Today we will compare several golden visa and citizenship programs in Europe and Caribbean. We will point out pros and cons in each of these programs. We will point out untold truths and soon you will see why, Portugal emerges as a clear winner in Europe for Golden visa scheme, while Antigua in the Caribbean under citizenship by investment program.
Lets start with Europe first before we move on to Caribbean countries later.
1. Portugal
Portugal requires €350,000 real estate investment outside Lisbon in Portugal real estate market. Properties purchased for less than this price are of inferior and outside major cities in Portugal not worth buying. You have to remember that by investing in real estate you are not wasting any money, and real estate can be sold later for a good profit. Portugal is a schengen country, and you will be given residence permit valid for entry/exit through any member state in EU. No requirement to live in Portugal. You might want to come to Portugal for fingerprinting once in a year or two years. After 5 years Permanent Residency and after that 6 years, you can apply for Portugese citizenship (means 6 years total) in a warm and sunny western european country. Recently Portugal have had problems with issuing residence permits to chinese investors, caused delays, but seem to be on the track now.
2. Spain
Spain has €500,000 golden visa program same like Portugal with real estate option. But the problem is you will get spanish citizenship only after 10 years of living. 10 years is a very long time for investors who come from non-spanish speaking country. There is no point in buying a real estate if you cant get EU citizenship quickly. The spanish program has received a poor response from the investors.
3. Greece
Greece has much cheaper €250,000 euro real estate investment program. But the problem is Greece is already struggling with debt crisis (refugee crisis too) and nobody is sure about the future of Greece and how long they will stay in Euro zone. So many investors are wary of investing in Greece. If you are prepared to take the risk, yes its a cheaper option.
4. Netherlands
Netherlands has €1,250,000 euro foreign investor program (business or bonds) but i believe no real estate option. This money is such a big money unless of course you do serious business in Netherlands. This program has received poor response from the investors because of the high amount.
5. Hungary
Hungary gives immediate PR against €300,000 purchase of Hungarian Government Bonds in Euros (you get back the money after 5 years). Investors are cautious with their money before investing in Hungarian economy which is still struggling. The hungarian currency forint has fallen significantly since 2015 against USD and Euro. Yes, the bond is in euros not forints. Remember there is no real estate option. You just cannot buy a real estate in Budapest and ask for Permanent residency from the Hungarians.
This scheme is suspended as of March 2017
You will only get Hungarian citizenship after 8 years (still too long) of living by Naturalizing (no faster way).
6. Latvia
Latvia has €250,000 euro real estate investment program and after buying the property you will be given a temporary residence permit which then will be converted to permanent after 5 years of living. The problem is Latvia, first is a very cold country. There is no point in buying a property investing that much money, if you hate cold and cant live comfortably. Most latvian cities are usually small and the Riga is not really a bigger compared to major western european cities like Paris or Berlin. You also have remember that you will get citizenship only after 10 years of living (such a long wait). This is despite buying real estate. I have visited Riga personally, i wouldnt certainly live there (my opinion).
8. Bulgaria
Bulgaria has €500,000 golden visa program and this money has to be invested in a business or government approved bonds and you will be given residence. But Bulgaria is not even a schengen country.
9. Ireland
Ireland has €500,000 business investment or €1million euros investment in bonds or in real estate with mixed investments. What many investors dont know is, Ireland is not a schengen country. Also non-EU nationals can only visit UK with certain types of visas issued by Ireland. Investing that kind of money is great, but you wont be having a real freedom to move around UK and Schengen countries despite investing a huge sum.
10. Malta
Malta will give you direct citizenship (EU passport) against €900,000 (approx). Yes, Malta is a schengen country, that is great, but the problem is you Malta keeps your €650,000 euro from that amount (they say its a non-refundable donation to maltese fund) and you wont get it back. You are wasting €650,000 euros, plus if you want to buy a real estate in Malta (its optional), you have to buy on top of €900,000. Real estate prices are very expensive in Malta (€600,000 and upwards).
But, here is good news: Malta will give you full EU citizenship (with passport). With this you can visit UK, USA, live and work any EU member states (Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland etc..). If you have the money, you should go for it because Malta program wont be open too long and they will close in a year or two.
11. United Kingdom
UK has a popular “entrepreneur program” where you have to start a company in UK with £200,000 pounds. You cannot work outside except for your company under this program. If you have lots of money say £2 million pounds, you can get UK residency in 1 month.
The problem with UK is you have to spend 8 months every year to qualify for PR and after 5 years you get UK citizenship. Another problem is with UK visa or residence permits, you cannot visit schengen countries, having invested that kind of money. If you dont want to live in UK then this program is not for you.
12. Cyprus
Cyprus has €2 million euro real estate investment program. It is a huge sum and yes if you have that kind of money, you can directly get Cyprus passport in just 3 months. No taxes, no residence requirements, nothing. Cyprus passport means, you become EU citizen and this will give rights to live, work, study anywhere in Europe (Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Denmark, UK etc).
First, Cyprus is an EU country but not a schengen country. This means only with Cyprus passport you become EU citizen and go visa free. Other types of visas issued by cyprus will not allow you to visit Schengen countries.. Secondly, Cyprus banks collapsed a few years ago and many people have lost their money in their bank accounts. No other investment is safe other than real estate investment in Cyprus (best time to buy real estate with prevailing low prices).
13. Belgium
Belgium offers residency to high net worth investors and their families. Belgium has only business program and you wont be able to buy residency in Belgium just buying a real estate. To run business in Belgium it costs approx 100,000 euros every year and first year costs will come 200,000 euros. After 5 years of living in Belgium you can get citizenship. The total costs for five years until Belgium citizenship will be about 350,000 euros
14. France
France is a great country to live, but there is no official golden visa program running in France. You can buy your way into french residency through business investment, but the problem with France is, taxes are extremely high (taxed over 40% to 50%) on wealthy.
15. Switzerland
Switzerland has business program which requires CHF 1 million or more turnover in Business for non-EU nationals. Another option is if you dont intend to work, you can get residence in any swiss canton by paying a lump sum tax (CHF 250,000) every year, plus you should rent or buy a house to live. Just buying a real estate in Switzerland wont get you residency.
The problem with Switzerland is, yes beautiful country to live, extremely expensive, PR only after 10 years of living and Swiss citizenship after 12 years of living (very difficult to get swiss citizenship too).
16. Germany
Germany offers investor visa to third country nationals who commit to EUR 250,000 business investment in the country and the investment must create atleast five jobs. Foreign investors qualify for long term residency in Germany on the basis of investment. Immediate family members also qualify for residence permit in Germany. Permanent settlement in Germany after 5 years of living and German passport possible after 8 years of living in Germany and meeting all requirements.
17. Italy
Italy offers new golden visa program (aka special investment visa) to foreign investors who can invest atleast 1 million euro in Italy. Please see italy investor program
18. Slovenia
Slovenia has provisions in their citizenship law to award direct citizenship based on economic investment. Officially no other programs run Slovenia.
19. Slovakia
No known programs run in Slovakia. Slovakia has provisions in their citizenship law to directly award citizenship based on the economic investment.
20. Croatia
No known programs currently run in Croatia. Croatia has provisions in citizenship law, where they can grant citizenship to persons of interest, waiving language or residency requirement. Of course, you can naturalize after 10 years in Croatia.
Caribbean
Now we move on to Caribbean nations, where they sell their citizenship based on the donation or real estate investment. Most of the Caribbean nations have visa waiver agreements with UK, Schengen states and few other South American countries.
You have to remember that once you take the donation route with these countries, the money you pay to Government is not-refundable and gone! Waste of money, unless it is a real estate investment where the immovable property can be sold usually after 5 years.
The following are fast track passport programs in the Caribbean.
1. Antigua & Barbuda
Antigua is the most popular passport program in the Caribbean. Of all the citizenship programs running in the Caribbean, Antigua passport is ranked No.1 in the Caribbean. You have to pay $100,000 non-refundable one time donation or $400,000 real estate investment in the island, the entire process takes about 3 months. Antigua has no problems, and the passport has visa free travel to Canada (not possible with St Kitts), UK, EU member states and over 120 countries. No requirement to visit Antigua.
2. St Kitts and Nevis
Saint Kitts requires just $150,000 donation, plus there are various charges and they will give you instant passport in about 8 months. Saint Kitts is popular but they have lots of problems with Canada and USA. Recently Canada canceled visa waiver agreement with St Kitts citing St Kitts selling passports to Iranians and Syrians. In 2014, US has accused St Kitts of facilitating financial crimes from passports obtained through Citizenship by investment program. You will need a separate visa to visit USA and Canada. St Kitts ranks No.2 of all the Caribbean citizenship programs.
3. St Lucia
St Lucia has launched a newly opened citizenship program in 2016 but they have a strange setup there. Yes the minimum investment amount is $100,000. But here is the catch: You must have net assets worth $3.5 million dollars, only then you can apply for St Lucia passport.
4. Dominica
Dominica has the cheapest citizenship program as it costs only little over $100,000 but it takes over 10 months wait to get the passport. Besides this, Dominica has known reputation, for gambling and casinos, because of this Dominica passport is always viewed with suspicion for money laundering and other financial crimes. Yes it is cheap, same advantages, but many investors prefer other countries such as St Kitts or Antigua as they have a higher reputation than Dominica. You also have to visit the country in person. Of all the citizenship programs running in the Caribbean, Dominica is ranked No.5
5. Grenada
Grenada has a new citizenship by investment program, you have to pay $150,000 non-refundable investment or US$ 350,000 real estate investment to get Grenada passport. Processing time is about 2-3 months. You can visit about 121 countries without visa. You will need a separate visa to visit Canada, USA. No visa required to visit China. Grenada ranks No.4 of the Caribbean citizenship programs.
Please feel free to contact us, if you are interested to apply for any of the above programs.
