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

CrazyPanda

CrazyPanda

New member
May 28, 2024
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#1
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:

⸻

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.”

⸻

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.

⸻

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.
 
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#5
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)
 
#6
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?
 
#7
burden said:
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?
Click to expand...
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.)
 
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#9
dany said:
What about taxes, there are less taxes to be paid in Malta.
Click to expand...
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.
 
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