EU Golden Visas are now more attractive: the new EU directives on Golden Passports

The EU has recently come up with several new guidelines to countries offering citizenship-by-investment Programmes (CIP). These were made clear to Caribbean countries but seemingly they apply to all CIPs.
These directives aim at enhancing security in the EU and seek to filter out people of ill repute from entering the EU by holding passports of countries the citizens of which enjoy a visa-free entry into the EU. Such are, among others, the Caribbean ones.
Significantly, the EU also sets a minimum price tag on these passports, thereby abandoning its long-held conviction that citizenship is not a commodity and must not be sold. This is a major development and may signify a turnaround in EU’s hostility towards golden passports and visas.

These guidelines are as follows:

1. Implement robust due diligence.
2. Implement mandatory interviews.
3. Enhance security measures.
4. Increase investment thresholds to $200,000 for donations and $400,000 for real estate investment.
5. Investments must reach and benefit the host country.
6. Abolish the advertising of passports and the visa-free access provided by them.

The EU has set up a committee which will monitor the implementation of the above.

Apart from the significance of putting a price tag on passports, the acquisition of Caribbean passports at a low cost has now come to an end. In this way, Golden Visas granted by EU Schengen countries have become much more attractive and cost effective.

These passports will now cost just under €400,000 (with fees), while the cost of a Greek Golden Visa is still below €300,000 all-in. One should add to EU Golden Visas the advantage they offer of being able to live in the EU and enjoy much the same everyday benefits as EU citizens, something no Caribbean passport can offer.

It is still possible to acquire a Greek Golden Visa with a €250,000 investment in real estate. If this is coupled with guaranteed rental yields of 4-6%, the original cost can be halved after about 10 years, thus making such an investment even more attractive. The Caribbean countries offer of course various schemes but they do not have a robust local property market which can act as a safety net should foreign demand for property vanish.