Live and Invest Overseas
FREE REPORT: THE BEST PLACES TO RETIRE IN 2025
We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.
  • Home
  • Countries

    Top Destinations:

    Whether you’re looking for fun and sun, a peaceful retirement, or the chance to earn some extra income, you’ve got a real world of opportunity open to you… In short, we’ve done our best to narrow down your best options, but only you can decide the right country for you.

    • Spain
    • Portugal
    • Panama
    • Belize
    • Colombia
    • Cyprus
    • Mexico
    • France
    • Montenegro
    • Browse All Countries

    Best For:

    • The Best Places To Retire
    • Health Care Abroad
    • Cost Of Living
    • Investing in Real Estate
    • Establishing Residency
    • Gun Laws In The World
    • English-Speaking Countries
    • Safest Places For Retirement
    • Best Places In Latin America
  • Budgets

    How Much Will It Cost You To Live Overseas?

    The only honest answer is, we have no idea. And neither does anyone else. The only one who can answer that question is you. Here’s the most important thing to understand about budgeting your new life overseas…

    Super Cheap

    • Chitré, Panama
    • Santa Marta, Colombia
    • Phuket, Thailand
    • Dumaguete, The Philippines

    Cheap

    • Medellin, Colombia
    • Boquete, Panama
    • Kyrenia, Cyprus
    • Hua Hin, Thailand
    • The Algarve, Portugal

    Affordable

    • Valencia, Spain
    • Cascais, Portugal
    • Las Terrenas, The DR
    • Pisa, Italy
    • La Rochelle, France
    • Mazatlán, Mexico

    Luxury

    • Ambergris Caye, Belize
    • Kotor, Montenegro
    • The Panama City Beaches
    • Paris, France
  • Resources

    Global Living

    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore & Diversification

    Making Money

    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing

    Follow Us:

    • Meet Our Experts
  • Real Estate

    Buying Real Estate For Cashflow

    • Discover tips and strategies used by global property investing veterans

    Explore Our Latest Posts

    • Learn how to invest and purchase property abroad…

    Go To The Overseas Property Alert Site

    • How To Become Independently Wealthy And Fund The Lifestyle Of Your Dreams
  • Conferences

    Upcoming Events

    • Explore Our Events Site

    Live and Invest In Spain Conference

    Offshore Wealth Summit

    Greece Workshop

    VALENCIA, SPAIN

    Sep. 17-19, 2025

    PANAMA CITY, PANAMA

    Oct. 15-17, 2025

    VIRTUAL

    Nov. 13, 2025

    LEARN MORE
    DISCOUNT
    LEARN MORE
    PRE-REGISTER
    LEARN MORE
    PRE-REGISTER
    • MORE EVENTS

    Contact Our Events Team

    Toll-Free U.S. and Canada:
    1 (888) 627 8834
    From Outside North America:
    1 (443) 599 1221
    Working Hours
    Monday – Friday 08:00 am – 17:00 pm EST.

    Reach us with your questions by email at: events@liveandinvestoverseas.com

  • Store

    Unlock The World

    • Access Your Library

    Overseas Havens Reports

    • Expats' comprehensive destination guides

    Conference Kits

    • Hours of coverage  from our latests conferences

    Lahardan Books

    • Titles on living and investing around the world
    • Explore Our Store
    Your passport to a life well-lived abroad

    Services

    overseas living letter offers affordable retirement guidance
    The Simon Letter Wealth Protection Insights
    Global Property Advisor Global Investment Opportunities

    Our Customer Service team is here to assist with any questions or concerns CustomerService@LiveandInvestOverseas.com

  • My Library
Live and Invest Overseas
  • Home
  • Countries

    Top Destinations:

    Whether you’re looking for fun and sun, a peaceful retirement, or the chance to earn some extra income, you’ve got a real world of opportunity open to you… In short, we’ve done our best to narrow down your best options, but only you can decide the right country for you.

    • Spain
    • Portugal
    • Panama
    • Belize
    • Colombia
    • Cyprus
    • Mexico
    • France
    • Montenegro
    • Browse All Countries

    Best For:

    • The Best Places To Retire
    • Health Care Abroad
    • Cost Of Living
    • Investing in Real Estate
    • Establishing Residency
    • Gun Laws In The World
    • English-Speaking Countries
    • Safest Places For Retirement
    • Best Places In Latin America
  • Budgets

    How Much Will It Cost You To Live Overseas?

    The only honest answer is, we have no idea. And neither does anyone else. The only one who can answer that question is you. Here’s the most important thing to understand about budgeting your new life overseas…

    Super Cheap

    • Chitré, Panama
    • Santa Marta, Colombia
    • Phuket, Thailand
    • Dumaguete, The Philippines

    Cheap

    • Medellin, Colombia
    • Boquete, Panama
    • Kyrenia, Cyprus
    • Hua Hin, Thailand
    • The Algarve, Portugal

    Affordable

    • Valencia, Spain
    • Cascais, Portugal
    • Las Terrenas, The DR
    • Pisa, Italy
    • La Rochelle, France
    • Mazatlán, Mexico

    Luxury

    • Ambergris Caye, Belize
    • Kotor, Montenegro
    • The Panama City Beaches
    • Paris, France
  • Resources

    Global Living

    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore & Diversification

    Making Money

    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing

    Follow Us:

    • Meet Our Experts
  • Real Estate

    Buying Real Estate For Cashflow

    • Discover tips and strategies used by global property investing veterans

    Explore Our Latest Posts

    • Learn how to invest and purchase property abroad…

    Go To The Overseas Property Alert Site

    • How To Become Independently Wealthy And Fund The Lifestyle Of Your Dreams
  • Conferences

    Upcoming Events

    • Explore Our Events Site

    Live and Invest In Spain Conference

    Offshore Wealth Summit

    Greece Workshop

    VALENCIA, SPAIN

    Sep. 17-19, 2025

    PANAMA CITY, PANAMA

    Oct. 15-17, 2025

    VIRTUAL

    Nov. 13, 2025

    LEARN MORE
    DISCOUNT
    LEARN MORE
    PRE-REGISTER
    LEARN MORE
    PRE-REGISTER
    • MORE EVENTS

    Contact Our Events Team

    Toll-Free U.S. and Canada:
    1 (888) 627 8834
    From Outside North America:
    1 (443) 599 1221
    Working Hours
    Monday – Friday 08:00 am – 17:00 pm EST.

    Reach us with your questions by email at: events@liveandinvestoverseas.com

  • Store

    Unlock The World

    • Access Your Library

    Overseas Havens Reports

    • Expats' comprehensive destination guides

    Conference Kits

    • Hours of coverage  from our latests conferences

    Lahardan Books

    • Titles on living and investing around the world
    • Explore Our Store
    Your passport to a life well-lived abroad

    Services

    overseas living letter offers affordable retirement guidance
    The Simon Letter Wealth Protection Insights
    Global Property Advisor Global Investment Opportunities

    Our Customer Service team is here to assist with any questions or concerns CustomerService@LiveandInvestOverseas.com

  • My Library
Live and Invest Overseas
 Moving Out Of The U.S?

THE 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE IN 2025

the 10 best places to retire in 2025

PLUS: A SPECIAL BONUS DESTINATION

Simply sign up to receive the FREE daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we’ll immediately email you our editors’ latest research report… absolutely FREE

We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.

Home Residency/Citizenship

The End Of Golden Visas In Europe

The End Of A “Golden” Era In Europe

by Lief Simon
Feb 23, 2023
in Residency/Citizenship
0 0
Sunset landscape on Atlantic Ocean, south Portugal best countries to live

Adobe Stock/Stan

It’s the end of an era for Golden Visas in Europe…

It all happened very quickly.

In the space of three days last week, two European countries suspended their residence-by-investment programs—so-called “Golden Visas.”

The news is still coming in…a lot of details are still unknown…but I wanted to bring you an update on what we do know.

Stay tuned to the end for my thoughts on what you should do now if you want European residency…

The Background

What is a Golden Visa? It’s a way for countries to get money from investors, in exchange for residency.

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, several European countries set up these schemes.

The concept was simple: Spend a chunk of money in the country, and you’d get the right to live and work there.

It could be in the form of a real estate investment (typically $500,000 or above), starting a business in-country, or putting cash in an approved fund…

The programs have been attractive to wealthy investors from outside the EU, because they provide access to the whole Schengen Area—27 countries…

Portugal was the first the establish a Golden Visa program. Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Ireland, and others, followed suit…

But now, it looks like this “Golden Age” of residency programs is coming to an end.

Going Once…

Abruptly last week, Ireland abolished its program—after official figures were released showing 90% of investors obtaining visas were wealthy Chinese.

Ireland’s Immigrant Investor Program received five times as many applications in 2022 as in 2021, due at least in part to the fact that Ireland’s neighbor, the UK, had just closed its similar program.

Irish officials were apparently alarmed that of the 1,316 applications submitted in 2022, 1,275 came from Chinese nationals…

This is at a time when Ireland has a housing crisis and is accepting record numbers of refugees due to the war in Ukraine. (Although, the Irish program only allowed investments in Irish REITs, not physical property.)

Wealthy Chinese buying their way into the country undoubtedly looks bad to the Irish public, and could be a stick for opposition parties to beat the government with…

Existing applications will be allowed to proceed in Ireland, and those who already have visas will not be impacted.

Here’s the crux of what’s happening…the details on the Irish situation above should give you a clue:

While economic desperation led to the creation of the Golden Visas—political calculations are the reason for their demise.

Going Twice…

Just a couple days after Ireland’s announcement, the forerunner of this whole trend, Portugal, declared that its program would be closed.

Why now? What’s changed, and suddenly put these visas under threat?

Well, the writing has been on the wall for European Golden Visas for some time…

The programs were established during a different era in Europe, when EU countries in the midst of the Great Recession were strapped for cash and hungry for ways to attract outside investors.

But over time, many concerns about Golden Visa programs have arisen…

The European Commission—the EU’s governing “executive committee”—hates them, and has done everything it can to discourage countries from establishing them, and tried to shut down existing programs.

There’s a perception that Golden Visas offer preferential immigration treatment to rich foreigners, that they’re used for tax evasion and money laundering—and that the programs are rife with corruption.

After all, you are, quite literally, buying your way into a country…

In the case of Ireland, wealthy Chinese were seen to be using the program to gain access to the European Union—when these folks might otherwise have no connection with or interest in living in Ireland…

There’s also a view—with some evidence to support it—that Golden Visas disrupt and distort local property markets.

Rich foreigners buy up properties to obtain the visa, which reduces the housing supply for locals and also pushes up prices… These were cited by Portugal’s government as reasons it was scrapping its program.

Since 2010, Portuguese property prices have gone up by more than 80% —at the high end for the EU.

There’s been a lot of political pressure (especially from left-wing parties) to shutter the programs… But still, countries have been reluctant to give up the cash they bring in. It’s been a dilemma for national governments.

Golden Goose—Killed

Since 2012, Portugal’s program alone has brought in 5 billion euros to the country—and given Portugal 20,000 affluent new residents…

But the calls for residence-by-investment and citizenship-by-investment programs to end have persisted…

In 2020, amid allegations of corruption, Cyprus closed its citizenship-by-investment program (similar to a Golden Visa, but granting citizenship not just residency)…

In January 2023, EU satellite state Montenegro shut down its citizenship-by-investment program—in hopes of gaining favor with the European Commission in its bid to become an EU member…

And now, the tide seems to have really turned, with Ireland and Portugal both suddenly ending their Golden Visas within a week of each other.

Portugal’s program is the biggest loss. With this program, you could gain EU residency with as little as 250,000 euros—and you only had to spend one week a year in Portugal to maintain the visa… After just five years, you could be eligible for an EU passport and live and work anywhere in the 27-country bloc without any restrictions.

How the government’s decision will affect visa renewals for investors who’ve already obtained residency… whether there will be some leeway period for those who’ve already started their applications… even if there will be a transition period where new applications can still be accepted… we just don’t know yet.

None of that has been decided.

My contact in Portugal, attorney João G. Gil Figueira, told me: “There should be a grandfathering clause, otherwise it’s going to trigger a lot of litigation and potentially constitutional issues.

“But until the Government publishes something for public discussion—a proposed bill, draft, etc., it’s all speculation as to the actual changes.”

The government has said it will use the next month for public consultation, and announce final decisions after that…

What Now?

The Portuguese Golden Visa had already undergone big changes in 2022.

Residential properties on almost the entire country’s coast were barred from the program—so beachfront real estate was effectively excluded.

Late last year, Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa announced that the country’s Golden Visa might have “fulfilled its purpose”—leading many to believe that abolition was imminent… But the visa received a reprieve when Costa’s governing Socialist Party refused to vote to abolish the program last December.

No more.

I do want to point out one very important thing, however… This isn’t necessarily a negative if you’re interested in living and investing in Portugal, or anywhere in Europe.

In fact, it could prove to be a net positive.

The abolition of Golden Visas may lead to a dip in the property market—a fantastic buying opportunity…

You may no longer be able to obtain residency with a property purchase, but you can still purchase for investment purposes or your own lifestyle—and obtain residency through the traditional route of spending time in-country…

Europe’s borders are still very much open for North Americans.

Besides, although the sun is setting on Europe’s Golden Visas—it hasn’t gone down in every corner of the continent just yet.

You still have opportunities to obtain residence-by-investment in Europe if that’s what you’re after…

Greece brought in changes to its Golden Visa program in January (upping the minimum property investment needed in certain areas), but no plans to shutter the program have yet been announced.

In fact, it seems likely that the 2023 changes will be given plenty of time to bed in before any further announcements are made… So, you still have opportunity in gorgeous Greece.

Spain, too, continues to operate its Golden Visa program, as does sunny island-nation Malta, and appealing Italy (although Italy has no property-purchase option)…

And Cyprus has a new Golden Visa program since its original citizenship-by-investment arrangement ended in 2020…

(In Spain, there’s a bill before parliament that would eliminate the property-purchase option for the visa, but, as of now, this looks unlikely to gain enough support. The left-wing party that introduced the bill, Más País, has only three deputies in the 350-member Spanish Congress of Deputies.)

Time To Act

If you have money to invest and you want EU residency, several options have already been taken off the table this year…

Now is the time to make your Golden Visa choice. Before it’s too late.

Lief Simon
Editor, Offshore Living Letter

Tags: 'residency'golden visagolden visasirelandPortugal
Share87Tweet52
Lief Simon

Lief Simon

Lief Simon has lived and worked in 7 countries on 5 continents and traveled to more than 75 countries. His real estate investment career began with a $5,000 down payment on a three-flat building in Chicago. Less than three years later, Lief sold the building for a leveraged return of 3,000%—$150,000 in profit after closing costs and commissions.

From there, he turned his attention overseas and has bought property in 24 countries including France, Croatia, Portugal, Ireland, Belize, Spain, Argentina, Cyprus, Romania, and beyond. Thanks to his decades-long career as a global property investor, Lief has built a multi-million-dollar portfolio that includes rental properties, significant land holdings, and 7 personal residences.

Lief has established residency in 3 countries and acquired a second passport from Ireland.

In 2008 Lief and wife Kathleen Peddicord made the most important investment of their lives—a 215-acre oceanside finca, known as Los Islotes. There, on Panama’s largely undiscovered Veraguas coast, they’ve installed underground electricity, water, and internet and built a forever family home that sits at the heart of their ultimate vision: a gold standard private residential community for those in search of a true safe haven escape.

Lief’s latest book, “Cowboy Millionaire—The New American Pioneer,” collects all the wisdom he has learned in three decades of living and investing outside America.

He offers advice on international diversification in his twice-weekly Offshore Living Letter and monthly Simon Letter dispatches. For real estate investment opportunities, check out his monthly Global Property Advisor service.

If you’d like to meet Lief in person, join him for one of our upcoming in-country conferences. You’ll find further details here.

Start Your New Life Overseas Today!
Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we'll send you a FREE report on The 10 Best Places To Retire In 2025.

We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.
Our Expertise Unlocks The World

quick links

  • Best Places To Live
  • Best Places To Retire
  • Finding A Job Overseas
  • Real Estate

LIOS Resources

  • New To LIOS
  • Ask An Expert
  • Media Center
  • Contact Us
  • FAQs
the 10 best places to retire in 2025
Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and get your FREE REPORT: The 10 Best Places To Retire Overseas In 2025

We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.

As seen in

US Media Logos

© 2008 – Live and Invest Overseas™ – All Rights Reserved.

About Us / Contact Us / Privacy Policy / Terms / Unsubscribe
Facebook-f X-twitter Youtube Linkedin-in Instagram

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
HOME

Top Countries

  • Spain
  • Portugal
  • Panama
  • Belize
  • Colombia
  • Cyprus
  • Mexico
  • France
  • Montenegro

Best For:

  • Health Care Abroad
  • Retirement Living
  • Cost Of Living
  • Investing in Real Estate
  • Establishing Residency
  • Gun Ownership
  • English Speakers
  • Safety
BROWSE ALL COUNTRIES

Budgets

How Much Will It Cost
To Live Overseas?

Super Cheap

  • Chitré, Panama
  • Santa Marta, Colombia
  • Phuket, Thailand
  • Dumaguete, The Philippines

Cheap

  • Medellin, Colombia
  • Boquete, Panama
  • Kyrenia, Cyprus
  • Hua Hin, Thailand
  • The Algarve, Portugal

Affordable

  • Valencia, Spain
  • Cascais, Portugal
  • Las Terrenas, The DR
  • Pisa, Italy
  • La Rochelle, France
  • Mazatlán, Mexico

Luxury

  • Ambergris Caye, Belize
  • Kotor, Montenegro
  • The Panama City Beaches
  • Paris, France

Resources

Global Living

  • Living & Retiring Overseas
  • Raising A Family Abroad
  • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
  • Offshore & Diversification

Making Money

  • International Real Estate
  • Banking
  • Employment
  • Investing
Meet Our Experts

Real Estate

Overseas Property Alert 

 

How To Become Independently Wealthy And Fund The Lifestyle Of Your Dreams

VISIT SITE

Buying Real Estate For Cashflow

 

Discover tips and strategies used by global property investing veterans

READ MORE

Explore Our Latest Posts

 

Learn how to invest and purchase property abroad…

EXPLORE

Conferences

Live and Invest In Spain Conference

VALENCIA, SPAIN Sep. 17-19, 2025
LEARN MORE
DISCOUNT

Offshore Wealth Summit

PANAMA CITY, PANAMA Oct. 15-17, 2025
LEARN MORE
PRE-REGISTER

GREECE WORKSHOP

VIRTUAL Nov. 13, 2025
LEARN MORE
PRE-REGISTER
MORE EVENTS

Contact Our Events Team:

Toll-Free U.S. and Canada:
1 (888) 627 8834

From Outside North America:
1 (443) 599 1221

Working Hours
Monday – Friday 08:00 am – 17:00 pm EST.

Reach us with your questions by email at: events@liveandinvestoverseas.com

Store

Overseas Havens Reports

  • Expats' comprehensive destination guides

Conference Kits

  • Hours of coverage  from our latests conferences

Lahardan Books

  • Titles on living and investing around the world

Services

  • Overseas Living Letter: Affordable Retirement Guidance
  • The Simon Letter: Wealth Protection Insights
  • Global Property Advisor: Global Investment Opportunitites
VISIT OUR STORE

Free Report

THE 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE IN 2025

FREE REPORT: The 10 Best Places To retire in 2025

Sign up to receive the FREE daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter and we’ll immediately email you our editors’ latest research report…

We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.

LIBRARY

Follow Us:

© 2008 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

RETIRE OVERSEAS AND LIVE LIKE ROYALTY

Sign up for FREE to learn how. Plus, check out our FREE report on THE 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE


We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.

RETIRE OVERSEAS AND LIVE LIKE ROYALTY

Sign up for FREE and learn how to live the good life on a modest budget, find bargain property, and more. Plus, check out our free report on the 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE.

We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.