How many Golden visa programs are there?

Recent years have seen a growing trend in popularity of Golden visa schemes. Golden visa programs are just residence programs in exchange for investments in real estate, business or gilts issued by governments. There are several commonly used terms for golden visa programs – Immigrant investor schemes, Investor residence, Foreign investor visas etc. Each country picks its own term under the relevant legislation.

Portugal introduced the term golden visa when it launched the ARI scheme in 2012 which brought the european schemes into the spotlight. Prior to 2012, immigrant investor schemes in US and Canada were extremely popular. The Key benefits of golden visa programs are free movement, instant permanent residency, relaxed rules for residence requirements and path to citizenship or passport after some years.

So, how many golden visa programs are there?

Throughout the world, there are unofficially more than 100 countries offer visas for investment, but officially there are more than 35+ golden visa schemes actively running, according to our compilation.

Here is a list of most popular programs.

Europe

1. Portugal – €350,000  Real estate
2. Greece – €250,000  Real estate
3. Netherlands – €1,250,000  Investment funds / Venture capital startups
4. Ireland – €500,000 Endowment
5. United Kingdom – £2 million – Share capital or Bonds
6. Italy – €500,000 Startups / €2 million Govt bonds
7. Spain – €500,000 Real Estate
8. Luxembourg – €500,000
9. Malta – €125,000 (Financing Govt bonds)
10.   Cyprus – €300,000 Real Estate
11.   Bulgaria – €250,000 Real Estate / Business
12.   France – €300,000 Talent passport
13.   Latvia – €250,000 Real Estate / Bonds

Please refer to European commission reports for full list of investor residence schemes in the European Union.

Americas

1. United States – $900,000 (EB-5 employment creation)
2. Canada – $250,000 (Financing Govt bonds) Quebec IIP
3. Brazil –  $260,000 Real estate

Oceania

1. Australia – A$1.5 million (Business Innovation SIV)
2. New Zealand – N$ 3 million (category 1 or 2 visa)

Asia

1. Singapore –  S$ 1.2 million Global Immigrant Investor Program
2. South Korea – $450,000 Resident (F-2) status,
3. Malaysia – $120,000 MM2H scheme
4. Thailand – $15,000 Elite Visa

Middle East

1. United Arab Emirates – $1.35 million Real Estate Golden Visa
2. Bahrain – $135,000 Real Estate Residence by Investment
3.  Jordan – $250,000 real estate
4. Saudi Arabia – $215,000 Premium Gold Residence
5. Qatar – $200,000 Investor visa for real estate owners

Note: Some schemes have been compiled from OECD list of CBI/RBI schemes

Africa

1. Mauritius – $500,000 Real estate
2. Seychelles – $500,000 Real estate Permanent resident visa
3. Egypt –  $100,000 – $500,000 Permanent residency

Caribbean

1. Anguilla – $750,000 real estate  – (ARBI) Residence by investment
2. Antigua and Barbuda – Prove $100,000 annual income to get permanent residence certificate
3. Bahamas – $750,000 Real estate  Economic permanent residency
4. Barbados – Special residence permit
5. Cayman Islands – $1.2m in real estate
6. Turks and Caicos – Permanent residence certificate (home or business or public project)

Pacific

1. Vanuatu – Investor/Land owner visa.

Sources: Please refer to European commission reports, OECD and list of CBI/RBI schemes