Golden visa to the EU.
If you have excess money and you want to live in the European Union, then at present you can be offered quite a lot of options for solving this problem, differing both in the amount of investments and in the country of residence. Great Britain and Latvia “launched” programs for investors back in 2008. Portugal introduced the so-called Golden Visa in 2012. Recently, Cyprus, Spain and Greece have joined them. All of the above countries are ready to issue temporary residence permits to third-country nationals who invest significant amounts in real estate or other investment portfolios on certain conditions. The mentioned conditions vary from country to country, I mean the amount of investment and the duration of the acquired residence permit, but the principle remains unchanged.
You invest money, and in return you get the opportunity to stay in the country 365 days a year. Moreover, if you purchase a residence permit, you get the right to travel freely throughout the Schengen area for 90 days of each 6-month period. Recall that the Schengen zone includes 26 states, most of which are located in the continental part of Europe and are members of the European Union. These countries do not check passports at common borders, thereby creating zones of free movement. Great Britain and Ireland are not included in the Schengen area. Consider the action of the "Golden Visa" for the following countries.
United Kingdom. An investor visa (Tier 1) allows representatives of third countries to apply for a residence permit for up to three years at the initial stage. It can be prolonged and then converted into a permanent place of residence and citizenship. The minimum investment amount is 1 million pounds.
Latvia. Currently, the minimum size of investment is 75,000 Latvian lats, which allows applying for a five-year temporary residence permit. This ratio is probably the best in terms of price and quality. This feature was introduced in 2010, and thousands of visas were issued, but in October 2013, the Latvian parliament approved the changes. If the president supports them, then the minimum investment will grow by about half.
Portugal. The Portuguese Golden Visa was introduced in 2012 and allows those who have made a minimum investment of 500,000 euro to apply for a residence permit. Initially, a residence permit is issued for one year and can be extended twice for a period of two years. At the end of the five-year period, a residence permit can be converted to a permanent place of residence, provided that the applicants have fulfilled the requirements for a minimum stay in Portugal. The applicant must spend at least seven days in the first year and 14 days in each of the remaining four years. After a five-year possession of permanent residence, visa holders can apply for citizenship. Investors who place 1 million euros each in a bank or invest an equivalent amount in shares of a resident company, or organize a business that creates at least 10 jobs, can also qualify for a Golden Visa. Portuguese officials said they had “issued” 318 Golden Visas over the past year, mainly to representatives from China and the Middle East. A long-term forecast is the issuance of up to 400 visas per year, which, according to experts, is quite in line with expectations at the time this opportunity was introduced.
Cyprus: visa F. Cyprus visa F was introduced in 2012. The minimum investment is 300,000 euro. The applicant receives a three-year renewable residence permit. Cyprus also offers an accelerated citizenship option. The price of the issue is 10 million euros. Greece The Greek version of the Golden Visa was introduced in July 2013. An investment of € 250,000 in real estate provides a five-year residence permit. Greece is also ready to provide residence permits to both strategic investors and businessmen who are ready to provide jobs for at least 10 employees.
Spain. The Spanish version of obtaining a residence permit is almost identical to Portuguese. It was put into use in October 2013. The real estate investment throughput is 500,000 euro. An alternative is an investment of 2 million euros in bonds of the Spanish government. The initial validity period of the residence permit is 1 year. Then a two-fold extension for a period of two years is possible.
Malta. On November 19, 2013, Malta officials announced that the “citizenship acquisition” program was postponed indefinitely. Thus, the most anticipated innovation of 2013, which provided for the possibility of obtaining citizenship in exchange for an investment of 650,000 euros, was a stillborn child. Since Malta is part of the EU, having a Maltese passport allows you to reside in the UK, France and other countries of the commonwealth without restrictions. And the planned program provided for the possibility of obtaining citizenship even in cases where the investor did not live in Malta until the moment of “purchase” of citizenship.
