Entry incentives: ME trend for golden visa schemes on rise

WASHINGTON: After the extremist group known as the “Islamic State” took over parts of her own country in 2014, Iraqi journalist Hiba Ahmad started looking for an escape route. “I just thought I needed a place outside Iraq, to be safe,” she told DW. “So if there is a difficult situation in Iraq, I can leave.” After investigating online, the Baghdad native decided to buy a small apartment in Turkey and found one she liked for around $40,000, near a small seaside resort about an hour from Istanbul. The “Islamic State” group was defeated in 2017, but she still comes here regularly. “The reason I come now is because it’s very hot in summer in Baghdad,” Ahmad explained. “It’s calm and peaceful and I stay for two or three months.”

Although Turkey recently tightened residency rules, Ahmad is able to do this because she bought the Turkish apartment. This allows her to regularly renew a two-year visa. Without the real estate investment, she would only get a tourist visa for a month, she explained. Eventually, if she wanted to, Ahmad could even apply for Turkish citizenship. Ahmad’s Turkish visa is just one of the milder and more affordable examples of what are known as residency by investment (RBI) schemes, often colloquially known as “golden visa” programs. There are also citizenship by investment or “golden passport” schemes but these usually require a lot more money, paperwork and time.

In the Middle East, the motivations for both versions of these schemes are the same. Countries offering golden visas or golden passports want to encourage investment and top up foreign currency deposits. For the individuals who participate in them, these schemes can provide them with better lifestyle options, a second passport that offers more travel possibilities and the chance to escape political problems, economic turmoil or conflict back home. Canada, the US, Ireland and other EU states have all had these schemes too. But it’s only been in the past five years or so that the idea has gained popularity in the Middle East.

Early in March, Egypt made it even easier for foreigners to become Egyptian via investment. The country has had a citizenship by investment, or CBI, plan in place since 2020 but, because of its economic struggles and the need for more international investment and foreign currency, the country relaxed the terms this year.

The United Arab Emirates has had a golden visa scheme since 2019 but overhauled it in 2022, making it cheaper and easier to access.

Since 2018, Jordan has had a CBI scheme and in 2020, Qatar began offering a longer, temporary residency in exchange for real estate ownership. Bahrain has had a “golden visa residency” program since 2022 and introduced a “golden license” for large-scale investments this month. And Saudi Arabia launched a “premium residency” scheme this year.

“The trend in the Middle East is the reverse of what we are seeing in Europe,” said Jelena Dzankic, a professor at the European University Institute in Italy and co-director of the Global Citizenship Observatory. Dzankic is referring to the fact that in Europe, the golden passport and residency schemes offered by the likes of Portugal, Greece and Cyprus are now being phased out.

In Europe there’s been “progressive abolition of citizenship and residence by investment, due to scandals linked to the scheme and the risks associated with them,” Dzankic explained.

Critics often describe such schemes as nations selling citizenship to the highest bidder, arguing they open the country up to potential security issues, inflated real estate prices and the risk of corruption and money laundering. After the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the EU urged all member states to scrap such schemes for fear they would help sanctions dodgers.

This article was provided by Deutsche Welle