South African Citizens

Investment Visas and Second Passports

For many wealthy South African citizens investment in real estate to obtain a golden visa is often an attractive option. There are a number of countries in Europe and the Caribbean offering residency and/or a second passport and citizenship. La Vida has helped many clients from South Africa who have sufficient funds to invest to obtain a second residency through real estate investment. In fact South Africa remains one of our top countries for enquiries from high net worth clients (HNW’s) seeking a more permanent solution to their travel and future residency needs.

Second Residency Benefits

A clear benefit for many South Africa passport holders is the ease of travel that a residency card or second passport brings. In the last few years international travel has become increasingly difficult and time consuming especially when frequent and multiple visa applications are having to be made. Business visas for South African citizens become easier to obtain on many second passports. Be it for business travel or leisure, a second citizenship and accompanying passport can significantly ease travel and visa applications for citizens of South Africa. Many of our clients have invested in a second citizenship for just that reason.

With real estate investment in Europe in countries such as Portugal and Spain it will allow freedom of travel throughout the EU Schengen zone through a residency card. Countries such as Malta and Cyprus can issue second passports quickly. Likewise the Caribbean countries of St. Kitts, Antigua, Grenada and Dominica, all allow citizens of South Africa to apply for a second passport. A second passport from any of these countries will enable visa free travel for South African citizens to many countries across the globe and faster more efficient processing of visa applications where travel or business visas are required. Typical investments start from around USD$600,000.

The most popular countries for South African citizens seeking residency or citizenship are currently Portugal and Cyprus.

Residency and Passport Procedure

Whichever country issues that passport there are stringent checks and requirements by the relevant government departments. In all cases clients will need a clear criminal record, sufficient funds to support themselves and they must not have been refused access to any countries when previously travelling. Applications can take several months after the initial investment.

Please complete are online form for further information and for one of our consultants to contact you.

Please note that La Vida is not a visa processing service. We do not deal with work visas, entrepreneur visas or general immigration. Our role is to advise and help High Net Worth clients find the right real estate investment in order to qualify for an investor visa in the most appropriate country for their needs. In all cases we we recommend and work closely with lawyers for submitting residency and passport applications to the relevant government departments and embassies once the investment has been made.