Ten of the world’s most popular investor immigration schemes
By International Adviser, 17 Nov 15
With investor immigration programs rapidly rising in popularity around the world, the Global Investor Immigration Council publishes its latest report giving an overview of a number of investor visa schemes.
Spain launched its investor residence programme, commonly known as the Golden Visa, in September 2013.
As part of laws aiming to attract inward investment, visas were made available to those investing at least €500,000 in real estate, €1m (£700,000, $1.07m) in Spanish companies or deposits in Spanish banks, or €2 million in Spanish bonds.
Initial reaction to the program was slow. After the first eight months the government announced it had issued 81 visas, 72 of which involved property purchases.
Almost half of the new residents were Chinese or Russian, with the remainder coming from, among others, Ukraine, Lebanon, Ecuador, Qatar, Egypt and Iran.
The government also revealed that all applicant were subject to police checks, and 14 had been turned down.
By September 2014, the program had picked up, with a total of 354 successful applications, 324 of which were through real estate purchases.
By the end of 2014, the program had attracted 530 investors, with an estimated €700m having been invested.
Tags: Visa
