Getting into the EU long-term (from AU/UK)

[umpire]

I live off passive income and a bit of consulting work, registered as a sole trader (not a company) in Australia. I do about $150-$300k AUD per year depending on the year. Have an AU and UK passport.

I would like to live in the EU (ideally going between France, Germany, and Italy, mostly) for the next 2-3 years and potentially get EU citizenship in the longer term. I'd also be open to reducing my tax bill a bit but not the main concern.

Options I have looked into:

- Portugal D7/D8 visa: looks reasonable but need to show proof of accommodation in Portugal for a year (I think) on application. Also have to spend a lot of time in the country "individuals shouldn't be absent from the country for six consecutive months or eight non-consecutive months within the overall validity period of the residency" which is 24 months initially.
- German freelance visa: you need German clients.
- Malta: seems like they have a 1-year DN visa you can keep renewing basically indefinitely but you need to maintain accommodation in Malta constantly and there is no path to citizenship.
- Spain DN visa: looks like just a worse version of the Portuguese one.
- French/German/other working holiday visas: seem easy enough to get but no path to citizenship. What I am leaning towards using for the time being.

I have decent cash in the bank but not seven figures. Golden visas are probably out of the equation as I don't really want to spend capital on this (unless there is a really good one I've missed that allows you to get funds back relatively quickly/easily).

Is the Portuguese D7 or D8 visa my best option to get citizenship other than marrying an EU citizen, or have I missed something?

 

[Forester]

Well, of course it is your game; nevertheless I cannot get why you are interested in EU citizenship – with an AU and UK passport... (just curious).
Anyway it is not the proper way to reduce your tax bill, on the contrary: EU is generally a tax hell (exceptions exist but there are really much more tax friendly places at the world).
I think you should check “citizenship by investment” options in Bulgaria or/and Croatia, Malta, Cyprus – IIRC, somewhere there was quite an interesting option (relatively cheap and with a good allocation of funds...) (I do not recall exactly as it was out of my interest when I read it...)

 

[Marzio]

Have an AU and UK passport

With a UK passport you are allowed to reside in Gibraltar where foreign income is not normally taxed. Exceptions to this rule are interest income and royalty income.

https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/gibraltar/corporate/income-determination

 

[umpire]

Well, of course it is your game; nevertheless I cannot get why you are interested in EU citizenship – with an AU and UK passport... (just curious).
Anyway it is not the proper way to reduce your tax bill, on the contrary: EU is generally a tax hell (exceptions exist but there are really much more tax friendly places at the world).
I think you should check “citizenship by investment” options in Bulgaria or/and Croatia, Malta, Cyprus – IIRC, somewhere there was quite an interesting option (relatively cheap and with a good allocation of funds...) (I do not recall exactly as it was out of my interest when I read it...)

Will check those citizenship by investment options out. Not particularly interested in reducing my tax bill, more interested in living there.

 

[Allisgood]

You could move to the Republic of Ireland. U.K. citizens can just move there without any immigration permission.

 

[SimpleGuy]

I live off passive income and a bit of consulting work, registered as a sole trader (not a company) in Australia. I do about $150-$300k AUD per year depending on the year. Have an AU and UK passport.

I would like to live in the EU (ideally going between France, Germany, and Italy, mostly) for the next 2-3 years and potentially get EU citizenship in the longer term. I'd also be open to reducing my tax bill a bit but not the main concern.

Options I have looked into:

- Portugal D7/D8 visa: looks reasonable but need to show proof of accommodation in Portugal for a year (I think) on application. Also have to spend a lot of time in the country "individuals shouldn't be absent from the country for six consecutive months or eight non-consecutive months within the overall validity period of the residency" which is 24 months initially.
- German freelance visa: you need German clients.
- Malta: seems like they have a 1-year DN visa you can keep renewing basically indefinitely but you need to maintain accommodation in Malta constantly and there is no path to citizenship.
- Spain DN visa: looks like just a worse version of the Portuguese one.
- French/German/other working holiday visas: seem easy enough to get but no path to citizenship. What I am leaning towards using for the time being.

I have decent cash in the bank but not seven figures. Golden visas are probably out of the equation as I don't really want to spend capital on this (unless there is a really good one I've missed that allows you to get funds back relatively quickly/easily).

Is the Portuguese D7 or D8 visa my best option to get citizenship other than marrying an EU citizen, or have I missed something?

Malta definitely. You don't even have to go through an embassy and apply for Schengen visa. From your country you contact the Malta Residence and Visa Unit and they issue you the residence permit remotely. It's called Freelance Visa.

 

[meze99]

In your case Ireland is the easiest option, you can apply for citizenship after 7 years:
UK and Ireland have a Common Travel Area (CTA) agreement in place.
So, you can live, work, study or retire to Ireland without needing a visa, residence permit or employment permit.
You can also freely travel between the UK and Ireland without any hold-ups at the border. All you’ll need is a passport with at least 6 months’ validity remaining

 

[luap]

The suggestions above (Cyprus, Ireland) aren't going to help OP with his aim of being in the Schengen area (atleast for 7-8 years). Portugal D7 or Malta Global Residency Program are going to be the easiest (or renewing 1 year nomad visas).

 

[JustAnotherNomad]

I have never researched this, just some additional ideas:

- Doesn't Estonia also have a DN visa?
- I've heard it's easy to get residency in the Netherlands (might just be for employees though)
- I believe Bulgaria and Romania grant residency if you open a company (sole proprietorship?) there - they're not Schengen countries though
- Doesn't EU residency in a non-Schengen country (Ireland, Bulgaria, Romania, Cyprus) also come with a permission to freely travel in the Schengen area?

 

[umpire]

Sort of leaning towards Portugal at the moment. Seems like the easiest way to citizenship (think you can do it after five years?) and on the continent. What would the tax situation be like, and would I have to pay huge amounts of social security payments?

 

[JustAnotherNomad]

You could apply for NHR status with a company with some substance in another country like Malta. 5% tax then, with some (low) risk of a PE in Portugal.

 

[Allisgood]

Sort of leaning towards Portugal at the moment. Seems like the easiest way to citizenship (think you can do it after five years?) and on the continent. What would the tax situation be like, and would I have to pay huge amounts of social security payments?

Remember it’s not just five years. It’s also the processing which is +- two years at the moment.

 

[Oakgrove]

And I think they're still issuing Greek residency visa if you buy a property there (over 250K euros), correct?

 

[Don]

Remember it’s not just five years. It’s also the processing which is +- two years at the moment.

Thats right. I have heard that the Golden Visa queue is until 2030 now.