Golden visa programs, so far until 2020, prevented all EU/EEA nationals, especially UK nationals to apply for residence permits based on investment activity
On Jan 1, 2021, The status all UK citizens changed third country nationals losing EU citizen status, as a result of Brexit divorce from the European Union.
Brexit also opens up a huge UK market giving big boost for Golden visa programs running in Portugal, Spain, Greece and Malta for investments. There is huge interest in Britons looking to diversify their investments and establish a second home in the EU. Golden visa programs offer an excellent opportunity to get permanent residency or dual citizenship in EU with free movement with the Schengen area.
These are the most popular golden visa programs among UK nationals who are specifically interested to buy a property in coastal regions of spain and portugal.
- Portugal – 280K euro real estate
- Spain – 500K euro real estate
- Greece – 250K euro real estate
- Malta – 100K euro (permanent residency)
The UK itself offers a Golden ticket visas for £2m offering a red carpet welcome to Wealthy EU citizens who wish to make UK as their main home and residence.
UK nationals who are interested in Portugal have to remember that, new rules effective from July 1, 2020 will not allow real estate investments for golden visa purpose in Lisbon, Porto and Algarve regions. The Golden visa investments will be shifted to inner regions of Portugal away from coastal areas. It is important to note portugal offers flexible citizenship path to Britons to seek EU passport after 5 years with no residency requirements.
Malta is the only country that runs official citizenship by investment program in the European Union after Cyprus closed the passport scheme.
The Caribbean citizenship programs such as St Lucia that comes with visa free rights within the Schengen area are also very popular among British nationals. St Lucia offers a very attractive fully refundable Corona bonds for acquiring citizenship
