe to reside and invest in it, according to Abdul Salam.

He stressed that some European countries had reaped billions of dollars due to the implementation of the visa and citizenship program, and in one year, it reached $290 billion. He expected that some European countries would implement these programs in the coming period, despite the pressures of the Commission, in light of the economic crisis they are suffering from.

The golden visa gives the right to investors to invest in the field of real estate and real estate financing.

As for the golden passport, it grants citizenship directly to large wealthy investors without being subject to the necessary laws for that, as the minimum investment must exceed 500,000 euros.

However, concerns raised around obtaining citizenship directly through a golden visa, especially after the war in Ukraine, because the largest number of European nationals are Russians, and several countries decided after the start of the war to freeze granting, specifically, the golden passport for nationality.

 

Golden Visa Requirements

The golden visa applicants do not need to stay in the EU country to continue renewing their residence permit. However, to obtain permanent residence or citizenship, most countries require physical residence.

In order to obtain citizenship in a particular EU country via a golden visa, the person should spend a certain amount of time actually living there. The requirements for obtaining citizenship by investment depend on each individual country and usually range from 7 to 10 years of continuous residence.

Eligibility requirements for a golden visa or golden passport vary from one European country to another, but they generally include the following:

• Have funds earmarked for investment.
• The money must have been obtained legally.
• The person should not have a criminal record.
• The person is able to support themself and their family members for the period of time they intend to live in the country.

In most cases, the golden visa or passport is issued to the main investor, as well as to his immediate family members (spouse and children).

The amount of money the person has to invest to be eligible for the golden visa depends on the country.

Some countries, such as Spain, Portugal, or Greece, offer residency by investing in real estate, companies, government bonds, or some industries in the country. In these cases, the amount of money required for the investments usually does not exceed 500 thousand euros.

Some countries in the European Union, such as Switzerland, Italy, and Austria, require a more active investment method, such as job creation, noting that the investment requirements in these countries are higher.