Which European country offers the best Golden Visa?

This article compares and contrasts the different Golden Visa programs available. We focus on the countries where you can obtain a Golden Visa via real estate investment. We finish with an overview of the real estate markets in these countries and an analysis of which country offers the best Golden Visa.

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As Boris Johnson won a convincing victory to “Get Brexit Done,” leaving the EU has become a reality for UK citizens. According to the Financial Times, citizenship planning agencies saw their traffic grow ninefold, post the 2016 referendum. Now that Brexit is a reality, the number of Brits wanting EU citizenship is expected to increase even more. This article explains which countries have the best Golden Visa programs via property investment for those wanting to emigrate to the EU, or obtain the right to work in the EU for themselves and their children.

Which countries offer Golden Visas?

A number of countries offer Golden Visas. Prior to the 2008 downturn, they were mainly in the Caribbean. After the economic slide, European countries with good weather (and weak national balance sheets) began offering Golden Visas. They are attractive because most of them include the right to work and travel within the Schengen area.

Over the past three years, we have received many calls from people in the City of London worried about losing their EU work permits. Banks have already moved hundreds of thousands of jobs out of London. Most jobs have moved to Frankfurt and Dublin, although Madrid has also benefited.

Given Johnson’s landslide victory, more banking jobs (and jobs in other industries) will leave the UK.  Bankers who lose their jobs will have difficulty transitioning to the EU with their UK passports. However, they can apply for a Golden Visa and obtain long-term residency/citizenship in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Spain and Portugal.

What types of Golden Visas are available?

There are a number of options available. For example, Portugal issues Golden Visas for people that invest over 250,000€ in its cultural heritage. Bulgaria issues Golden Visas for people that invest over 1 million Bulgarian levs (around 500,000€) in Bulgarian Government bonds. France offers a visa for anyone that invests over 10,000,000€ in the country.

Although interesting, most of the above are impractical for anyone but the super rich. This article will focus on the best golden visa achieved through real estate investment. These are the most practical for those with labor related post Brexit fears. They are also attractive for financial professionals, many of whom have limited investment options due to compliance related issues.

What makes a Golden Visa “good?”

There are many variations to be considered when choosing the best golden visa. We view the following to be most important:

UPDATE: The OECD Blacklist

In October, 2018 (ten months after this blog post was originally published), the OECD published a report aimed at countering international tax evasion.  After analyzing Golden Visa programs operated by 100 countries, the OECD created a “blacklist” of 100 countries. They said these countries  attract investors by offering low personal tax rates on income from foreign financial assets. Furthermore, these countries do not require an individual to spend a significant amount of time in the country. Three European countries: Malta, Monaco and Cyprus, were on that list. Importantly, Spain, Portugal and Greece are the only three European countries that offer a Golden Visa through property investment that are not on the OECD Blacklist. 

Summary of Golden Visa characteristics, by country

Cyprus

Cyprus is an interesting country because it is running two schemes. Like the other countries, you can make an initial property investment. This grants long-term residency. After a number of years, this can be converted to citizenship.

Alternatively, for a much larger investment, you can gain citizenship within six months.

Greece

Malta

Portugal

Spain

Property Market Overview

There is a large disparity in real estate prices in Europe’s Golden Visa countries. Malta is the most expensive and property prices appear fully valued. Greece is quite cheap and property prices have stabilized, but any investment in the country is still very risky. The economic fundamentals in Cyprus are strong, but real estate prices are still sliding. Portugal prices have increased greatly, but economic fundamentals don’t appear to support further property price appreciation. Real estate prices in Spain have trended up in recent years, but fundamentals are strong and there appears to be room for appreciation.

To learn more about the opportunities for price appreciation in the Spanish real estate market, read Why the Madrid property market is still the best in Europe.  If you’d like to learn more about how to invest in Madrid real estate, arrange a FREE CONSULTATION with us today!

There are a number of factors that drive property prices. The primary two are a country’s GDP and interest rates. All of the European countries that offer Golden Visas have loans tied to Euribor, since they are in the European Currency Union. Therefore, we will focus on GDP growth.

Malta has the strongest GDP growth of all these countries, followed by Cyprus and Spain. Greece is doing surprisingly well, given how close they were to bankruptcy a couple years ago. Portugal’s economic prospects are constrained, and are bound to negatively impact the housing market.

All of these countries introduced Golden Visas to raise money after the 2008 financial downturn, so we can’t expect them to be Aaa rated. However, unless you have a large appetite for risk, it’s logical to expect that the country is at least investment grade. As you can see in the following chart, only Malta, Spain and Portugal have investment grade ratings. The rest are considered junk bonds.

Country Summary

Cyprus

Cyprus has a relatively low investment threshold to gain visas its standard Golden Visa, but property prices are still in decline. If you want to get a Golden Visa via real estate investment in this country, be prepared for your investment to decline in value. The country’s fast track visa is appealing if you want full citizenship quickly, but aside from the required two million euro property investment, you also have to keep 30,000€ in a Cypriot bank for three years. That is a lot of money to have tied up in a country with a non investment grade credit rating that is subject to “substantial credit risk.”

Greece

Greece and Cyprus has the lowest investment threshold to get a Golden Visa. Real estate prices have stabilized after dropping for years and GDP is back in positive growth territory. However, the country has the weakest credit rating of all European countries that offer Golden Visas. Moody’s believes investment in the country is still “subject to high sovereign credit risk.” Moreover, even though the country offers citizenship relatively quickly, you have to reside in Greece. This is useless if you want to work in another part of the EU.

Malta

Malta is the country with the best credit rating, it grants citizenship quickly (after one year) and there is no need to reside in the country. However, real estate prices are extremely expensive and there appears to be little room for price appreciation. The Golden Visa is also extremely expensive. Your property purchase must be at least 320,000€ to qualify for a Golden Visa. This seems low, however you must purchase, and hold for five years, 250,000€ of government bonds and make a 35,500€ contribution to the Maltese Government. It also has very expensive processing fees: roughly 40,000€. It’s a good option if you want to work in the EU, don’t have the millions required for fast track Cypriot citizenship but still have over six hundred thousand euros to burn. There is also the issue that it has capped the number of Golden Visas it issues at 1,800 people, many of which have been claimed.

Spain & Portugal

Portugal and Spain have similar Golden Visa programs. Portugal’s main advantage is that it grants citizenship after six years, whereas it takes the Spanish Government ten years. They both offer permanent residency after five years.

The two countries have very different investment profiles. Portugal’s GDP growth is one of the lowest in Europe and property prices are more expensive than those in Spain. Finally, its Golden Visa program has also been been wracked by scandal.

Spain, on the other hand, has been ranked as one of the best places to purchase property. The Madrid property market still has room for price appreciation- particularly if you purchase a property and renovate it. There are no residence requirements in the first five years, and after that they are limited, so it is your best choice if you are worried about short and medium term post-Brexit work opportunities. If you are close to retirement age and want your children to be able to work in the EU, it is by far the best Golden Visa. The icing on the cake: you stand to make a lot of money on your property investment.

Conclusion: Which country offers the best Golden Visa?

All of the Golden Visa programs are different. The one that offers the best golden visa depends upon your needs and risk appetite.

To learn how to purchase Spanish real estate and get your Golden Visa, set up an appointment today to speak with one of our search specialists. We are not only experts in the Madrid market, but our legal team contains immigration experts. 

 

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