Residency and Citizenship Post Brexit

Since the UK Referendum in June 2016, we have received many enquiries from British Citizens who are looking for an alternative solution following the UK’s departure from the European Union. British Citizens currently have the ability to move freely throughout the EU and many are concerned that they will loose this right.

Most of the European Golden Visa programmes are residency options, and therefore only available to non EU residents. At present British Citizens are still technically part of the EU, so therefore currently have the right to travel and reside freely in any EU country they wish to, without the need for visas. Following Brexit, the situation is likely to change, but until a deal has been agreed, we will not know the outcome for sure. There is talk of an ”ESTA” style system being introduced for travel visas to other EU countries and it is quite possible that the countries offering Golden Visas programmes will open their doors to British nationals in the near future.

For those that want to have a back up plan in place before Brexit is finalised, we would suggest looking at European Investment programmes which offer direct Citizenship. Currently the only options are Cyprus and Malta. Both country’s Citizenship by Investment programmes require a substantial investment. Cyprus requires €2,150,000 + costs and Malta $1,200,000 upwards.

The Citizenship by Investment programmes in the Caribbean, namely St Kitts, Dominica, Antigua, St Lucia and Grenada, will also offer a lower cost visa free travel solution. A citizen of any of these countries is able to travel freely to the Schengen zone for up to 90 days out of every 180 days. This will save British Citizens having to submit a visa application when looking to travel to the EU, however they will still be limited on how much time they can spend in the EU each year. These options start from $100,000 + costs for a single applicant.

If you are looking to invest for a second residency or citizenship post Brexit, please contact us to find out more about your options.