Since mid-2022, the European Commission (EC) has been vociferously urging the European Union (EU) governments to stop selling citizenship to foreign investors. In October 2022 while urging Albania to refrain from developing an investors’ citizenship scheme, the Commission warned that such a scheme would “pose risks as regards security, money laundering, tax evasion, terrorist financing, corruption and infiltration by organised crime, and would be incompatible with the EU norms.”
Portugal: Having granted 12,000 Golden Visas since the inception of the program in 2012, Portugal has downed its shutters on its Golden Visa program. The country’s Prime Minister António Costa announced the country is ending its lucrative residence by investment scheme to tackle property and rent price speculation.
The suspension of the scheme does not impact existing Golden Visa holders. These visas will be renewed as long as the recipient either lives in their Portuguese property or rents it long-term.
One of the world’s most popular Citizenship by Investment programs, Portugal allowed foreigners to either purchase a property or invest some of their wealth into the country - known as capital transfer investments - in exchange for residency.
Between January and August 2022, the program brought almost €398 million to the country, according to LUSA, Portugal's national news agency.
What seems like the end of the road for the Golden Visa program is the beginning of the Digital Nomad Visa program that came into effect on October 30, 2022.
Portugal’s Digital Nomad Visa: From October 30, 2022, Portugal has started accepting applications from individuals for the Digital Nomad Visa (DNV) that allows individuals to live and work in the country. Officially called the “residence visa for the exercise of professional activity provided remotely outside the national territory”, the new visa is an alternative to the existing ‘D7’ visa, a popular residency permit mostly aimed at retirees and ‘passive income’ earners.
Portugal’s DNV is divided into two categories.
· Short stay: Aimed at remote workers looking to stay temporarily in Portugal for up to one year.
· Residency permit: For digital nomads who are looking to secure a residency visa in Portugal that can be renewed up to five years.
Eligibility: To be eligible, the individual will need to make four times the current national minimum wage to live and work in the country and provide a work contract or proof that they are self-employed. The current minimum monthly income in Portugal is €705 but is increasing to €750 in 2023. The monthly earning requirement is around $2,750 (€2,836).
Where to Apply: Individuals can apply at the Portuguese Consulate in their home country. If the applicant is already in Portgual, apply at SEF (Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras), the country’s Immigration and Border Service. Application should include proof of income for the past three months, tax residency documents, and either a contract of employment or proof that you are self-employed.
D7 visa versus DNV: Through the D7 Visa, Portugal has been attracting a lot of foreigners. However, DNV and D7 are not the same, The D7 Visa allows anyone to live and work in the county as long as they can earn the Portuguese minimum wage (€822.50 per month) per month. However, these earnings must come from ‘passive’ income streams like rent or investments. On the other hand, the DNV is aimed at people looking to relocate on a temporary basis and offers the opportunity of living and working in Portugal, but without a long-term commitment.
Ireland: Ireland has axed its Golden Visa Scheme or Immigrant Investor Programme, which offered Irish residence to internationals in return for €500,000 investment or three years of an annual €1 million investment in the country.
The country stopped accepting Golden Visa applications from February 15, 2023, but authorities say that the nearly 1,500 pending applications will be looked into.
Started 11 years ago, the program, which has been used mainly by wealthy Russian and Chinese investors, has attracted €1.25 billion. In Ireland, 91 percent of Golden Visa recipients were Chinese nationals followed by Brazilians, Turks and South Africans. While the scheme did not provide passports, investors and qualifying family members could apply for citizenship after five years of residency in Ireland.
Ireland had suspended the scheme for Russian citizens in March 2022 among its sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine.
Spain: Más País, the Spanish left-wing political party, wants to scrap the country’s Residence by Investment scheme for foreigners due to its impact on housing prices, pushing nationals out of the market, especially in the big cities and the most popular tourist destinations. A bill has already been submitted in the Congress to annul the Golden Visa program that was introduced in 2013 and enabled foreigners to obtain a Spanish residence permit by purchasing real estate worth at least €500,000 in the country.
If the bill is approved, it will eliminate the purchase of real estate in Spain as a way of getting residency in the country. Then, the only option to get residency in Spain will be by launching a business project with job creation or innovation.
In March 2022, after the attack by Russia on Ukraine, the Spanish government had suspended issuance of Golden Visas to Russians. Before the suspension, Russian oligarchs snapped up a chunk of the Spanish Golden visas on offer – between the beginning of 2020 and end of January 2021, a total of 492 Spanish Golden Visas were issued to Russian citizens.
Malta: The old Malta Investor Programme, i.e., The Malta Citizenship by Investment Programme, was officially closed after it reached the cap of 1,800 applications in 2020. Soon after, in November of the same year, Malta introduced Malta Citizenship by Naturalization program for exceptional services. This new program grants applicants and their family citizenship by a Certificate of Naturalization for contributing to the country’s economic development. Requirements include a mandatory minimum amount of investment and proof of 12 or 36 months of residency in the country. According to the new regulations, this citizenship program will be limited to providing citizenship to a maximum of 400 successful applicants per year and will be capped at 1,500 successful applicants.
Cyprus: In October 2020, Cyprus had announced the suspension of its Golden Visa program following a sting by Al Jazeera. Established in 2013, the Cyprus program allowed foreign individuals to invest €2.5 million (£2.26million) in exchange for citizenship, raising a reported €7 billion to sustain the country’s faltering economy.
Bulgaria: After a lot of concerns over its use as a door for money laundering and corruption, Bulgaria abolished its Golden Visa program in March 2022. The much-criticized program allowed internationals to acquire residency in Bulgaria if they made an investment of over €500,000 ($550,000), and citizenship, if they invested a total of €1 million ($1.1million). Holders of Golden Visa, together with their family members, were also eligible to travel to all Schengen Zone countries visa-free.
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