All manner of European countries are getting involved in providing residence permits to non-Europeans in exchange for investment.
Now it is the turn of Bulgaria, where a passport could be obtained for as little as £150,000 without the need to reside in the country, according to an investigation conducted by the Daily Telegraph.
Legally holding the passport of an EU member nation permits the bearer to live and work in any other EU state.
Telegraph journalists posed as representatives of a rich Indian businessman and approached several specialist companies in Bulgaria about the possibility of obtaining citizenship.
They were informed that Bulgarian passports could be had as long as the applicants had sufficient funds to deposit. Applicants would need to visit the country initially for only two days with few visits later as the specialists would provide clients with a “virtual” address.
The advantages include entry into the EU to live, work, and to study, but it can take a matter of five years to go from receiving a residence permit and applying for citizenship. A fast-track system which takes only two years involves applicants paying around £235,000.
Hundreds of foreign nationals are already believed to have applied for EU citizenship under the scheme.
But, the EU Justice Commissioner, Viviane Reding, has been highly critical about the schemes, warning that “citizenship must not be up for sale”. She invited Malta to discuss with her their proposed scheme for passports to be obtained for €1.15m a piece.
And Malta is not alone. Portugal and Spain both have “golden visa” programmes and the British system, for high net-worth individuals, requires applicants to invest at least £1 million in Britain and reside at least 50% of the time in the UK. The application can be fast-tracked by increasing the investment to £10 million, which can bring citizenship after three years.
