Does Europe’s golden visa program make sense?

Recently, one of our Live And Invest Outsiders readers wrote to us asking if he should buy property in Greece to qualify for residency under the Golden Visa program.

She was considering a golden visa because she wanted to stay in the Schengen area longer than her U.S. passport allows (90 out of 180 days), but even a Greek golden visa would not allow her to In Schengen countries, you can only stay for 90 days out of a 180-day period.

Her question, naturally, was, “So what does the Golden Visa mean?”

First of all, to be clear, the Greek Golden Visa allows her to be based in Greece (in the Schengen area) full-time, so technically she can spend more time in the Schengen area. become able to. She was able to leave Greece and return to another Schengen country after each 90-day stay and reset her clock on her 180th day.

But her point was that the offer in Greece’s Golden Program was not as good as she thought. Like many others, she assumed that her €250,000 payment would grant her unlimited access to the entire Schengen area.

Her question raises several important issues.

1. There are many misconceptions regarding the Golden Visa program. My readers are not the only ones who have misconceptions about the benefits of the Golden Visa.
2. The Golden Visa program doesn’t make sense for everyone. These are only meaningful to a small number of people with specific overseas objectives.
3. The Golden Visa program is not your only option for obtaining residency in Europe. There are many easier and perhaps more appropriate alternatives depending on your situation and goals.
4. There is no need to use the Golden Visa program to invest in real estate. If you are looking to buy a home in Europe for investment or lifestyle purposes, you do not need the Golden Visa program to achieve this.

For over 35 years, I’ve been advising people on how to live, retire and run their businesses abroad. A lot depends on your objectives, but for the average person who wants to live in or invest in Europe, Golden would suggest one of the following options instead of a visa:

European Non-Golden Visa Residency Options

If your aim is to retire in Europe, we recommend looking for a “self-sufficient” residence visa. Many of the most popular European countries for retirees offer these, including Greece, Spain and Portugal.

Although each country’s version of this type of visa has different names and different eligibility requirements, the basic premise is the same. In other words, you apply for residency based on your ability to support yourself financially in the long term.

In other words, if you can prove to the relevant immigration authorities that you have enough money to live without having to look for employment locally or rely on public funds in the country, you will usually be able to obtain temporary residence rights. I can.

For readers asking about Greece, we recommend the Financially Independent Visa instead, which gives you permission to stay for two years. To qualify, the reader must prove that she has a stable income of 2,000 euros per month.

Portugal offers a passive income (D7) visa. This will give you a one-year residence permit if you can prove a stable income of at least 1,500 euros per month. (This is not an official amount and is not made public. It is the amount recommended by a Portuguese lawyer.)

Spain offers a non-profitable residence visa (NLV), which grants you a one-year residence permit if you can prove a monthly income of €2,400.

Of course, there’s more to these self-sufficient residence visas than just proving you’re financially stable.

You will need to provide proof of accommodation in the country where you are applying for residence (either a long-term lease or a title to a purchased property) and have private health insurance to cover the length of your stay. your residence permit.

Despite these requirements, the economic criteria that must be met to qualify for the Self-Sufficiency Visa are in each case significantly lower than those for the Golden Visa.

What if I want to live in Europe but am not retired and still have an income?

It is possible to enter into employment contracts with local companies who will sponsor residence permits, but these are difficult to obtain.

Local jobs are usually reserved for nationals of the country, and in most cases, you need to have good skills and speak the local language fluently to get the job.

However, a digital nomad visa offers an easy alternative. It is offered in many European countries, from Greece, Portugal and Spain to Croatia, Estonia, Italy and Malta.

The basic premise of this type of visa is the same as the self-sufficiency visa. This means that you have enough income to support yourself (in this case, from a company registered outside the target country), which gives you temporary residence status.

If neither the Self-Sufficiency Visa nor the Digital Nomad Visa suit your needs, there are other options available. These include entrepreneur or start-up visas, self-employed visas, and student visas.

When does a Golden Visa make sense?

There are several cases where investing in a European Golden Visa makes sense.

Firstly, the Golden Visa is very attractive for people from countries that do not enjoy visa-free travel to the Schengen Area. This avoids the additional fees and administrative hassle of applying for a visa each time you visit.

If you are from the US or Canada, this benefit will not be as important to you as you already enjoy this right.

Secondly, the Golden Visa allows you to avoid becoming a European tax resident. The downside to self-sufficiency visas, digital nomad visas, and most other types of residence visas is that they have physical stay requirements.

Generally, you must spend at least 183 days per year in your new country to maintain your immigration status. This is also the period during which tax residency is triggered in most countries. In other words, most residency visas also make you a tax resident.

Physical presence requirements can also be an issue when seeking to obtain or maintain multiple residence permits from multiple countries at the same time, as you cannot be physically present in multiple locations.

Golden visa programs typically do not have any physical stay requirements. For example, in Greece and Spain, you do not need to stay in the country to maintain your Golden Visa residence permit. Portugal requires just seven days a year.

This is ideal for people who want to avoid residence for tax purposes or who are collecting as many preliminary residence permits as possible to give them as many options as possible.

But for the average person who just wants to live in Europe, this strategy is unnecessarily complicated. The best approach is to choose a country that you really enjoy (rather than its tax policy), apply for residency using the options that best suit your purposes, and deal with local tax burdens with the help of an advisor .