Resident card
A residence permit or residence permit, as the name suggests, assumes that you will reside in this country and have the following opportunities.
Pros of residence permit
- Stay for several years doing business, studying or doing nothing (depending on the type of visa).
- Bring your family here.
- If necessary, come and go freely.
- Buy or rent real estate.
- Take advantage of the advantages of your new country of residence: get medical insurance, open a bank account, send your children to kindergarten, school or university.
- Finally, depending on the country that issued your residence permit, you may be able to easily enter and visit other countries. For example, a residence permit of a country included in the Schengen zone gives the right to travel without visas to all other countries of the Schengen agreement. But a UK visa allows you to visit only the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey.
Minus residence permit
A residence permit is good for everyone, except one. These types of visas are issued for a long, but still limited period from 1 to 5 years - depending on the country. Then the visa will need to be either extended or moved to the next level.
Permanent residence permit
Literally, permanent residence stands for “permanent residence.” In practice, permanent residence refers to the immigration status of a permanent resident or permanent residence permit.
Permanent residents have two enormous advantages over holders of a simple residence permit:
- Unlimited validity period. The document itself, of course, is updated after 5 years. But we are talking specifically about reissuing the card, and not about reviewing immigration status.
- No restrictions on activities and no need to invest in the economy of the host country.
Permanent residents are free to work, study, do business, or simply enjoy the comfort and security of a modern European state. In terms of the amount of rights and freedoms, they are not much different from citizens. Unless they can hold government positions and take part in local elections.
Citizenship
Citizenship is the final point of a long process of integration of a foreigner into a new country. A citizen has maximum rights and freedoms. For example, in EU countries, any citizen can choose absolutely any country within the European Union as his home and stay there as long as he wants. Compare with those who simply have a residence permit or with permanent residents limited to 90 days over a six-month period.
Unfortunately, in some European countries you will not be able to obtain dual citizenship, so you will have to make difficult choices. The naturalization process itself in Europe can take from 5 to 12 years.
To ensure that our article is not just a theoretical summary, we will look at specific examples of options for obtaining a residence permit, permanent residence or citizenship.
List of grounds and procedure for acquiring Russian citizenship
The possibility of acquiring and terminating Russian citizenship is established by Federal Law No. 62. By virtue of Art. 11 Federal Law No. 62 Russian citizenship can be acquired:
- upon birth;
- using the recovery procedure;
- through the procedure of registration and submission of documents to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, a consulate or a diplomatic mission, based on the list of grounds for obtaining Russian citizenship, which are provided for by law or international treaties (general and simplified procedure). We wrote in detail about this process in the article “Everything about obtaining Russian citizenship.”
Other grounds for acquiring Russian citizenship include:
- adoption of citizenship due to changes in the territorial borders of the state, by virtue of Art. 17 Federal Law No. 62, which states that persons who live in the territory whose nationality has been changed can choose the citizenship they need in the manner and within the time limits established by certain international treaties of the Russian Federation;
- obtaining Russian citizenship by a child whose parents also acquire citizenship. The basis is valid in accordance with Art. 25 Federal Law No. 62.
Residence permit, permanent residence and citizenship in Europe
Nowadays, several European countries offer foreigners programs that provide residence permits to investors and simply wealthy, financially independent people.
Great Britain
Since time immemorial, the United Kingdom has welcomed enterprising people from all over the globe, capable of making the economy of this island nation even stronger with their remarkable intellect, hard work and generous investments. To obtain permanent residence in the UK, depending on your ultimate goal, you can apply for the following long-term visas:
- Tier 1 Investor;
- Sole representative;
- Innovator;
- Startup;
- Tier 2 work visa.
All of the listed immigration statuses, with the exception of the Tier 1 Investor visa, impose a number of requirements on applicants and significantly limit their functionality. All 5 types of visas allow holders to eventually apply for permanent residence and citizenship. A special feature of the Startup visa is that it cannot be extended 2 years after receipt, so in order to obtain permanent residence and British citizenship you will have to subsequently switch to another visa.
As you may have guessed, the British immigration service offers the most interesting conditions to investors. To obtain this status, you need to invest at least £2,000,000 in the English economy, then after 5 years you will have the opportunity to become a permanent English resident, and after another 1 year to become a citizen of the Kingdom.
Latvia
This Baltic country has had a Latvia Golden Visa program since 2010, which allows you to obtain a residence permit in exchange for investment. The good news is that here not only the purchase of shares in Latvian companies is considered an investment, but also the purchase of a comfortable apartment in the Latvian capital or a cozy suburban cottage. The main thing is that the purchase price exceeds €250,000: this will allow you and your family to live in a quiet and friendly European country for 5 years without restrictions from the immigration service. And if you live there for more than 4 years and learn the Latvian language at a level acceptable for passing the exam, you can apply for permanent residence. The process of obtaining Latvian citizenship and passport usually takes 10 years.
Malta
This small island state in southern Europe is often chosen by those who want to optimize their taxes. The fact is that Malta has one of the smallest taxes on corporate income - 15%, and there are no property taxes at all.
The Maltese authorities are interested in the influx of capital, so they have a unique program that allows you to quickly obtain a residence permit, become a permanent resident or obtain an EU passport.
The cost of obtaining a residence permit, if you decide to move with your whole family, will be €30,000, and another €9,000 will be spent annually on re-registration of immigration status. The country's immigration authorities do not require temporary residents to remain permanently in Malta, but it is important to note that the period of stay in any other country in the world will be limited to 183 days.
A permanent residence permit under the investment attraction program can be issued if:
- You have purchased shares in Maltese companies or other investment documents in the amount of €250,000;
- You have purchased a property in Malta worth at least €270,000 or rent the property for 5 years, paying €10,000 per year.
According to the terms, both shares and purchased real estate must be held for at least 5 years.
The passport of the Republic of Malta will cost the most for an investor, because it involves a non-refundable contribution to the national fund in the amount of €650,000, the purchase of Maltese shares in the amount of €150,000, as well as the purchase of real estate worth at least €350,000 or expensive rental property for €16,000 in year for 5 years. Both shares and real estate must also be held for at least 5 years. It is not permitted to rent out or re-let a purchased or rented property during the specified period.
The total cost of obtaining citizenship for just one person will be €1,150,000. If you intend to make your spouse and minor children citizens of the European Union, then for each you will need to make a non-refundable contribution of €25,000. Registration of a passport for an adult relative will cost the investor to an additional €50,000.
Montenegro
Since the beginning of 2021, this country has had a citizenship by investment program. However, the number of applicants is limited to 2000 and the program itself ends in 2021. You need to understand that the country is not yet a member of the European Union and should join it in a few years, but today a Montenegro passport allows visa-free entry into 117 countries.
This is one of the most interesting proposals for the following reasons:
- the period from the moment of submitting the application to receiving a European passport is only 6 months;
- Dual citizenship is allowed in Montenegro;
- the applicant does not need to know the language and be an experienced businessman;
- Montenegrin passport is inherited;
- there is both an affordable and growing real estate market;
- the country itself is incredibly beautiful, with a thriving tourism industry.
So how much will it cost an investor to obtain Montenegrin citizenship? First, let's look at capital investment. There are three common investment options:
- €450,000 for a development project in a well-developed part of Montenegro - for example, in coastal areas;
- €250,000 investment if the development project is located in underdeveloped areas of central and northern Montenegro;
- Direct investment in tourism or hotel business with the creation of additional jobs. Investment size: €5 million or €15 million.
Non-refundable payments when applying for Montenegrin citizenship by an investor:
- €100,000 contribution to the national fund of Montenegro;
- €15,000 state fee when submitting an application, €10,000 fee for a family of up to 4 people, plus another €50,000 for each additional dependent;
- fees for checking the applicant's credibility and passport fees.
The procedure for obtaining citizenship under a simplified scheme
The procedure for submitting documents generally does not differ from the usual one.
The above persons apply to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. The nuance is to fill out an application that sets out the circumstances for the preferential procedure. We advise: How to confirm your residence under a residence permit and does everyone need it?
To obtain citizenship without a residence permit:
- Collect a package of documents, including certificates confirming your right to a simplified procedure for considering the application (see below).
- Pay the state fee.
- Submit documents in person (remote submission is not currently available).
Unlike other foreigners, applicants for citizenship under the simplified procedure have the right to expect faster processing times.
Documentation
When submitting an application, a large package of documents is prepared. These are originals or notarized copies.
For registration the following are submitted:
- application for citizenship in a simplified manner (sample can be downloaded here);
- passport of your country;
- RVP, if required;
- medical certificate confirming the absence of infectious diseases, including HIV, COVID;
- 3 photographs (color, size 3 × 4 cm).
Additionally, the right to a simplified procedure is confirmed:
- certificate of marriage, birth of children who are citizens of the Russian Federation;
- certificate of participant in the state resettlement program;
- WWII certificate, certificate of disability;
- passport of the LPR, DPR, Ukrainian passport and other documents.
Necessary procedures
To obtain citizenship, apply to the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the “Migration Center” in the capital. You need to have a completed package of official papers with you. A civil service employee will issue a coupon notification of acceptance of documents.
You can find out about the status of the service:
- by telephone (call the territorial migration department);
- During the period, periodically visit the department in person.
Viewing information remotely is not possible. You are required to send a notice of the decision by mail within 10 days from the date of admission to citizenship.
If after the expiration of the deadline no message has been received from the department, you should ask what caused this. The question can be asked online through the appeal service on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs at https://mvd.rf/.
Step-by-step algorithm:
- Go to the section for receiving requests in the service catalog.
- Check the box next to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. Click “Continue” further down the page.
- Read the information → check the box for familiarization → go to the page for writing a request.
- Fill the form. In the special field, describe the essence of the problem or attach a photo/scan of the application.
- Send a request.
Deadlines and state fees
Even with a simplified procedure, you will have to pay a state fee of 3,500 rubles. The exceptions are:
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- orphans and minors left without parental care;
- people who previously had USSR citizenship and who came from former Soviet republics.
The decision-making period is 3–6 months. For people from the LPR and DPR, the procedure has been reduced strictly to three months.
