The Authorisation of Residence for Investment Activity for people from non-EU countries, commonly known as the golden visa program, has been heavily criticized at home for sending house prices and rents up, and the European Commission has called for the end of such national schemes.
The European Commission said the decision was taken because the two member states granted nationality - and thereby EU citizenship - without requiring "a genuine link with the country", as passport holders were not obliged to reside there.
Malta's Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said on Tuesday the country was replacing its current scheme with a new programme that would introduce tighter vetting of applicants, who will have to be residents of the islands for a year before their applications can be considered.
Yes. A UK visa is not a valid Dubai visa
no all you need is just your country passport
Fearing visa hassles could cost him his job in Dubai while an economic collapse had dashed any homecoming options, Lebanese executive Jad splurged around $135,000 on a new citizenship for himself and his wife.
Having Grenadian citizenship makes applying for a US investor visa easier for businesspeople, he said, while those looking to retire or settle abroad can invest around a quarter of a million dollars in Greece or Portugal to secure permanent residency.
Britain scrapped golden visas for rich investors in February amid concerns about the inflow of illicit Russian money, just before Russia's invasion of Ukraine that brought on unprecedented Western sanctions against Moscow. (Reporting by Catarina Demony; Additional reporting by Patricia Rua; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Angus MacSwan)
In Portugal, it has attracted 6.5 billion euros in investment by foreigners, mainly from China, Brazil and South Africa, with the bulk of the money going into real estate. Rules have changed this year to redirect investments from a red-hot property market in big cities to depopulated areas.
Some EU member states, including Bulgaria, Cyprus and Malta, have also operated "golden passport" schemes, but they have run into opposition from the European Commission over the back door they offer to EU citizenship.
Costa said Portugal wanted to continue to be attractive, with one example being its recent law, enacted on Monday, that created the so-called digital nomads visa. It gives foreigners with high monthly income from remote work to live and work from Portugal for a year.
LISBON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Portugal is likely to scrap its "golden visa" program giving wealthy foreigners residence rights, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Wednesday, saying that the 10-year-old scheme had already fulfilled its role.
Cyprus said last week it was suspending its citizenship-for- investment programme, ditching a scheme the government had acknowledged was open to abuse after an investigation by Al Jazeera, a media outlet.
The commission has refrained from launching legal actions against EU states that sell residence permits, also known as "golden visa schemes", without requiring investors to stay in the country for a meaningful period, despite a European Parliament resolution urging such a move.
BRUSSELS, Oct 20 (Reuters) - The European Union's executive said on Tuesday it was launching legal action against Cyprus and Malta over their investor citizenship programmes, also known as "golden passport" schemes.
The Cypriot and Maltese governments have two months to take action. Without meaningful changes, the commission could refer them to the bloc's Court of Justice and ultimately it can ask the court to impose penalties. ($1 = 0.8467 euros) (Reporting by John Chalmers and Francesco Guarascio; additional reporting by Chris Scicluna in Valletta; Editing by Alex Richardson)
The European Commission said the decision was taken because the two member states granted nationality - and thereby EU citizenship - without requiring "a genuine link with the country", as passport holders were not obliged to reside there.
Malta's Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said on Tuesday the country was replacing its current scheme with a new programme that would introduce tighter vetting of applicants, who will have to be residents of the islands for a year before their applications can be considered.
Yes. A UK visa is not a valid Dubai visa
no all you need is just your country passport
Fearing visa hassles could cost him his job in Dubai while an economic collapse had dashed any homecoming options, Lebanese executive Jad splurged around $135,000 on a new citizenship for himself and his wife.
Having Grenadian citizenship makes applying for a US investor visa easier for businesspeople, he said, while those looking to retire or settle abroad can invest around a quarter of a million dollars in Greece or Portugal to secure permanent residency.
Britain scrapped golden visas for rich investors in February amid concerns about the inflow of illicit Russian money, just before Russia's invasion of Ukraine that brought on unprecedented Western sanctions against Moscow. (Reporting by Catarina Demony; Additional reporting by Patricia Rua; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Angus MacSwan)
In Portugal, it has attracted 6.5 billion euros in investment by foreigners, mainly from China, Brazil and South Africa, with the bulk of the money going into real estate. Rules have changed this year to redirect investments from a red-hot property market in big cities to depopulated areas.
Some EU member states, including Bulgaria, Cyprus and Malta, have also operated "golden passport" schemes, but they have run into opposition from the European Commission over the back door they offer to EU citizenship.
Costa said Portugal wanted to continue to be attractive, with one example being its recent law, enacted on Monday, that created the so-called digital nomads visa. It gives foreigners with high monthly income from remote work to live and work from Portugal for a year.
LISBON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Portugal is likely to scrap its "golden visa" program giving wealthy foreigners residence rights, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Wednesday, saying that the 10-year-old scheme had already fulfilled its role.
Cyprus said last week it was suspending its citizenship-for- investment programme, ditching a scheme the government had acknowledged was open to abuse after an investigation by Al Jazeera, a media outlet.
The commission has refrained from launching legal actions against EU states that sell residence permits, also known as "golden visa schemes", without requiring investors to stay in the country for a meaningful period, despite a European Parliament resolution urging such a move.
BRUSSELS, Oct 20 (Reuters) - The European Union's executive said on Tuesday it was launching legal action against Cyprus and Malta over their investor citizenship programmes, also known as "golden passport" schemes.
The Cypriot and Maltese governments have two months to take action. Without meaningful changes, the commission could refer them to the bloc's Court of Justice and ultimately it can ask the court to impose penalties. ($1 = 0.8467 euros) (Reporting by John Chalmers and Francesco Guarascio; additional reporting by Chris Scicluna in Valletta; Editing by Alex Richardson)