Do you or someone you know want to live in another country? Looking for a new job, a higher living standard, or a change of environment? If so, you have probably come across the term Golden visa, but what does the golden visa mean, and how can you make your desired country your home?
What is a Golden Visa?
A golden visa can be understood as a type of visa that gives its holder almost the same rights as a national of the host country. A golden visa is a residence permit that permits you to live in Europe.
It was developed by the EU as well as the Schengen member nations for the exploitation of FDI to boost their economic growth and employment back home. They are targeted to bring people with the right amount of money to invest in those financial schemes.
The golden visa lets you live in Europe without a work permit or a necessity to obtain a work or residence permit. You can legally live in your country of choice for as long as you want or would not be deported for any reason.
Types of Golden Visas
There are three main types of golden visas:
- Investor visa: As in any program, it requires an investment in a business or in real estate. In some cases, it is less, and more often it is greater, but its range is approximately between $150 000 and $300 000.
- Startup visa: One of the most popular requests for an employee or investor with the golden visa is that you need to create a European company.
- Pensioner visa: You should be at or over the age of 65 and your pension income cannot be less than 30 percent of the average wage in your country.
It is crucial to briefly discuss why golden visas are necessary for several different reasons. This activity allows one to get a residence permit in Europe.
This can be very useful to people who wish to relocate their families away from their own countries but would also like to have aspects such as healthcare and schooling.
Advantages of Obtaining the Golden Visa
Here are some of the major benefits that are available in countries that offer golden visa programs.
Citizenship by Investment
To many people, investment citizenship is the most attractive advantage of golden visas, however, not all schemes grant citizenship for funding a country.
This is possible if you want to get a Portugal visa golden, through which you can attain citizenship by investing. Citizenship by investment can be defined as a process that focuses on obtaining citizenship and a passport for a chosen state by investing in the economy of that country.
Filing Requirements for Residency
As long as it comes to golden visas, many countries value them; they will be of assistance if you are seeking permanent residency in a country. They will sometimes cut down on the duration of the processes required for one to gain permanent residency in their preferred country.
Just keep your qualification and investment program going for about five years and you will be able to gain the legal resident permit. The admission requirements for immigration and residence are mostly tailored for individuals with such investment capacities and their dependents.
Travel
Patients obtain the right to mobility in the country offering the program upon acquisition of residency. The majority of the countries in Europe that offer golden visas permit the holder to move freely and travel within the European Union.
This helps one move around for business or leisure without having to acquire other visas.
Suitable For Real Estate Business
Real estate is still deemed to be one of the most stable and advantageous kinds of investments in the present day. If you have accumulated a large sum in your investment funds, then they will positively and appreciably help you when investing in foreign real estate.
Dealing with a golden visa scheme is one of the best approaches to supporting Spanish, Greek, or other kinds of real estate abroad. If you go to the right area at the right time, your real estate investments will yield enormous dividends, and you will be making lots of money.
But if you continue to put that minimum investment every year into your stock market portfolio, you will be able to harvest more returns in the future.
Eligibility for a Golden Visa
The first thing you will need to do is to ascertain that you meet the prerequisites for a Golden Visa. It is important to note that you should not be an EU citizen or a Holder of a residence permit in an EU country at any given time.
There are several factors to consider and the first one is getting a clean criminal record through legal documents like contracts, business plans, and financial reports.
All applicants are required to clear their tax compliance to be eligible for the golden visa program.
This means that they have proven they are up to date in terms of taxes and do not have any outstanding tax amount due each year of their employment in the country they are interested in.
Possible Hazards of Golden Visa
It is important to be prepared for the following risks. Some of these risks include:
- Risk in investment: There is a minimum investment that most countries with golden visa programs demand from investors.
- Sudden termination or reconfiguration: A nation’s government may decide it no longer wants to continue with its golden visa program or it has to change the policies in the middle of the program. This can negatively affect the economy of the host country, endanger invested money, and implicitly induce personal crises among investors.
- Residency requirements: Since many golden visas give investors a residence permit, they must fulfil some quotas.
The most notable advantage of a golden visa is that you will be able to relocate to Europe and establish a new life there. You can also get one without a residence permit or residence card.
By following this guide to better understand the golden visa program and how everything functions, you can start searching for your destination country that you may always have dreamed about.