Best Golden Visa in Europe
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00:00 Intro
01:15 What is a Golden Visa
We will start the video just briefly explaining what a golden visa is. A golden visa is any type of visa that allows the holder to come and go unrestrictedly from the country where he holds it.
In almost all cases the official name is not actually “golden visa”, but usually investor’s visa, although the name usually has slight changes from country to country.
Within the golden visa you can apply with a range of different investments, so you don’t actually have to always buy a property to get a golden visa.
So I will just list what are in my opinion the current best golden visa programs available in Europe. Of course, for every individual case, the best golden visa might be or might not be in this list, depending on your situation and goals.
02:00 Best Golden Visa for Real Estate Investors
Let’s start our list with the golden visa which I consider the best one in Europe for real estate investors. This is the most popular category of golden visas in Europe, and many countries have them. Actually I will mention two options for real estate investors, one inside the European Union, and the other outside of it.
The option inside the European Union is Malta. In Malta, if you buy a property from 300 to 350k euros plus fees, you can actually get permanent residency in a few months. If we compare it with places like Portugal or Spain, in which you need to invest even more to get a temporary residence permit, Malta definitely has an edge. Apart from that the population in Malta is growing steadily and the real estate market benefits from that.
03:11 Best Golden Visa for Fund Investment
The second option we will discuss for getting a golden visa in Europe is getting it by investing in a fund.
The disadvantage is that if the fund is poorly managed or if an economic crisis impacts the fund’s performance, your capital invested might actually decrease.
In this category I think the best option is still Portugal, even though the fund minimum investment got higher in 2022.
The reason why I find Portugal a great option is based on two factors: Portugal is one of the best countries in the European Union in terms of quality of life, and the other factor is that the most popular option in the country.
04:30 Best Golden Visa For a Money Deposit
If you want to get a golden visa but you don’t actually want to invest in a fund or buy a property, there are actually a few countries in Europe that allow you to get a golden visa without having to pick an investment with some level of risk. In a few countries, just by parking money in the bank, you can actually get a Golden Visa.
In this category, in my opinion the best option is Latvia.
In Latvia you can get a residence permit by investing 280k euros in a local bank, plus government fees.
05:07 Best Golden Visa for Permanent Residency
Now we get the golden visa if your goal is permanent residency and citizenship.
And once again in this video, Malta has an edge.
The same program I have mentioned for real estate investors is also the best in my opinion to get permanent residency in the European Union fast. By investing roughly 350k euros plus fees in property in Malta, you can get your permanent residency in the country in just a few months.
Malta is a full EU member as is also a member of the Schengen area.
05:55 Best Golden Visa for Tax Optimization
In terms of tax optimization within the EU the best golden visa would be the one in Cyprus. In Cyprus, with an investment of 300k euros, which can be invested in real estate, shares of a local company or some types of funds you can get a residence permit.
Cyprus has a non-domiciled status for some foreigners that reside in the country and offers huge advantages in terms of taxation of income earned outside Cyprus.
Other programs to consider which have interesting advantages in terms of taxes are those in Georgia and Bulgaria.
06:35 Advantages of the Golden Visa
Fast-track.
No minimum stay
Independence
Often times it is a path to citizenship
08:22 Alternative to the Golden Visa
This is the last part of the video and now we are going to talk about alternatives to the golden visa. So let’s say you still want to move to Europe to start a business or as digital nomad and even as a retiree, but you do not want to invest a significant amount of money in one of the Golden Visa Schemes.
The easiest way to move to Europe independently without a Golden Visa is finding a country that offers you a residence permit for your category (let’s say a retiree or a business owner) and apply to reside in the country using this type of residence permit.
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