What is a Golden Visa?
HOW GOLDEN VISA WORKS
What is a Golden Visa? Golden Visas are offered by 26 European countries to attract foreign capital and business people by providing the right to residence and citizenship in return. Golden Visas, also know as Golden passports and are also known as citizenship by investment. They are one of Europe’s most successful citizenship by investment programs.
Simplicity in its application process and the possibility for you and your immediate family to live and work in Europe, without the need to visit the country more than once a year. For many, this is the most comfortable path to getting residency in Europe. The most common method for obtaining a Golden Visa is through the purchase of real estate. Ths can accelerate and lead to citizenship and a second passport, some with no time required on the ground level.
CITIZENSHIP / SECOND PASSPORT?
The program allows you to gain access to European countries and in most cases, there is little or no requirement to actually be present in the country that issued the Golden Visa. This means that you do not need to relocate to another country unless you want to.
Golden Visa is a citizenship or second passport by investment or residency by an investment program. These programs are especially popular with investors not wishing to emigrate and move their family but require flexibility should the need ever arise. They often come with accompanying travel freedom across the EU Schengen zone.
Citizenship-by-Investment programs offer you the opportunity to legally acquire a new citizenship quickly and simply without any disruption to your life. A Golden Visa not only grants the holder the right to live in the country and work towards citizenship according to the country’s regular naturalization timeline, but also spend as much time as they like living and traveling in the entire EU much easier as well.
These collective countries are known as the Schengen area to which the residence permit refers. You just need to invest in the country or purchase real estate property, and this visa will be yours which can be renewed indefinitely as long as you maintain the investment.
There are currently around 26 countries that allow the Golden Visa program
While a normal visa can take a really long time to obtain, the Golden Visa application process is streamlined. In some cases, you can expect to get your residence permit in a matter of months. Investment amounts differ from country to country ranging from as low as €200.000 up to €2.000.000
There are currently around 26 countries that allow the Golden Visa program and more are joining the scheme within the Schengen zone. The countries currently included are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Liechtenstein.
The Azores, Madeira, and the Canary Islands are special members of the EU and part of the Schengen Zone even though they are located outside the European continent. There are five more EU members, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Cyprus – that are seeking to join soon
What differentiates a Golden Visa from other immigration programs
The Golden Visa essentially removes all the ‘extra’ requirements. If you’ve ever looked at the immigration requirements for a lot of these European countries, you will note that they can be very strict.
It removes the need to have a job offer, start a business (which comes with complex business plans, requirements to pay social security tax, and other hassles), or even get married, this allows you to bypass all the normal requirements and just step right in. The visa reduces much of the headache and, in most cases, it removes the language requirement too. To apply, you must purchase a property (real estate) in one of the European countries that accept these investment programs. This is the most common route and is offered by most Golden Visa countries.
GREATER VISA-FREE TRAVEL
Becoming a resident comes with many benefits, beyond the pathway to citizenship. Having a temporary or permanent residence in certain EU countries will give you greater visa-free travel.
A Golden Visa for an EU country is particularly desirable as it allows the holder (and their family members) freedom of movement throughout the entire Schengen Zone. In general, having a Schengen residence permit will not only grant you visa-free access to more countries than are available on your passport but it will also give you more legitimacy when applying for visas in countries that still require you to obtain one.
To sum up, you can potentially add some visa-free countries you wouldn’t get with your traditional passport and increase your chances of securing visas for other countries.
