How to get a residence permit in Europe by investing in real estate

How To Get A Residence Permit In Europe By Investing In Real Estate – In some European countries, getting a residence permit through real estate is the fastest and shortest way. A residence permit in Europe allows you to travel visa-free, live comfortably, and expand your business.

Several EU countries let you buy real estate with a residence permit. Investments always get more interest in a residence permit. 1 182 and 845 investors got residence permits in Portugal and Spain in 2020.

Here’s how you can invest in Europe and get a residency permit.

Where in Europe an investor can get a residence permit for the purchase of real estate

You can only get a residence permit by investing in real estate in a few European countries. These residence permits let you move around the Schengen area freely.

You can travel all over the EU and Schengen with a residence permit

Spain, Portugal, and Greece also have investment programs. Investments in Malta can get you a residency permit or permanent residency.

Having a residence permit in Europe has these benefits:

The family has a second home in Europe;
Getting a visa to stay in other countries for 90 days in half a year;
You’ll need a European bank account;
Studying at top universities in Europe;
Getting the best treatment;
It’s possible to get EU citizenship.

The minimum amount of investment in real estate in European countries

Residence permit in Spain	€500,000
Residence permit in Portugal	From €280,000 to €500,000 depending on the area and condition of the object
Residence permit in Greece	€250,000 to €500,000, depending on the number of participants
Residence permit in Malta	From €220,000 to €275,000 depending on the region
Permanent residence in Malta	From €300,000 to €350,000 depending on the region

How to get a residency for buying real estate

Investors have to pass Due Diligence, prove their income is legal, and follow the program’s terms.

Each country has its own requirements for minimum costs and locations. Because Portugal wants to attract investment to remote areas, you won’t be able to invest in Lisbon housing, Porto or other resort cities after 2022.

Investing in real estate gets you a residence permit in a European country.

From €225,000 for apartments in a five-story building in Marsaskala, 500 meters from the beach

Residence permit in Spain — investment from €500,000. To obtain a residence permit, it is required to buy any real estate available to foreigners. It can be sold after five years. The minimum investment amount is €500,000. You can purchase one or more items.

Residence permit in Portugal — investment from €280,000. The residence permit program in Portugal is distinguished by flexible conditions for choosing an object. The purchase of modern real estate will cost at least €500,000.

If you invest in real estate older than 30 years in a region of cultural and historical heritage and participate in the reconstruction, the minimum amount is reduced to €280,000.

Residence permit in Greece — investment from €250,000. To obtain a residence permit in Greece, you will need to invest in real estate from €250,000. You can buy any object in the primary or secondary market. If parents or grandchildren are included in the application, the minimum amount will increase to €500,000.

Residence permit in Malta — investments from €220,000. Buying a home in Malta is an important condition for obtaining a residence permit. The minimum amount of investment is from €275,000 for properties in the central or northern part of Malta and from €220,000 for properties on the island of Gozo or in the south of the country.

You can rent housing for five years. At the same time, the minimum annual rent should be €8,750 for the south and Gozo or €9,600 for the north and center of the country.

The second part of the requirements is related to obtaining a special tax resident status in Malta. Malta has agreements on the avoidance of double taxation with other countries. Residents are required to pay income tax of 15% on income received in outside Malta, or a minimum of €15,000 per year. This is less than in many European countries.

Permanent residence in Malta — investments from €300,000. The status of a permanent resident gives almost the same rights as citizenship of Malta, except for the ability to live indefinitely in the other countries, participate in elections and work in government agencies.

To obtain permanent residence, an investor buys a property worth €300,000 or more in the south of Malta or Gozo and €350,000 in other regions. After 5 years, the house can be sold.

Another option is available; rentals for the amount of €10,000 or €12,000 per year, depending on the area. You will need to rent the property for 5 years. Apartments can be changed, the main thing is that their cost fits the requirements.

The investor pays an administrative fee of €40,000, and also invests from €28,000 in a state fund and €2,000 in a non-state fund.

Automatically obtaining a passport after the status of permanent residence for investment will not work. Maltese citizenship is obtained by naturalization for exceptional services by direct investment.

Compare of European programs providing a residence permit by investment in real estate

The minimum investment isn’t everything about these programs. In order to keep their residency permit, investors have to spend at least seven days a year in Portugal. There’s no such rule in Malta, but anywhere else you can’t live more than 183 days.

There are a lot of programs you can join with your close relatives. If they’re financially dependent on the investor, they’ll have to prove it. Every case is looked at individually: tuition bills, utility bills, registration at one address, and account statements with monthly receipts.

Country	Processing time	Who can be included in the application	Mandatory residing in the country
Portugal	6 to 8 months	Spouse, children under 26 years old, parents	7 days a year
Greece	1 month	Spouse, children under 21 years old. Parents with an increase in an investment sum	―
Malta	3 to 4 months	Spouse, children under 25 years old, parents over 55 years old	The applicant can not spend more than 183 days a year outside Malta
Permanent residence in Malta	2 to 3 months	Spouse, children under 27 years, parents over 55 years old, grandchildren	―
Spain	2 to 3 months	Spouse, children and parents	―

There are apartments in Malta in a residential complex in Pembroke that start at €625,000. A copy of the original purchase and sale agreement is all that’s handed out, the original goes in the state archives

Steps to get a residence permit by investment in the EU

Every program is different, but there are predictable steps: Due Diligence, picking a place, collecting documents, buying a house, applying.

Preliminary Due Diligence.

Compliance with different countries’ requirements is checked internally. So you don’t get rejected, we help you pick the right program.

Selection of real estate.

We offer real estate options based on our clients’ goals. Immigrant Invest works directly with developers in Spain, Portugal, Malta, Greece, and Cyprus.

Collection and submission of documents.

Our team collects, translate, notarizes, and apostilles documents to confirm their authenticity.

Trip to the country.Trip to the country.

We arrange a trip to see the house or apartment after preliminary approval so the client can see it for himself. Besides opening a bank account, we help you pay admin fees and transfer investments.

Buying a property.

We’re here for you from start to finish. As well as checking the legal purity of the object, we certify all the paperwork.

Submission of documents.

The client submits biometric data for the residence permit card in front of a local lawyer. It then gets submitted to the government by Immigrant Invest.

Obtaining a residence permit card.

On average, it takes two months to process an application. It could take three or four months depending on how many applications there are.

There’s no need to fly in. Immigrant Invest’s lawyers will act as proxy: They’ll get the documents and hand them over.

A residence permit can be gotten faster if you invest in real estate. There are apartments in Lisboa/n’s center starting at €500,000

Prospects for European citizenship

Investing in a residence permit can get your family EU citizenship for a minimal cost. Malta citizenship is granted to people who invest in exceptional services.

Portuguese passports are easy and fast to get: five years after you get your residence permit, you can apply for citizenship. In other countries, like Greece, the terms start at seven years.

You’ll get detailed advice on all programs from Immigrant Invest’s lawyers.