Wealthy British expats are skirting around Brexit restrictions with golden visas and now some countries have had enough.
Following the UK’s departure from the European Union (EU) moving to and staying in countries in the bloc can now be a long and difficult process, but not for those with money who have been able to buy golden visas to allow them to live in the EU.
And some are even said to be buying them without living in the country they are buying a visa for.
To get a golden visa, expats often purchase a home in their country of choice or make a large donation or investment. To be eligible for the scheme, participants need to be over the age of 18, have a clean criminal record and have sufficient funds to make the required investment.
The schemes essentially give holders the same benefits of being a citizen of an EU country such as freedom of movement.
With their popularity growing, Spain is the latest country to begin looking at pulling the plug on citizenship by investment schemes.
In October, Portugal changed its scheme to remove property investment from its criteria for a golden visa in the hope of reducing speculative property purchases.
The Netherlands totally ended its golden visa scheme last month and last year Spain was proposing toughening the requirements for its own scheme, until in December discussions began over totally removing the scheme.
Even the EU itself has warned against the schemes telling governments to put a stop to them in 2022.
The EU’s call to clamp down on the schemes came in the wake of Russia’s war on Ukraine when it became apparent they could pose a safety risk.
In 2022 the European Commission urged Albania not to set up a scheme as it would “pose risks as regards security, money laundering, tax evasion, terrorist financing, corruption and infiltration by organised crime, and would be incompatible with EU norms”.
The country has now suspended plans to bring in its own golden visa scheme.
