also called residency by investment · RBI · investor visa
A residence permit granted in exchange for a qualifying investment such as property, a fund or a business.
A residence permit you get by making a qualifying investment: buying property, putting money in a fund, or backing a business. It buys a legal base and the travel access that comes with residence, but the minimum amounts, the property rules and even whether a program still exists shift often. It is not citizenship by investment, which sells an actual passport; a golden visa gives residence, not citizenship.
Someone plans to qualify for a country's golden visa by buying an apartment at a set investment level, then finds the government has changed the rules and pulled property from the list of qualifying options. The route they were counting on closes partway through their planning.
It buys a legal base and travel access, but minimums, real-estate rules and program availability shift frequently.
The difference is the whole point, so here is each one in a line.
These grant residence without working locally, in exchange for wealth, income or a purchase.
A golden visa is granted for a qualifying investment, and second-home programmes across Southeast Asia work the same way through a deposit or property: Malaysia's MM2H, its higher-income PVIP, Cambodia's CM2H, and the Cambodia E-class long-stay visa.
A non-lucrative visa is for people who can support themselves without working, and a retirement visa is the version for retirees showing a pension.
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