Latest Immigration Updates 2025

EU RESIDENCY PROGRAMS:

Schengen (EU) countries offering residency options experienced significant changes, from increasing the cost of investment to lengthier application processing time to entirely closing the program itself.

ETIAS IMPLEMENTATION SCHENGEN AREA:

Starting in mid-2025, travelers from visa-exempt countries must obtain ETIAS (Electronic Travel Authorization) to enter Schengen nations.

BULGARIA & ROMANIA JOIN SCHENGEN

Effective January 1, 2025, Romania and Bulgaria will join the Schengen free-travel area, expanding it to 29 countries.

SPAIN

To close the Golden visa route for residency by March 2025;

PORTUGAL

Since the inception of the Portugal Golden residency program in 2012, more than 32,000 families have obtained residency. It continues to lead in popularity among applicants, mainly due to low residency requirements for citizenship without uprooting their life from their current home / permanent residence country. In another significant advantage, recently the government announced, the 5 years countdown for citizenship application begins from the date of filing of the application for golden visa residency.

MALTA

Is said to increase the Donation by EURO 10,000 & Real Estate investment requirement amount by EURO 50,000 under the Malta Permanent Residency Program. (MPRP), which is said to take effect from 01st January 2025. Thus the total cost of obtaining the Malta.

HUNGARY

Eliminates the Real Estate Investment option route for Residency. This was in our opinion to ensure the housing market does not heat up, which eventually impacts the local citizens / residents. However, interested applicants can continue to submit their application under the approved Real Estate fund with a minimum investment of EURO 250,000 thus obtaining a 10-year residency card.

GERMANY:

The new citizenship law introduced in Germany in June 2024, makes it easy for foreigners to obtain German citizenship. Some of the key changes are:

Possibility to hold multiple citizenship (thus allowing dual citizenship) Foreigners living in Germany for 5 years are now eligible to apply for citizenship, instead of previous 8 years;

Also several changes for children born in Germany to residents etc..

ITALY – INVESTOR VISA:

Investment: €500,000 in a government approved fund (Hospitality Industry); Returns: 3% guaranteed returns with minimum 5 years lock in period;

Pro’s: Quicker processing time of just 2 to 3 months for residency; Investment to be made after issuance of residence permit; Path to permanent residency after 5 years; Eligible for citizenship – 10 years;

Con’s: Significant investment requirements compared to few other EU programs; Longer waiting time for naturalization / citizenship.

The Caribbean CBI Programs: Price Increase | MOU

The five Caribbean nations offering citizenship by investment namely, Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts & Nevis AND St. Lucia signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in 2024 to increase the minimum contribution / investment threshold to $200,000. In addition this, the significant changes were the introduction of mandatory interview, stricter Due Diligence checks, transparency and agent regulations when it comes to marketing of the citizenship program. Further, incorporation of these changes has impacted the processing timeline for citizenship applications.

Caribbean Citizenship Applications Approved & Denied in numbers:

As per the commission report to the EU parliament & the council, the 5 Caribbean nations from the period 2014 to mid 2024 received 59,258 applications in total of which around 2,233 citizenship applications have were refused. Thus resulting in 100,000 plus passport issuances.

(excluding the number of total passports issued by St. Lucia).