Hungary government to relaunch ‘golden visa’ programme

Hungary’s government has submitted the outlines of a new “golden visa” programme to parliament as part of a draft bill regulating immigration from third countries to Hungary.

The bill, submitted on Tuesday, introduces the category of “guest-investor visa”, for people who are coming to Hungary affiliated with projects that received the label of “strategically important investment” from the government.

Receiving this visa is a prerequisite to apply for a residence permit, which would allow the visa-holder to stay in Hungary for 10 years, extendable by a further 10 years, according to the draft.

The new programme comes after a previous “golden visa scheme” was scrapped in 2017 after a Syrian man who was under U.S. sanctions received residency status in Hungary.

The programme, launched in 2013, required foreigners to buy a Hungarian bond for up to 300,000 euros to obtain the permit.

According to the proposal, the “strategically important project” label could also be obtained by an investor buying a Hungarian real-estate fund share worth 250,000 euros or real estate worth at least 500,000 euros in Hungary.

The donation of 1 million euros to public interest asset management foundations, which have come under EU scrutiny due to conflicts of interest with the government, would also grant the label of “strategic importance” to investors, opening the door to receive the “guest-investor” status.

Hungary has seen an influx of eastern investors in recent years as Asian battery makers, such as CATL and Eve-Power are set to build their factories near German carmakers.