Will citizenship through investment programs be more expensive in 2025?
Published at: 03/10/2024 07:26 am
Some of the most traditional and vital citizenship and residency by investment programs became more expensive in 2024, and this trend will continue in 2025 as well. Greece and the Caribbean countries, among others, increased the qualifying investment amounts in exchange for valuable residency or citizenship. Don't forget that many countries have residency and citizenship by investment programmes. It is not particularly surprising that some of these countries are raising prices.
Why did investor's immigration programs become more expensive in 2024?
First, the host countries understood that the applicants may pay more; pricing is a question.
The second reason is the more complex legal background.
The US and the EU are under intense pressure to either eliminate or at least very strictly regulate citizenship and residency programmes. Their international legal requirements have made the legal procedures for identifying and verifying applicants considerably more expensive for the authorities. Moreover, the additional paperwork and international validations are also a heavy burden for the applicants.
The third reason is that most citizenship or residency programs aim to benefit society. When the program fulfils its objective, the legislators cease the scheme or find another objective that may require more investment or donation from the applicants.
The last indicator is the so-called breakdown of the price competition. For example, Caribbean countries have consistently seen each other as competitors and have managed to drive down the investment required to acquire their citizenships. However, this has meant insufficient money to carry out proper due diligence studies, and the EU and the US forced them to renew their citizenship through investment schemes. St Kitts, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, St Lucia and Dominica finally agreed to introduce a minimum 200,000 USD limit on investments or donations, which practically doubled the cost of a Caribbean citizenship by investment programs.
The Golden Visa or residency by investment programs market has also changed. Portugal cancelled its real estate option and only allowed applicants to invest in investment funds. Greece increased the minimum investment in prime locations to 800,000 euros, which is a hefty amount.
Do you want to wait to see if the chosen citizenship or residency permit costs go down? Please only do that by asking the experts at Discus Holding Ltd; it is our job to monitor the development of individual citizenship programmes and changes in legislation. Ask for a consultation here to decide if it is worth waiting or if you should act now!