(edit title) Buying a EU residence permit Any EU countries where you can do this? Options

[vicky7]

An associate of mine would like to invest in my business, but the rules for him to come here is a lot of hassle. He has to show a business plan, marketing plan, 1 year of waiting time to maybe get an approval etc.

I've read there are quite a few EU countries which sell citizenship, residence permit etc. if you invest some money there.

Are there specifically any countries where you can get EU residence permit in exchange for investing?

Any tips would be great.

[PDX]

Can't he come over on a tourist or business visa?

It is not going to be considerably easier to obtain a residence permit based on investment in any other country either. I mean, your lazy friend will have to argue for his business/investment case, document things, wait for approval, etc. There is no way around it...

~~~PDX~~~

[byke]

Doesn't Estonia or Latvia offer some sort of EU residency deal?

[beanjeanie]

You can buy your way into europe through spain, portugal, ireland or hungary investment properties scheme for as little as 130k pounds.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/...for-130000.html

In Australia, they have a similar scheme called the Significant Investor Visa for a cool AUD$5 million investment.

http://www.landers.com.au/Publications/Fin...80/Default.aspx

[Mark249]

Your friend can try this:

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/...local-companies

It's easier to get local citizenship and local residence permit. You have to read the fine print though about whether or not they give you a permanent eu residence permit that applies for the entire EU.

[Hisingen]

It would seem that everything has its price.

[Boar]

Latvia!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12106988
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12108423
Invest or buy a property and get residency rights which ultimately leads to Citizenship.
Buy a property for 50 000 Lats (around 70 000 Euroes) and can just live in the property which you buy.

[Yorkshireman]

OP, there is no such thing as an EU Residency Permit, all residency permits are restricted to the Member State that they were issued in. Having an EU Residency in say Finland, does not give you the right to be a resident in any other EU Member State, though you can travel there for a limited period.

Even as a Long term resident, or citizen of the EU, if your friend wants to invest in your business and become a resident in Sweden, they have to still apply for Right of Residence, and can indeed be rejected, though less likely than if just applying direct to Sweden as non-EU.

[uduck]

It's possible in the UK, called something like high net worth investors visa.