Following the announcement last year that Portugal’s highly successful residency by investment programme was removing Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve as property investment options, with the aim of increasing investment in low-density areas, the Portuguese authorities have further announced this will become effective on July 1, 2021.
As countries continue to roll out long-stay visas for foreigners in an attempt to replace lost tourism dollars and to attract remote workers, Singapore announces the launch in 2021 of a Tech.Pass visa programme offering tech entrepreneurs from across the world the chance to set up and operate companies in the southeast Asia trading hub.
In a bid to combat the economic impact of the pandemic, Slovenia announces it is considering a proposal to launch a citizenship or residence by investment programme for 2021, making it the latest Balkan country to do so.
Earlier this year, Malta’s citizenship by investment programme, the Malta Individual Investor Programme (MIIP) came to an end after six years. Despite the programme’s tough stance on due diligence (Malta outranks most other CIPs for its stringent vetting procedures), the Maltese Government decided to scrap the MIIP prematurely and replace it with a new programme which was launched last month.
Adding to the globe's growing list of digital nomad visas introduced in 2020 is Work in Iceland, a programme that allows foreign national remote workers the chance to reside in, and work remotely from, the stunning country of Iceland with their family for up to six months.
In a bid to lure foreigners to invest in property in Thailand, and until December 2022 only, Thai-based property developers are giving investors who acquire a condo worth US$333,000 or more a Thai Elite visa, allowing them residency in Thailand for five years.
Following the unveiling of a raft of remote working visas in the last six months, Greece and Croatia are the latest nations to roll out the red carpet for global remote workers, with programmes designed to lure digital expats to their shores in a bid to replace the lost tourism dollars due to the pandemic.
Portugal has seen an increasing number of Chinese and South African citizens rushing to purchase residency and ultimately citizenship in Portugal via the country’s successful residency by investment programme. This comes following a recent announcement that the popular Portuguese areas of Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve are set to be removed as investment regions from the programme at the end of this year.
Just one of a raft of remote working visas unveiled worldwide in the last five months, Antigua and Barbuda’s Nomad Digital Residence (NDR) Programme, which invites remote-working foreigners to reside on the island for up to 24 months, has witnessed a high number of applicants, especially from the US, UK and Canada, and has been receiving up to seven inquiries per day since its launch in September.
With the aim of strengthening the Russian economy and creating new jobs, Russia’s Economic Development Ministry has put forward a draft bill for a residency by investment programme, which would allow foreigners to invest in the country via various routes in exchange for permanent residency.