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There will be no new Londongrad. Russian oligarchs want to be left without golden visas

It is no coincidence that wealthy Russians choose Britain for doing business: a favorable tax regime, a high level of security and life. If the British Golden Visa program is closed, Russian businessmen are likely to switch more actively to Portugal. There, to obtain citizenship, it is enough to purchase real estate in the amount of €280,000. However, even Lisbon will not be able to oust London in terms of attractiveness for the oligarchs.

Golden visas are under threat

The British authorities have found another way to influence Russia's foreign policy. Due to the conflict over Ukraine, the head of the British Ministry of the Interior, Priti Patel, intends to seek the abolition of investor visas for wealthy foreigners, the Financial Times reported.

This is not the first attempt by the British authorities to tighten the Tier 1 Investor visa program, which is often called "gold". In the spring of 2018, London became concerned about this issue after the attempted poisoning of former GRU colonel Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury.

Four years later, local authorities have moved to a new level - now we are talking about the complete closure of the golden visa program for new applicants from Russia.

In other words, the holders of "golden passports" are not threatened by a new round of aggravation of relations between Moscow and London. But for those who did not have time to get a British visa, the new restrictions may come as an unpleasant surprise.

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Portugal is an ideal replacement

If the UK bans the issuance of "golden visas", Russian businessmen will most likely switch to Portugal more actively. There, to obtain citizenship, it is enough to purchase real estate in the amount of €280,000. For comparison, a British investor visa costs almost ten times more - £2 million of investment in the authorized or borrowed capital of operating companies in the United Kingdom.

However, Portugal will not be the only substitute for the settling of big capital, says the director of the brokerage company Jet. Paris - AVIAV TM Vitaly Arkhangelsky.

In his opinion, Greece and Spain can become budget options for obtaining European visas. In these countries, as in Portugal, there are relaxed requirements for Russian applicants.

“Great Britain was the best country in this regard, and therefore one of the most expensive. The rest are much cheaper. For example, to obtain a “golden visa” for Spain, it is enough to buy real estate worth €500,000, in Portugal – for €280,000, and in Greece – €250,000,” the analyst noted.

Evgeny Tsikunov, General Director of Second House, also singled out Italy, Monaco, the United Arab Emirates (Dubai) and the USA among the best visa alternatives.

“EU citizenship through investment can only be obtained in Malta, the amount will be from €1 million. Residence permit through investment can be obtained in Italy – from €500 thousand. Until the end of 2022, the Montenegrin citizenship program was extended, the procedure costs from €450,000,” the expert explained.

At the same time, Arkhangelsky noted that in the case of Malta and Austria, the situation has recently become much more difficult for Russians. No better visa prospects for oligarchs in Switzerland.

“Malta sets quotas for the number of visas issued, just like Austria. In Switzerland, before obtaining a permanent residence permit, you need to annually renew the temporary one. And only after 10 years to apply for permanent residence. At the same time, you need to live in the country for at least six months a year. For businessmen who are also deputies, this option is not suitable, ”the analyst complained.

But all these countries will still not be able to compete with Britain in terms of the number of applications for "golden visas". Even the Caribbean countries are not able to compete with London.

“There will be no new Londongrad anywhere. The Caribbean, where money can officially buy citizenship, is dominated by American banks, which are more scrupulous about the origin of large incomes.

But even without this, the reputation of the region was spoiled by Panama, which, after the offshore scandal of 2015, finally discredited itself in the eyes of the Russian oligarchs,” Arkhangelsky summed up.

Back to news | This is a fairly common worldwide practice. So Russian businessmen should seriously break their heads before choosing their ideal financial haven, Tsikunov believes.

He noted that in recent years, some EU countries - Hungary, Cyprus, Latvia - have already limited the issuance of passports for investment in the economy.

“As examples, one can recall the closure of the Hungarian program, as well as the procedures for issuing Cypriot citizenship in 2020. At the end of 2021, the Latvian authorities decided to cancel the program for issuing a residence permit through the purchase of real estate,” the expert said.Back to news »

What is the share of Russians among Golden Visa applicants

Even if the program for issuing Golden Visas is cancelled, Russian oligarchs will still have good chances of obtaining a British residence permit by creating a new business in the country or opening a representative office of firms , stressed in an interview with Tsikunov.

According to him, businessmen from Russia are significantly inferior to Chinese entrepreneurs in terms of the number of applications for obtaining "golden visas". But still, according to the results of the last 13 years, the share of Russian interested persons turned out to be three times higher than that of US citizens.

“Among the total number of applicants who received an investor visa, Russians make up 18%. For comparison, the share of Chinese citizens is 33%, the United States is 6%. That is, the plans of the British authorities are more of a political nature than based on a real fight against money laundering,” the expert suggested.

He also added that in the future the number of Russian citizens seeking financial asylum in Britain could be significantly reduced. This is due to the exit of Britain from the European Union.

“In the past, the most common way to move to the UK was to obtain a Cypriot or Maltese passport. But after Brexit, EU citizens for the purposes of permanent residence must obtain a residence permit and undergo strict checks on the origin of capital by local banks, ”the analyst said.

The best option for wealthy Russians who want to come to Britain on short trips after the abolition of "golden visas" would be to obtain a passport from the Caribbean.

“The easiest way would be to get a Caribbean passport, like Saint Kitts and Nevis or Grenada. With a Caribbean passport, you can enter the UK without a visa for business, tourism or study purposes for up to six months,” Tsikunov concluded.

There will be no new Londongrad. Russian oligarchs want to be left without golden visas