Current EU Golden Visa Options 2023
Published / Last Updated on 12/07/2023
Many countries around the world offer a Golden Visa or Golden Passport to initially secure tax residency in a country and then qualify for citizenship normally after a period of residency.
This will usually involve capital investment in a National Development Fund and/or investment in property to live in. Many countries offer No Tax incentives i.e., there are no income taxes, capital gains taxes or inheritance taxes, others offer low taxes, and some offer Territorial Taxes only i.e., no tax on income or gains derived outside their country. For high earners and high net worth individuals, the attractions are obvious.
See: Live Tax Free and Low or Territorial Tax
EU Golden Visa
Many wealthier people from the Far East, Middle East and Russia were attracted to EU Golden Visas, not because they would pay lower taxes (as they won’t) but because they could secure an EU passport meaning trouble free travel and work within the Schengen area (EU and some surrounding nations that have signed up to the Schengen Agreements) in addition to visa free travel outside of Europe.
Many EU nations were attracted to offer golden visas offerings due to new capital, income and investment being brought into the country. Many took this on board after needing financial bailouts such as Greece, Ireland, and Portugal. In fact, most EU countries had a Golden Visa investment programme.
With sanctions now applying to conflict and war zone areas and in particular for much tougher sanctions on Russia, the EU has told all member states to cancel their golden visa programmes. Many have done so but some refuse to do so as they still wish to attract investment. That said, this is a ‘moving target’ with some EU members still to decide on cancelling their golden visa programmes and others looking at significantly higher capital investment requirements.
At the time of shooting this video we are aware of 5 viable EU Golden Visa Schemes. These are not easy to secure, and some countries expect investment in the order of €500,000 to €700,000 to secure residency and then be granted permanent residency and a passport after a period. That said, this is a moving target with some nations looking to increase minimum investment levels to €1m plus and stricter entry requirements or cancel their schemes in full.
