Drastic changes are being made to golden visas worldwide. After Portugal, Ireland and the Netherlands announced that they would shut down their golden visa programmes, Greece and Spain have tightened their requirements.
Many of these changes have been due to security concerns that the programmes would be used to launder money, evade tax, and finance terrorism, corruption and organised crime. The European Union has also criticised the proliferation of these visas in the Caribbean for similar reasons.
On October 18, the EU published a report that condemned the spread of golden visa programmes, particularly in the Caribbean. It highlighted a lack of security checks, resulting in an increase in Nigerian, Chinese and Russian citizens. As a result, the EU is seeking to review golden visa schemes that offer investor citizenship to specific countries’ citizens, reports legit.ng.
The EU’s main concern is that the golden visa provides foreign passport-holders with visa-free access to the whole EU. The scheme gives citizenship rights based on investments or a flat fee, with little-to-no residence requirements, allowing the new nationals to avoid the regular Schengen visa checks as well.
“We have countries within the visa-free regime with the EU that are selling passports/citizenships quite cheaply to people that are security risks or potential security risks to the EU. They are sometimes allowed to change their names and identity several times after getting the new citizenship and, of course, this is also a security risk for the EU that we have to look into,” EU Home Affairs Commissioner, Ylva Johansson, told theguardian.com.
In the Netherlands, property investments made by those who hold a golden visa have been shown to radically increase property prices, making it unaffordable for long-time citizens.
According to london-post.co.uk, in popular regions, Greece has increased the minimum investment threshold from €250 000 (R5m) to €500 000 (R10m). The investment may only be made in a single payment for a single object or property.
Spain announced earlier this year that it was deliberating whether to tighten golden visa requirements or to abolish the programme, reported reuters.com. Currently, to acquire a Spanish golden visa, one of the following requirements must be met: invest €500 000 in single or multiple properties, invest €2 million (R40,4m) in Spanish public debt, purchase €1 million (R20,2m) in shares in a Spanish company, deposit €1 million in a Spanish bank, or invest in a new business that will create job opportunities.
Aside from the problems created by the gentrification of property, Spain is also contesting the programme due to the shortage of jobs that has accompanied the golden visa programme’s success.
On the other hand, the UAE's AED2 million (R10,3m) bank deposit golden visa programme has grown increasingly popular, especially among retirees and freelance professionals, reports gulfnews.com. Although deposit rates have reached between 3,99% and 5%, it does, however, come with terms, one of which is that the deposit must remain in the applicant’s account for a minimum fixed period of two years, explained one market commentator.
