Where is investment-based residency cheap?

There are several ways to gain residence in another country: by entering a local university, finding a job opportunity or creating a family with a national of another country. These strategies work for those who plan on moving abroad. However, many people want to obtain foreign residence for other purposes, such as to facilitate interaction with foreign banks, travel freely across the EU, or as a safety precaution in case the holder needs to emigrate urgently. A good option in such cases is the so-called Golden Visa, which is a residence permit issued to buyers of real estate or other assets above a certain value. This is the easiest and quickest way to obtain a residence permit. Tranio describes the most popular programmes, and on what terms a Golden Visa can be obtained in another country?

Andorra

Andorra provides several residence-by-investment options. An obligatory requirement is to own or rent property in the country and have an income level exceeding the Andorran minimum salary by three times over. Investment-based residency does not give foreign nationals the right for economic activity within Andorra.

Australia

Australia offers investors two residence-by-investment options:

Investor visa (subclass 891)

This visa can only be obtained by the holders of the subclass 162 visa whose issuance is currently terminated.

Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188)

To become eligible for this type of visa, an investor needs to apply preliminarily through SkillSelect and receive an invitation from a governmental organisation.

Bulgaria

Bulgaria offers two residence-by-investment options to economic investors:

The investor living permanently in Bulgaria becomes eligible for a long-term residence permit within five years.

Canada (Quebec)

Foreign nationals can obtain Canadian residency under the programme of Quebec, the country's largest province. To become eligible for residence, applicants must prove a holding of at least C$2mn (€1.3mn) and have at least 2 years of experience in business administration over the past 5 years. The number of participants is limited: for instance, between 10 September 2018 and 15 March 2019, Quebec will review no more than 1,900 applications. Unlike other programmes, this takes account of the applicant's proficiency in French.

Costa Rica

Costa Rica offers a rather flexible residence-by-investment programme: applicants can buy any type of property or make a business investment in any sector of the economy. Three years after receiving a residence permit they can apply for permanent residence.

Cyprus

The country offers foreign nationals permanent residency for a property purchase. Financial requirements are relatively low: the applicant's annual income outside Cyprus must be at least €30,000 (extra €5,000 or €8,000 per each family member depending on the degree of kindred) with an equal amount being deposit in a Cypriot bank account.

Estonia

Foreign nationals can obtain Estonian residency by investing in purchasing or registering a new company in Estonia or opening their own business. Applicants must provide a business plan.

France

France offers residency to foreign nationals in exchange for business investment. Investors must hold at least 30% of a company capital and create or preserve 50 jobs.

Greece

The Greek Golden Visa is one of the cheapest residence-by-property-purchase programmes in Europe. Many investors rent the purchased properties out short term. Thanks to a relatively low price per square metre and the growing popularity of the country among tourists, the yield of rental business in Athens is higher than in other European capitals.

Ireland

Ireland offers investors four residence-by-investment options. To become eligible for residence, applicants must prove a holding of at least €2mn.

Italy

Foreign nationals can apply for Italian residency in exchange for significant investment in the country's economy.

In 2016, the Italian government introduced a special tax regime for new residents who spend most of their time in Italy and are its tax residents. From now on, investors can pay a fixed annual tax of €100,000 for themselves (and €25,000 per family member), which exempts them from paying tax on profits obtained outside Italy (usually calculated at a progressive rate from 23% to 43%).

Latvia

Latvia launched its Golden Visa programme in April 2010. Its low investment threshold (€140,000 for Riga and €70,000 for other regions) guaranteed instant popularity. However, when in September 2014 the Latvian government raised the investment threshold to €250,000, the demand for Golden Visas fell almost tenfold. Russian nationals constitute 70% of the Latvian residence permit recipients.

Malaysia

In Malaysia, foreign nationals can obtain residency under the Malaysia My Second Home Program. It does not imply real estate or business investments, as it is enough for the applicant to open an  account with a Malaysian bank. The residence permit is granted for 10 years. The programme's financial requirements differ depending on the age of the applicants:

For applicants under 50 years of age:

For applicants over 50 years of age:

Malta

Foreign nationals can obtain residency under the programme Malta Residence & Visa Programme. Investors holding at least €500,000 and having at least €100,000 in annual income can participate. An obligatory requirement is to own or rent property in Malta for five years. It must cost at least €320,000 in the case of purchase and €12,000 in the case of rent (€270,000 and €12,000 for the south of Malta or Gozo).

New Zealand

There are two residence-by-investment programmes under which investors can obtain a residence permit in New Zealand:

Investor 2 Category

Investor 1 Category

Panama

There are three residence-by-investment options in Panama:

Panama’s Reforestation Investor Visa

Panama’s Self Economic Solvency Visa

Panama’s Business Investor Visa

Portugal

Portugal provides residency to foreign nationals under the Golden Residence Permit Programme. This is the most popular Golden Visa in Europe: between 2013 and 2017, investors obtained over 5,000 Portuguese residence permits.

Singapore

Foreign nationals can obtain residency under the Global Investor Programme. To participate, investors must own a company with an annual turnover of at least S$50mn (€31 mn) for three years.

Spain

Unlike most other countries, in Spain, work permits are available along with residence.

Switzerland

Switzerland offers foreign nationals an unusual way to obtain a residence permit: through a lump—sum taxation agreement. The tax amount depends not on the income value but on the number of expenses which is to exceed the applicant's lodging expenses seven times at least. Each canton independently determines the amount to be taxed. Foreign nationals who have obtained residency in such a way must spend in Switzerland 6 months at least without the right to work, however.

Thailand

Foreign investors can obtain a long-term visa for 5 to 20 years and ฿500,000 to ฿2mn (€13,000 and €52,000) under the Thailand Elite programme. The more expensive the programme, the more bonuses there are for the participants: for instance, the holders of the most expensive visa can play golf, visit a spa and have a complete health screening once a year for free. The programme comes in seven variants, differing by costs, visa validity terms and the number of bonuses available.

United Kingdom

The UK investment-based residence is available through one of the two following programmes:

Tier 1 (Investor) visa

Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) visa

United States

Foreign nationals can obtain residency in the US under the EB-5 programme which entitles the holder to live and work in the USA. This is one of the most popular residence-by-investment programmes in the world: under the EB-5 programme launched in 1990, 60,000 visas were awarded over the past decade. The US issues no more than 10,000 of such visas annually.