Golden visa schemes offer instant residency for investments in real estate, in businesses or buying state debt through bonds or securities. These programs are very popular among international investors.
As of 2024, Spain has the fastest golden visa program in Europe taking just 30 days to receive a decision from authorities., followed by Hungary takes 90-120 days.
The speed of processing is very important deciding factor when applying for golden visa schemes. Afterall you spend huge sum of money and you dont want to wait for years to get your residence approval.
In Europe, the immigration authorities usually take 90-120 working days on average to make a decision on the application. If documents are missing, then it further drags 1-2 months for a decision. Once the decision is made, then it further takes 1-2 weeks to get the residence card printed and delivered to you.
Here are our findings
- Spain has the fastest golden visa in Europe with decisions issued in 20 days for investments.
- Hungary issues decision for GV investors in 90-120 days.
- European schemes take atleast 4-6 months to acquire a residence permit.
- Malta takes more than 6 months due to tight background checks on applicants.
- Hungary’s new golden guest investor program takes 4 months.
- Greece also takes long time 6+ months due to high demand and backlogs.
These golden visa countries have the fastest application processing times.
Processing Times
| Malta | EUR 130,000 / Malta Residence Visa (MRV) | 6-8 months |
| Greece | EUR 250,000 (real estate) | 6-8 months |
| Spain | EUR 500,000 (real estate) | 2 months |
| Portugal | EUR 500,000 (investment fund) | 12 months |
| Hungary | EUR 250,000 (RE fund) | 3 months |
| Italy | EUR 500,000 (startup) | 3 months |
| Latvia | EUR 100,000 (business) or EUR 250,000 (real estate/bonds) | 4 months |
| New Zealand | N$ 3,000,000 (investor visa) | 4-6 months |
The Citizenship by investment schemes can be slightly faster than golden visa schemes. Please refer to fastest cbi schemes. Citizenship sometimes can be better than residency, because you get an immediate passport giving you complete satisfaction. For others who dont need citizenship or dual citizenship prohibited by their home countries, golden visa schemes are ideal fit.
