More than 132,000 people obtained citizenship between 2011 and 2019 as a result of residency and citizenship investment programs offered by various European countries, including Portugal, Greece, Italy, and Spain.

These conclusions are based on a recent Biz News story that emphasizes that the difficulty of obtaining visas through these programs has increased just little. Additionally, Portugal granted 1,218 golden visas in 2022, and the first half of this year had 861 applications, up from 624 during the same period the year before.

4,365 applications for golden visas were submitted to Greece last year, 2,432 of which came in the last three months of 2022. A notable increase of 79 golden visas were issued in Italy the previous year, with the bulk going to Russians, Americans, and Britons. This number is almost two times as many as the previous year.

A total of 2,462 golden visas were issued by the Spanish government in the previous year, a 60% increase from the figures for 2021. In Ireland, the golden visa program attracted 1,160 applications in 2022, and 1,350 applications in the first five months of 2023.

But according to a study by Biz News, the ambiguity around these kinds of visas has increased interest in substitute solutions like digital nomad visas. Many European countries still permit wealthy foreigners to obtain residency and citizenship privileges through the Golden Visa and Golden Passport Programs, despite the European Commission repeatedly urging governments that provide them to end their programs.

Residency by Investment enables people to get residency in particular nations for themselves and their family by satisfying certain financial criteria. The Citizenship by Investment Program, on the other hand, facilitates citizenship acquisition by monetary contributions.

However, there have been allegations that people using them for illegal purposes, like money laundering and corruption, may put the future of such residency and citizenship schemes in doubt. Some nations have terminated these initiatives as a result of these allegations.

The digital nomad visa, on the other hand, grants citizens of nations that grant such visas the right to live and work there legally, enabling them to work for customers or employers abroad. Cyprus is one of the nations that has decided to end its Golden Visa Program as a result of the revelations made in “The Cyprus Papers” by Al Jazeera, which revealed illegal actions connected to the program.

However, there have been allegations that people using them for illegal purposes, like money laundering and corruption, may put the future of such residency and citizenship schemes in doubt. Some nations have terminated these initiatives as a result of these allegations.

The digital nomad visa, on the other hand, grants citizens of nations that grant such visas the right to live and work there legally, enabling them to work for customers or employers abroad. Cyprus is one of the nations that has decided to end its Golden Visa Program as a result of the revelations made in “The Cyprus Papers” by Al Jazeera, which revealed illegal actions connected to the program.