“Golden Visa” is a residence permit scheme. The Golden Visa programs grant investors the right to live in a country in exchange for a qualifying investment. The investment options, the benefits, and the extent of the preferential treatment differ depending on the issuing country.
Nice analysis… Thank you!
Thank you for the information. Just noticed a typo in two places (same typo).
In the second table (Benefits) and third table (Stay Requirement for Residency), you have “No requirement to reside in Greece” under the “Stay Requirement (Residence)” for Spain.
Again, thank you for your effort
Thanks, I’ve corrected the mistake!
Can you elaborate on the line "Each program provides the right to live in the corresponding country and travel within the Schengen countries without the need for an additional visa. "
Does this mean someone can travel full time in the Schengen zone without counting the days outside their resident country?
That’s correct. A residency permit in any country in the Schengen zone allows you to travel freely within the respective countries, subject only to their individual immigration restrictions. ie you cannot spend more than 90 days in any individual country without registering and a residency permit in one country does not allow you to reside in any other country. So a PR card from Greece would allow you to travel to, for examle, 60 days in Italy, 70 days in France, 80 days in Spain etc but you could not move your residence to Spain.
As a practical matter, you could probably get away with spending longer than 90 days in a country as there are no checks, but the legal limit is 90 days.
@nomadiconion , as this is a big one for us would you mind letting me know your reference source please.
I’ve not been able to find anything official on this matter.
Mark, short stay or tourist visa requirements are set by the Schengen group of countries as a whole on a consistent basis ie what is agreed by one is agreed by all.
https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/borders-and-visas/visa-policy/schengen_visa_en
For tourists wanting to travel long term in Europe this results in the “Schengen Shuffle” where you spend 90 days ‘in’ and then 90 days ‘out’ of the Schengen countries. The 90 day requirement is based in large part on the principal of reciprocity between countries. The US, Canada and other countries only give Europeans a 90 day tourist visa. It’s a kind of ‘you get what you give’ between nations.
Immigration requirements and long term residency rules are set by each individual country. If you want to stay longer than 90 days in a country you have to apply for some type of long term visa, a work visa, a retirement visa etc. Each country sets their own rules. You can obtain a permanent residency card in Greece by buying property there (subject to a number of other requirements) and this allows you to reside for as long as you like in Greece. As a resident of any Schengen country you can visit any other country - you must carry your passport and your residency card. Unless you have an EU passport, you are still subject to the 90 day limit in any country.
As long term residency/immigration is a national affair, you cannot ‘purchase’ a Greek residency and then go and live in France. For immigration and residency requirements you need to search by country as each is a little bit different, ie France’s requirements are extremely bureaucratic and pedantic, while Belgium is a little more relaxed. Requirements vary by both the country you want to reside in and by the passport you hold.
If you have a PASSPORT from any EU member country, ie you are a citizen of an EU member country, you can move to and live in any other member state at will. You are still required to register your stay with that country for social insurance and health care purposes etc. but you have the right of free movement within the EU.
A residency permit DOES NOT give you the same rights as a PASSPORT.
Visa requirements, whether short term or long term are based on your passport, not your residency.
some schengen countries have extra agreements called Bilateral Visa Waiver Agreements with some non-schengen countries that allow additional stays, usually at the end of the 90 days. Read under Visa Waiver Agreements on this Australian government website for examples that apply for Australian citizens: https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/before-you-go/the-basics/schengen#:~:text=Australians%20don’t%20need%20a,in%20any%20180-day%20period.&text=If%20you’ll%20be%20staying,Schengen%20country%20you%20will%20visit.
Sorry guys. Not sure why I didn’t get notified of your responses.
Let me pull this thread back to my question a little.
The missing piece of information I’m seeking is the source to the suggestion that EU ‘residents’ have the right to travel to other EU countries (for up to 90 days at a time).
Before Paul’s note I thought residency was limited to your EU Residency Country and when outside your EU resident country you need to use Schengen or Bilateral visas.
I get that rights to travel other EU countries( up to 90 days) is open to EU ‘citizens’ and I get the Schengen/Bilateral ‘tourist visa’ rights for certain 3rd party passport holders like us Australians.
The Schengen/Bilateral method still requires excessive time recording to be undertaken. For instance Greece/Spain (who are non-Bilateral) treat time spent in other EU countries as ‘Schengen’ time even if you were there under a Bilateral Visa.
So if you’ve got an official source that shows some access rights to other EU countries by EU ‘residents’ without use of Schengen or Bilateral I’m all ears. Thanks.
A great article, I had the wrong information about Spain. I thought it was required to stay for 6 motnhs every year when you apply for a Spanich Golden Visa. Thanks to this article , now I know Spain doesn’t have a stay requirement
Hi Moath, just to clarify that it doesn’t have any stay requirement, if you just want a residency. However, to get a Spanish citizenship, you need to reside majority of your time in Spain during 10-year period.
Thanks for this article. We are currently doing a lot of research on both Portugal and Greece’s GV programs. We are trying to clarity the work prohibition for Greece- are we able to work remotely for our US-based jobs while in Greece while remaining tax residence in the US? What about working as consultants for non-EU companies while tax residents in Greece?
Thanks in advance for any insight or resources.
Kelly