Oct10
European States Dangle Visas for Foreigners. The New York Times.
Sales agents at the luxury golf development PGA Catalunya Resort, 45 minutes north of Barcelona, have reported a surge in interest from non-E.U.
In the past six months Charles Roberts, managing director of the real estate agency Fine & Country Lisbon, has seen his company sell more than €40 million in property to buyers from outside the European Union.
The demand was the result of an October 2012 change in Portuguese law, allowing anyone to obtain a residence visa with the investment of a minimum of €500,000, or 680,000, in residential or commercial property. The investment can be a single transaction or multiple purchases.
As yet, there are no national figures about how much real estate investment the so-called Golden Visa has generated in the past year. But it is clear that investors see the arrangement as a relatively cheap way to buy access to the 28 E.U. countries and their open borders...
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