Where can non-EU citizens buy property to get EU residency?

Many poorer EU countries, struggling under austerity and desperate to attract investment, have introduced a scheme that allows wealthy foreign investors to buy property in their country and obtain EU residency for themselves (and often their families).

This option has been particularly popular amongst people from China, but also from Russia, Brazil and India.

The investor has to retain the property in order to continue enjoying residency benefits.

The investor must invest a minimum amount to buy the property in order to get the residency, this amount varies depending on the country, for example:

• 250,000 EUR minimum in Greece
• 250,000 EUR minimum in Hungary
• 300,000 EUR minimum in Cyprus
• 500,000 EUR minimum in Spain
• 500,000 EUR minimum in Portugal