Golden Visa Agents Urge Investors to Act Fast Amid Malta Golden Passport Crackdown


Wealthy foreign nationals from non-EU countries interested in benefiting from European Residency-by-Investment schemes have been urged by immigration lawyers and financial advisers to accelerate their investments made through Europe’s Golden Visas.

These calls come after a ruling on Tuesday, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJDU) declared Malta’s Citizenship-by-Investment scheme illegal, Schengen.News reports.

Following this decision, lawyers and advisers have raised concerns that if people wait too long in order to apply for a golden visa program, they might be subject to further restrictions and costs.

An immigration lawyer at Lisbon-based FiO Legal told Bloomberg that the message is clear; “whoever moves sooner will be in a better position.”

In addition, the EU Court of Justice also said that an EU country is not eligible to issue a passport unless an applicant has a genuine connection to the country.

It notes that Portugal, for example, only requires its golden visa holders to stay in this country for 14 days every two years, in order to maintain their residency, and also permits investors to apply for a passport after five years.

The chief executive officer of Optimize Investment Partners, a Lisbon-based firm, Pedro Lino, told Bloomberg that he does not think Portugal’s Golden Visa Program is at risk, however, he says that the clients are being advised to hurry up.

But we’re also advising our clients to hurry up because there may be some changes to the current rules.

Pedro Lino

Up to this point, several European countries offer Golden Visa and Golden Passport Programs. While the Golden Visa Program allows wealthy foreign nationals to acquire residency in exchange for financial investments the Golden Passport scheme offers citizenship.

The European Commission has continuously called on the countries that offer Residency-by-Investment and Citizenship-by-Investment schemes to terminate them as soon as possible, amid concerns about their involvement in irregular affairs such as money laundering and corruption.

Top Court Says Malta Failed to Fulfill its Obligations

The European Union Court of Justice argued that Malta failed to fulfill its obligations under the EU treaties.

The decision came following a previous opinion by EU Advocate General, Anthony Michael Collins, in October last year who dismissed the Commission’s concerns that the program weakened the EU’s integrity.

Back then., Collins said that the EU Member States have decided that it is for each of them alone to determine who is entitled to be one of their nationals, and as a consequence, who is an EU citizen.



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