For those contemplating other alternatives…
(although NB acquiring German nationality usually means you have to give up your existing citizenship)
You didn’t read the article ?
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A better article …
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Ah, this one makes it clearer. I stand corrected!
If this gets up… it’s possibly going to blow the existing EU CIP’s out of the water…
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More seriously , so long as they have that C1 language requirement for citizenship it’ll be quite tough
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A few months of German classes, how bad can it be?
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Indeed, if it can save 3-4 years - it might be worth it to (re) learn that language …
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The problems are getting German residency in the first place and having to be there more or less continuously for five years though. Tough sell
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That’s only for the exceptional 3-year path. After 5 years in the country the requirement is B1.
Great proposal (particularly for allowing dual citizenship) for those living in Germany for other reasons, but I doubt you’ll see a huge influx of new immigrants coming to Germany because of this.
5+ years on the ground (as a tax resident) isn’t worth it for most…
Yup. Although it’s actually quite popular with younger freelancers who don’t make enough to care about the high taxes 
But yeah maybe this should be a separate thread?
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It’d be worth following.
And more palatable than zero progress in Portugal, only to be followed by whatever (unknown) effect the current changes will have on Portugal’s GV. I’d make the move. Just can’t get rid of these fund shares!
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Not zero movement on the pt GV, though it is glacial
The residency requirement is horrible for Germany, can’t even consider Germany with that.
Different needs I suppose
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Suppose my view is I’d be willing to pay taxes to Germany in lieu of fees to Portugal. Especially considering what little they’ve offered in return thus far. Not to mention with how long I’ve been waiting for the Portuguese clock to begin, I could be better than 1/3 of the way to German citizenship.
But I’ve also lived in Germany before and know what to expect. Wouldn’t mind finding a good accountant and heading for Munich this time around!
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If you don’t mind residing somewhere for 5 years, Luxembourg also has an easy residence by investment and no capital gains tax (so no exit tax on assets if you later move away).
I think the PT Golden Visa was mostly attractive to people who don’t want to live there full time for 5 years. E.g. we have well paid jobs in Silicon Valley so the opportunity cost of moving away is greater than the cost of GV for us.
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Yeah, I’d say about half of the EU countries only require five years to citizenship, including Ireland, Malta, Cyprus, and (of course) Portugal—all of which has interesting tax schemes available.
Note that some countries (like Ireland) count the days you’re residing there, so extended absences would extend that timeline. Other countries mostly care about years of legal residency and don’t really check how many days you’ve been out of the country. A quick Google search makes me believe Germany is in the latter camp, but I may be wrong.
Capital gains tax vary considerably across the block, but even in Germany any exit tax only kicks in after 7 years, so you might be able to squeeze in and get citizenship before that. If you have any latent crypto gains you could sell them while resident in Germany (assuming you’ve hold the assets for at least a year) and they won’t be subject to tax.
Unlike Germany, many other EU countries don’t have personal exit taxes, however if you own or manage a company and it becomes (partial) tax resident where you live, then that would likely be subject to a corporate exit tax in most—if not all—member states.
Even in Luxembourg you now have exit taxes, however those are primarily a concern if you own at least 10% of a company as there is no long-term capital gains on holdings smaller than this, assuming you’ve held them for six months. If the company itself is resident in Luxembourg, though, and if it has untaxed gains, those gains could also be subject to an exit tax.
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Agreed.
Although climate, culture, tax & cost of living make Portugal a winner over northern Europe imho
That’s why I moved south hoping to get a PTGV…it’s situational but I still believe the wait times are worth it in PT…ask me again in a few years 
(ps I view PT as a RBI program not a CBI program)
Yes, it’s definitely RBI, just with negligible stay requirements 
Not sure that Luxembourg’s program is as easy as PT’s (was)… in terms of the investment required…
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You realise c1 is not just “a few months” c1 is a few years of classes?!?!?! It’s quite a difficult task to attain even with years unless you are a polygot or savant. Also one of the requirements for 3 years citizenship, is a ‘significant’ contribution to german society. I.e. volunteering or doing really well within business etc. It’s a bit vague and you will need to get lawyers to give advice on what this means.
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