A golden visa has become synonymic with ‘residency by investment’. In short, it is the exchange of economic investment and citizenship by investment. Whilst it is still a relatively new concept, it has been growing in popularity with the global super rich as it grants the access to travel, live, work and study in new countries.
Immigrant Investor Programs seek to raise foreign capital by providing the owner with a golden visa whereby they have the right to live in the country permanently and gain citizenship in return for their investment. More often than not, the investment made to obtain a golden visa is through the purchase of a property where the issuing country receives a sum of money. If successful, applicants gain the right for immediate citizenship for themselves and their families.
The first ‘citizenship by investment’ program was launched by Portugal in 2012 in a bid to raise funds within the Portuguese real estate market. The golden visa program set to counteract the poor economic health that the country faced. With over 6000 visas issued to applicants to date, with an extra 10,000 visas offered to family members, EUR 3.7 billion has been raised. 90% of this capital has gone directly into the real estate market in Portugal. Here, the effectiveness of the golden visa program has been prosperous. By consequence, prices of real estate in Portugal have gone up dramatically.
50,000 properties have been purchased through a golden visa, it has been reported by Portugal’s real estate association that home prices in Portugal have increased by 37%. Coinciding with this, the number of home sales has increased by 30%. The success of Portugal’s golden visa programmes illustrates how effective these programmes can be.
Onlookers took note, and golden visa programmes have been launched in other parts of Europe and the Caribbean. Facing similar circumstances to Portugal, these countries have been troubled by the poor health of their real estate markets. Often high property taxes and economic turmoil has left natives unable to invest in property. By enabling people to invest within the property market, countries have been able to revive their economic health.
However, it must be noted that in order to secure residency by investment through a golden visa, an applicant must meet a set of criteria. Often, this criteria means investing a minimum sum of money. For Spain and Greece, the minimum sum is EUR 500,000, whereas for Ireland, applicants must be able to supply EUR 1 million into an approved investment fund. Additional terms often relate to job creation and non-refundable contributions to specific industries.
Of course, the opportunities with golden visas are attractive to high net worth individuals and families seeking residency in Europe and entrepreneurs looking to broaden their horizons with their business demands. Golden visas have opened the gateway for education and given individuals opportunities to attend global universities. Vorto has helped many clients with their acquisition of real estate with golden visas with our international payment platform. By consequence, we understand the nuances of the golden visa and we offer relevant support and advice to our clients. With many successful real estate purchases already having taken place, we are well positioned to work with you to understand your goals and requirements To find out more, head to www.vortotrading.com
