Grenada CBI vs Greece Golden Visa – Which Makes Travel Easiest?

[CrazyPanda]

Hi OCT,

I’ve been living and running my business in Dubai for years. My current passport lets me visit about 125 countries visa-free, but not the EU, UK or US. I already hold a 10-year US visa, yet every time I need to travel to Europe or UK I battle with VFS appointments(family of 3), paperwork and endless waiting. I’m looking for a solution purely to simplify travel(not for tax or residence reasons) and I’ve narrowed it down to two options:

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1. Grenada Citizenship-by-Investment (CBI)

Pros
• Lifetime citizenship with visa-free entry to the UK and EU.

Cons
• Recent UK/EU scrutiny of Caribbean CBI programmes, visa-waiver deals could be lost.
• Some banks and compliance teams flag CBI passports and I’d probably keep this passport “in the drawer.”

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2. Greece Golden Visa – €500 k Time-Deposit Route

Pros
• No “donation” just park €500 k in a Greek bank for five years and renew as needed.
• EU programme, not black-listed by the OECD or FATF, so fewer compliance headaches.

Cons
• Processing can take longer.
• Still no visa-free UK travel but I can get a 5 or 10 year UK visa.

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If you were a Dubai-based frequent flyer who just wants hassle-free travel, which route would you choose? Have I missed any big pros cons or recent rule changes?

Thanks in advance.

 

[daniels27]

Have you considered the Latvian entrepreneur visa?

 

[CrazyPanda]

Have you considered the Latvian entrepreneur visa?

Just noticed this program the cost is very reasonable. From what I understand, a five-year Latvian residency would cost me around €60,000 plus fees but I have to visit Latvia every year to renew my ID card. Traveling to Latvia with a family of three every year can be frustrating.

 

[daniels27]

Well, family of 3... I mean it cannot be smaller. I guess it is a nice trip to nice places.

 

[somop]

How about the "Malta Permanent Residence Programme"
It has 2 options
- option 1: 110K eur donatioan to the country + 2k donation to an NGO + 14K/year for property rental (only have to rent for 5 years and can keep the residency permit after)
- option 2: 80K eur donation to the country + 2K donation to an NGO + 375K property purchase (you can sell after 5 years and keep the residency permit)

 

[burden]

That’s a lot of money to put on the table if you want to get a Malta residence permit. What are the actual benefits of it, especially if you’re coming from somewhere like Sweden?

 

[daniels27]

That’s a lot of money to put on the table if you want to get a Malta residence permit. What are the actual benefits of it, especially if you’re coming from somewhere like Sweden?

What kind of question it this? Sweden is part of the EU and you have the right to live in Malta as much as you want for the rest of your live.

And contrary to OP, you won't get an EU foreigner card as you are not a non-EU-foreigner. Hence, no benefits to you. (Ok, maybe in case of COVID etc. restrictions, but for that you can just register normally there without any money involved.)

 

[dany]

Hence, no benefits to you.

What about taxes, there are less taxes to be paid in Malta.

 

[daniels27]

What about taxes, there are less taxes to be paid in Malta.

Yes, less taxes. But for the case of OP, he just wants to have less visa issues and does not want to spend time in the country. Hence, the taxes won't come to play. If you are from Sweden, you can move to UAE as OP and will have that problems sorted.

In any case, judging from the fact that many Chinese use Latvian visas, I guess it will be among the cheapest ones if you want to have a residence permit in the Schengen Area. There are more expensive solutions available, but I guess in the end, you really need to judge on your own. If travelling to Latvia once a year with a partner and one kid is a burden, you may be better off just applying for a Schengen visa whenever you need it. Unless you have so much money, that you can just block 500k USD on a bank account (opportunity costs probably minimum 20k per year).

In OP's case I would probably recommend trying to get a multi-entry Schengen visa. They can be issued for 2 years quite easily, while 5 years are possible for business or family reasons.

 

[meze99]

Many people have a naive idea that golden visas in EU are premium/fast track visas. In fact they are the most bureaucratic - way more documents needed/very long waiting times, in a nutshell they are an insult to common sense: there are plenty of options in EU to get a business residence permit faster with a monthly fee €250-€500 to maintain a dormant company and €3-5k to set it up with the help of a reliable local lawyer.

Since you don't need a residence permit in EU all you have to do is to find a reliable travel agent in UAE who knows how to get for his clients 2 or 5 years Schengen visas and is paid his premium after you get your visa (it may be not an easy task since UAE is full of scammers who would tell you they have friends at an embassy or can absolutely guarantee a 5 year visa if you pay him now $2k for example). That's all you need to do (no CBI bs, no golden visas). Some EU countries issue longer visas to encourage people to go there, some issue only for your trip dates.

Consider visiting countries that welcome you without a visa. I think we shouldn't visit countries that have a complicated visa system that require a personal visit to an embassy to be fingerprinted and interviewed. Most coutries visa requirements and visa-waiver agreements make very little sense as far as their national security is concerned and seem to be just a political tool that creates a sort of segregation system that is based on citizenship and not on color or race.