How to Get Residence Permit in Europe?

European citizenship provides you with a free settlement and life in any European Union (EU) country. That means you may live and work (be employed); your children can access education in any EU country. With your European passport, you can travel visa-free in most countries in the world. For example, Malta citizenship offers visa-free travel to 182 countries and eTA to the USA. As you see, a European Union citizenship is very precious. Unfortunately, a second EU passport is quite expensive. Find more about European citizenship programs…

European permanent and temporary residency by investment secures you the right to settle down and live, and in many cases work in your new country — but only in that country. Please note that even a permanent residence permit does not give you the right to live and settle down or work in ANY European country. You may have access to the medical system, your children can go to school in that country. You will be a European resident, so you have free access to Europe as a traveler and also as a businessman. Holding a European residence permit makes it easy and free to travel throughout Europe and to obtain visas to other countries, e.g. USA, UK.

We have received many questions about permanent residency. There is a fake news that permanent residency allows to live and work in any European country. It is not true. Both temporary and permanent residency offer you almost the same rights and benefits that citizens enjoy. The only exceptions are the freedom to live and work in any European country, voting in national government elections and hold a European passport.

As its name indicates, the temporary residence permit is limited in time (usually 1-5 years), while the permanent residence permit is issued for your life. Regarding your rights, temporary and permanent residencies are the same. A temporary permit should be renewed after expiration which may take time and additional costs.

A residence permit is your permit to be a resident in the country. The work permit is a permission to be employed (to get a job) in the country. If you do your own business, you do not need any work permit as you are not employed by another company. Some resident permits (Latvia, Malta, etc.) enable you to work in that country, while others (Greece, Cyprus, etc.) do not allow you to work in the country.

European visa or Golden visa are nicknames of European residency programmes. European visa programmes offer you and your family EU residency for a permanent or temporary period. You will have the right to live, in many cases work in your new country of residence, and travel visa-free throughout the Schengen area of the EU.

The budget makes you actual and practical. If you have 100,000 USD and you want to buy a luxury apartment in New York’s best place — you will fail. Your budget will determine what options are available and what are not available for you. So your budget — the maximum amount of money, you can spend for — will divide the residency options into two parts: available — not available.

Of course, you would like to have everything. Residency by investment programmes are far from perfection, they cannot offer everything. To know your wish list is very important. You should create your own list, and you should also know how important is one or the other element. You have to set up your priorities. With your wish list, you can find the most appropriate option.

• Do you have a clean police record?
• Are you able to prove the source of your fund?
• Do you want to include your family (spouse, children, parents)?
• What type of investment do you prefer?
• Do you want to do business in Europe?
• Do you want to use the residence permit for traveling only, or do you want to move to the country and live there?

• Is it a safe country? Is there any racism?
• Can I get citizenship?
• What is the climate of the country?
• What are the living costs?
• Will I survive with my English?
• Are there good schools for my children?
• How much tax should I pay?