The new Bulgarian government – not in favor of the citizenship by investment program
Bulgaria has experienced turbulent political times in 2021-2022. After three consecutive parliamentary elections in 2021, the country has finally approved new government. As Prime Minister was appointed Mr Kiril Petkov. Being young and prosperous Harvard graduate, Mr Petkov stormed the political scene with some controversy over his Canadian citizenship.
Even before the forming of the current government in Bulgaria, it was first Mr Yanaki Stoilov (caretaker minister of justice), who spoke against the citizenship by investment program. Since the government took office, the attacks against the program intensified. Fierce attacks came from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, but the new PM Mr Kiril Petkov is also stating that the program should be terminated.
In turbulent times one needs good backup plan
Currently, the Bulgarian citizenship by investment program is still unchanged. However, the political climate is way too hostile against the program at the moment. Therefore we believe that the current applicants in Bulgaria should try securing a backup route for obtaining EU residence and citizenship. If the Bulgarian CIP remains intact, then the backup plan can be terminated with very little effort and costs. But if the Bulgarian program is seriously altered, the backup plan will come very handy.
Portugal Golden Visa, in case the worst happens with the Bulgarian CIP
In Portugal, we have arranged extremely favorable conditions for our clients who want to backup their Bulgarian CIP application with the Portuguese Golden Visa program. This is of course only if the Bulgarian citizenship program is altered in a way that it becomes unpractical. Still, the preparation should better start now. The regime for all residence and citizenship by investment programs is getting tighter by the day.
The Portuguese Golden Visa program, in nutshell, allows the investor to obtain residence in Portugal by investing 500 000 EUR* in real estate or higher amount in liquid financial instruments. After 5 years, the applicant becomes eligible for Portuguese citizenship and passport.
* In some cases, the amount can be lower than 500 000 EUR
For any questions, please contact us at your earliest convenience.