Costs of European residency programmes have shot up in recent years

Here’s how much costs of some of the popular European residency programmes have escalated in recent years.

Portugal

The cost of Portugal’s Golden Visa, which allows you to apply for permanent residency after five years, has risen 78% from €280,000 ( ₹2.49 crore) to €500,000 ( ₹4.45 crore).

There have been changes in terms of eligible investments, too. Real estate, for instance, is no longer allowed. Applicants also need to invest in a fund that in turn invests in local businesses. To be eligible, 60% of the fund’s corpus needs to be invested in Portuguese businesses that need operating capital. The new rules came into effect on 7 October 2023.

Despite this, industry experts said Portugal Golden Visa remains one the most popular residency programmes among India’s UHNIs. “Portugal Golden Visa programme has the longest track-record, with minimal stay requirement. Also, it is a large economy,” said Arindam Sengupta, founder of My Global Citizenship.

A donation of either €250,000 ( ₹2.22 crore) or €200,000 ( ₹1.7 crore) – depending on the specific location of the donation – remains an option. However, this is less popular.

Portugal Golden Visa allows the main applicant to add dependents, including parents, spouse and children, for additional fees. Tax collected at source (TCS) of 20% is applicable on any overseas transactions. However, this can be claimed when filing returns.

Greece

While Greece continues to offer residency by real estate, the minimum threshold for investment has increased significantly.

It has jumped 220% from €250,000 ( ₹2.22 crore) to €800,000 ( ₹7.1 crore) if you want to buy property in popular tier-1 cities such as Athens, Myokos, Thessaloniki and Santorini. For tier-II cities, the minimum value of property investment to qualify for permanent residency is €400,000 ( ₹3.56 crore).

Unlike in Portugal, where applicants initially receive temporary residency, investing in Greece leads directly to permanent residency (PR).

This typically comes six to eight months after the investment and due diligence by the government. However, the applicant needs to hold on to the investment to keep the PR valid. It must also be renewed every five years.

Also read: A Portugal Golden Visa can give you wide access to Europe. Should you apply?

However, the new rules offer an exception. “Not many people know this, but the new rules allow a minimum investment of €250,000 in cases where a commercial property is converted into residential property before the golden visa application is filed. This exception allows investors to capitalise underused commercial spaces, leading to potentially high-yielding returns, but the eligible inventory can take time to build up as developers would need appropriate licences to undertake such projects,” said Rohit Bhardwaj, country head – India & director private clients, Henley & Partners India.

The new rules came into effect on 1 September 2024.

Greece PR allows the main applicant to add dependents, including parents, spouse and children, for additional fees.

Malta

Malta also offers permanent residency within six to eight months of making a qualifying real estate investment. It has hiked the minimum qualifying investment for PR from €370,000 ( ₹3.29 crore) to €455,000 ( ₹4.05 crore) from 1 January 2025. This includes hikes in other fees charged by the government.

The main applicant can also add up to four generations in the PR, including their spouse, children, parents and grandparents. For each dependent, there is a fee of €10,000 (increased from €7,500).

Just like with Greece, the PR holder needs to hold onto the investment to keep the residency valid. The PR must be renewed every five years.

The Malta PR programme also allows people renting or leasing property to be eligible for PR. Here, too, the minimum threshold has increased from €10,000 annually for five years (€50,000) to €14,000 annually for five years (€70,000). Fees and contributions made to the government have risen from €100,000 to €110,000. The overall cost of renting property has increased from €150,000 ( ₹1.33 crore) to €180,000 ( ₹1.60 crore). But holders must have a valid lease to renew the PR after five years, or buy a property. So, the overall cost is higher if the PR holder wants to stay for more than five years.

Also read: How you can retire in Europe with Portugal’s passive income visa

The rental or lease needs to be maintained for five years, and the PR holder must renew it for another five years to keep the residency valid. Remember, once the applicant has gone with the property investment route, reverting to lease or rental option is not possible. However, one can switch from rental to purchase.

Nicholas Michael, partner at Multipolitan, a global migration platform, said, “The landscape of residency programmes across Europe is undergoing a seismic shift. Once celebrated as streamlined pathways for global mobility and foreign investment, these programmes are now facing increased scrutiny. Economic shifts, housing pressures, and geopolitical considerations are reshaping the criteria and costs associated with these residency-by-investment schemes.”

What you get

While getting a PR in Portugal takes longer, it offers the holder the right to live, work, and even set up a business in the country.

The Greece Golden Visa and Malta Permanent Residence Program (MPRP) do not offer the right to work, though an MPRP holder can launch a business. “While MPRP doesn’t entitle the beneficiary to an employment permit, a company can be set up and it can in turn apply for work permits through normal procedures,” added Bhardwaj.

All PRs allow visa-free travel across the Schengen area, which comprises 29 European countries.

Other popular residencies

America’s EB-5 visa has always been a popular residency programme among Indian investors. The minimum investment for an EB-5 visa increased from $500,000 ( ₹4.23 crore) to $800,000 (6.78 crore) in 2022. It requires investing in a US project, generally in real estate, that generates at least 10 jobs. 

Dubai Golden Visa, on the other hand, has seen its minimum property investment drop from AED 5 million ( ₹11.54 crore) in 2019 to AED 2 million ( ₹4.61 crore) in 2022.

Also read: Invest ₹9 crore and secure a US Green Card. Here’s how