New Hungarian Golden Visa programme: Orbán cabinet allows lots of foreigners to come!
The Hungarian government is preparing a new Hungarian Golden Visa program, which may help foreigners, especially Chinese nationals, to access the Schengen Zone with Hungarian papers. Furthermore, it may result in another boom in Hungary’s property market.
The new Hungarian Golden Visa program is not for the poor foreigners
According to Szabad Európa, many foreigners can get a residence permit in Hungary from July thanks to a new government scheme the Orbán cabinet is working on. The program will target Chinese nationals who can buy property instead of state bonds to get the documents allowing them to travel freely in the Schengen Zone. Another option will be for them to invest their money in property funds owned by government-close oligarchs, Szabad Európa wrote.
Based on the paper, the new scheme will not be beneficial for the state or the people. On the contrary, since Chinese investors are expected to appear on the Hungarian property market, prices may begin to skyrocket again in the big cities. Other EU member states halted such programs since they wanted to protect their urban citizens from the housing poverty caused by the scheme.
The government is working on a decree concerning the issue and listing the broker companies. Such companies realised incredible profits in the previous programs and are connected to the Orbán cabinet or, in specific, Orbán’s most important minister, Antal Rogán.
Hungarian Golden Visa program: start date will be after the elections
The CEO of a company in the business said many await the start of the well-advertised program in China. The future decree will create a new status for the foreigners, the guest investor. If somebody has enough money to buy property or invest in real property funds in Hungary, they can get a residence permit valid for ten years.
The new decree will be in effect after the European parliamentary and municipal elections held on 9 June. Szabad Európa writes that the new scheme will kick off on 1 July.
Gaining guest investor status in Hungary will not be cheap. You can either invest in a Hungarian property fund of EUR 250,000, buy property for EUR 500,000 or support a Hungarian foundation university in Hungary with EUR 1 million.
Chinese citizens will come
Ádám Zebegnyei, a Hungarian lawyer, said the Chinese are ready to come to Hungary in masses when the program kicks off. He added the most popular version will be the investment in a property fund. Thanks to that, their money will grow while they get free access to the Schengen Zone.
According to Zebegnyei, the program will probably be popular in China, the Middle East, India, Indonesia and Vietnam. That is because the administration of Russian citizens became difficult after Putin invaded Ukraine.
According to Szabad Európa, the Hungarian state and budget will not benefit from the new Hungarian golden visa program. Meanwhile, the state promises to issue the residence permit in three weeks, provided the guest investor meets all requirements. That makes authorities’ task very difficult e.g. to complete a satisfying national security check.
Even the investor’s family can come
The new Hungarian golden visa program will favour foreigners. The future guest investors will get a two-year visa allowing them to travel to and from Hungary and the Schengen Zone if they prove that they have enough money and promise to invest, an anonymous source told Szabad Európa.
The foreigners will not have to show a certificate of good conduct. Furthermore, one investment will allow the spouse, underage and adult children to get a ten-year residency permit in Hungary and enter the Schengen Zone.
Moreover, guest investors having a residency permit in Hungary will be able to travel home or anywhere else for more than three months. That means a Chinese guest investor family can get their papers in Hungary for EUR 250,000 and live anywhere in the European Union. That seems to be a fair business for them.
Between 2013 and 2017, almost 20,000 foreigners got fixed-term or permanent residence permits in Hungary in an earlier but similar version of the planned scheme during which foreigners could buy state bonds. 81% of them were Chinese.
A new playground for government-close oligarchs?
The Fidesz-led Economy Committee of the Hungarian Parliament gave the permit for the broker firms, all of them offshore companies. They realised a solid HUF 162 billion in revenue on the program.
The European Parliament expressed several times that they do not support such schemes. Furthermore, they asked the European Commission to present legislation paving the way for a universal regulation in the EU. The Hungarian government wanted to reestablish the program before but was afraid of the opposition of the EU.
The new Hungarian guest investor program will be Europe’s cheapest. Similar programs are ongoing in Spain and Greece, but they both increased the investment threshold lately. The European Parliament would like to end similar programs until 2025.
Read also:
- New era for investors: Golden Visa Law enters into force in Hungary – Read more HERE
- Hungary restarts golden visa scheme: everyone can join
Featured image: depositphotos.com
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