In recent years, golden visa programs have become increasingly popular among investors globally. And it’s easy to see why when you consider that they often provide visa free travel to many countries in the world, allow holders to secure an alternative safe haven, and can give holders access to increased business opportunities and excellent healthcare and education.

On the other hand, many countries are introducing residence by investment or citizenship by investment programs to accelerate foreign investment in the country and increase local economic development. In other words, by making these programs available to entrepreneurs and investors, countries can attract high-quality human capital, maintain population growth, create jobs, and boost infrastructure development.

For this reason, Russia first revealed its plans to offer a residency by investment or russia golden visa scheme about two years ago. This program would be the first of its type in Russia and President Vladimir Putin has now signed the law that will govern this program. It’s expected that the Russia Golden Visa will open on 1 January 2023.

In this post, we’ll look at some information about the program in more detail.

What is the Russian Golden Visa?

The Russian golden visa is Russia’s residency by investment program that allows holders to obtain permanent residency and, in time, naturalization in the world’s largest country. For Russia, the program aims to bolster economic growth during a time when it has slowed down.

At this stage, and due to the current conflict with Ukraine, it’s expected that the program is unlikely to attract much interest from western investors. For this reason, it’s expected that the Russia golden visa program will primarily attract Chinese businessmen who want to target Russia’s far east for expanding their businesses.

In addition, it’s expected that the program will attract interest from investors in the Middle East, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, countries in East Asia, and African countries. While most of these investors would prefer to invest in residential real estate in Russia’s two largest cities, it’s believed that some entrepreneurs might open businesses to fill the void left by Weston conglomerates that have left the country.

What are the Investment Requirements for the Russian Golden Visa?

Now that we’ve seen what the Russian golden visa or residence by investment program is, let’s look at the investment requirements necessary to obtain the visa. Here, investors have several options to obtain a residence permit in Russia by investment, each with its own specific requirements:

• Ownership of a company. Applicants who are entrepreneurs and run their own businesses might be eligible to move to Russia and get a residence permit under the program. To qualify for a residence permit using this method, the applicant has to increase the capital in the company by 15 million rubles if it’s a Russian company. If it’s a foreign company, the applicant should increase the capital in the company by 50 million rubles. The only other requirement is that the company must be operational for a period of at least three years. However, it’s not clear whether this three-year period is prior to or after the issuance of the residence permit.
• Investment in a new business. The next option for applicants to gain a residence permit in Russia is to invest in and start a new business. To qualify when using this method, applicants should invest a minimum of 10 million rubles into the business and the business should hire at least 10 Russian citizens as employees. Based on these requirements, this is probably the most affordable way to obtain residency in Russia with the golden visa program.
• Investment in an existing business. Applicants also have the option to invest in an existing Russian company. This option, however, has several requirements. Firstly, the company must be in operation for at least three years. In addition, the company should pay taxes of 6 million rubles to the Russian government and employ at least 25 employees. Moreover, when using this option, the applicant does not have to become a shareholder of the company. However, As is the case with the requirements above, it’s not clear whether this three-year period should elapse before the applicant’s application or after the issuance of the residence permit.
• Investment in government bonds. It’s also possible for an applicant to obtain a residence permit in Russia by investing in government bonds to the value of 30 million rubles. Here, the requirement is that the applicant should hold these government bonds for at least three years before they can apply for the residence permit. This is the ideal option for investors who want to obtain a residence permit in Russia but without investing in a business or real estate.
• Investment in real estate. The final option to obtain a residence permit in Russia with the golden visa program is for the applicant to invest in real estate. As is the case with government bonds, this option requires a minimum investment of at least 30 million rubles. In addition, like investment in government bonds, the applicant should hold the property for at least three years before applying for a residence permit.

Of these options, it’s expected that real estate will attract the most investment. This is due to the fact that Chinese companies have invested more than US$55 billion into the Russian economy since 2005 and the luxury real estate segment in Moscow has been, in recent years, one of the leading destinations in Europe for attracting real estate projects and investments.

In addition, the minimum investment thresholds mentioned above may be lowered in areas where the Russian government wants to channel additional investment. This could have a significant impact on the demand for the program, as applicants could choose to invest in one part of the country with a lower threshold and take up residence in another. Keep in mind, however, that, to date, these specific amounts have not been determined yet.

Irrespective of the option the applicant chooses, the applicant will first need to apply for a temporary residence permit and can apply for a Russian residence permit a year after the temporary residence permit has been granted.

Will You Get Citizenship?

It’s important to note that Russia’s golden visa program is a residence by investment program and not a citizenship by investment program. As such, the program only enables the applicant to obtain residency in Russia pursuant to the investment made based on one of the categories above. However, it is possible to obtain Russian citizenship through a fast-track naturalization program that takes three years after residency has been granted.

Why Consider a Russia Golden Visa?

Now that we’ve looked at what Russia’s residency by investment program is, and what its requirements are, the only question remaining is: Why consider a Russian golden visa? There are several reasons why the Russia golden visa might be a good option.

Firstly, Russia has several emerging industries that have grown significantly. These include industries like information technology and telecommunications. This, in turn, provides several opportunities for entrepreneurs, investors, and business people.

In addition, Russia is a very favourable environment for foreign businesses, and Russian law guarantees that foreign companies are treated on the same footing as domestic companies. Moreover, the personal income of Russian citizens is growing at an average of 10% to 15% per year.

And speaking of income, unlike many other countries that use progressive income tax regimes, Russia has a fixed rate of 13% on all worldwide income for Russian residents. Conversely, non-residents are taxed at 30% of all Russian income.

One of the major benefits of the Russian golden visa program, however, is that it offers a high degree of inclusivity for multigenerational families. As such, applicants will be able to include several generations of their families in their applications. This includes their:

• Spouse
• Children
• Childrens’ spouses.
• Parents
• Parents’ spouses.
• Grandparents
• Grandchildren

This makes it one of the most lenient residency by investment programs in the world.

The Bottom Line

Hopefully, this post helped illustrate and gave some insights into the Russian residency by investment program that’s launching in January 2023. To learn more about golden visa programs around the world for more information about immigration, visit our website for more details.