Like it or not, EU golden visa programs are now all the rage in China. The programs will allow an investor to apply for citizenship or as a permanent resident.
In the past, many Chinese do hold another country citizenship while holding on to their China citizenship. This is contrary to the fact that the Chinese government does not recognize dual citizenship, As more and more Chinese applied for another citiizenship, the Chinese government has finally issued a stern warning about the consequences of holding dual citizenships.
As a result, some Chinese nationals have heeded the warning and had given up their foreign citizenship. However, while they might have given up on their foreign citizenship, many are still holding on to another country’s permanent residency.
Of course, there are some Chinese nationals who preferred to give up their Chinese citizenship instead and opted for a foreign citizenship instead.
Chinese attracted to EU golden visas
In recent years, various European countries have actively introduced their own EU golden visa programs. Investing in these propgrams are just a matter of investing in a property and getting your permanent visa within a couple of months. Most of the golden visa programs also offer permanent residency to foreigners without any/little physical stay residency requirements. For example for Cyprus, one would only need to visit Cyprus once a year to maintain as a permanent resident.
The Chinese began to embrace these programs because of the ‘easy to meet’ visa requirements. After all, they are comfortable with their career/business in China and would prefer not to move if possible. But at the same time, as they are wary of the turbulent world environment. They would rather have the permanent residency in hand as part of a plan B for themselves and their families.
Some Chinese will think twice about applying to countries like Australia, Canada, or the USA. It is because when you get the PR approval, you will be required to fulfill their stay requirements. These countries usually expect you to spend more than 180 days/year in that country.
These EU golden visa programs suit the Chinese perfectly. They can just apply for a permanent residency without many strict residency requirements. Portugal, Greece, and Ireland’s programs are among the top-rated destinations for the Chinese. Once they obtain their residency visa, if they want to, they can live and work in that country at any time they want. Or they can stay put in their home country. For the wealthy, it may be good for tax purposes as well as the countries do offer attractive tax benefits.
Last year was a record year for the number of Chinese applying for the golden visa programs. I overheard one wealthy Chinese man said that now it is not comparing how many cars you have, but how many country residencies you have.
Feel free to contact us if you need more information on any of the EU golden visa programs. We will be glad to help.
