EU Plan on BANNING All Citizenship & Residency by Investment Programs?

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The European Union’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs has called on the EU Member States to tighten up the conditions under which they issue visas and residency permits to third-country citizens in exchange for investments.

In a meeting on Tuesday, February 15, the Committee has approved a report listing several changes that the 12 Member States operating the schemes must make in order to avoid any misuse of such programs.

“Noting the difference in the severity of the risks posed by ‘residence by investment’ schemes -that give foreigners residence rights in exchange for a financial contribution-, the draft report asks for common EU rules to harmonize standards and strengthen the fight against money laundering, corruption, and tax evasion,” notes a press release of the EU Parliament issued upon the meeting.

The MEPs want the Member States to make more thorough background checks on golden visa applicants, as well as on their family members and the sources of the fund they want to invest. According to the report, the applicants should be checked against EU justice and home affairs systems and be vetted in third countries.

A requirement of minimum physical residence and active involvement, quality, added value, and contribution to the economy of the Member State where they are investing must become mandatory for the applicants, the MEPs says.

“MEPs also envision a “notification and consultation” scheme to allow the other Member States to object to a ‘golden visa’ being granted,” the press release further adds.

The report also insists that intermediaries helping applicants to get a golden visa in the EU should be banned, claiming that they are neither transparent nor held accountable for their actions. Moreover, the EU Commission is asked to urge third countries under the visa-free category to end their golden visa and golden passport schemes.

MEPs Want Bulgaria, Cyprus & Malta to End Their Golden Passport Schemes!

Aside from the request to impose new rules on the granting of golden visas, the report also wants to put an end to golden passport schemes in the EU, which currently issue passports to investors. These countries are Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Malta. While the first two are already in the procedures of ending the schemes, Malta has not made any move in this regard yet.

The author of the report, Dutch MEP Sophia in ‘t Veld, said that the Member States operating such schemes were selling “what is not theirs to sell”, asserting that they were exploiting the reputation of the EU for profit.

“Being an EU citizen or resident is at the core of what the Union embodies: freedom and rights. Citizenship is a right, not a commodity to be bought and sold,” adding that these countries are putting the EU common security in danger.

The report will be voted on during the next plenary session of the Parliament in March.

Data show that at least 130 thousand persons have benefited from the golden visas and golden passports between 2011 and 2019. The program is also increasingly becoming more famous amongst Britons, who are now choosing the EU golden visa as an alternative way to gain access to the freedom of movement in the EU bloc.

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