Russia's Golden Visa to Launch on Jan 1st 2023

Russia's Golden Visa program

Russia first revealed its plans to offer a residency by investment or russia golden visa scheme about two years ago. This program would be the first of its type in Russia and President Vladimir Putin has now signed the law that will govern this program. Russia Golden Visa will open on 1 January 2023 and they expect primarily Chinese entrepreneurs to take advantage of the new program to occupy vacated by recently departed Western firms.

Foreigners who invest +30 million rubles in real estate, government bonds, or businesses will be able to obtain a residence permit in Russia within a four-month timeframe after submission of the application

VISA FREE TRAVEL WITH A RUSSIAN PASSPORT

We usually value a passport by the number of visa free countries it offers. Using this criteria, a second passport from Russia is advantageous. Russian passport holder may visit 78 countries visa free. Plus, another 24 will issue a visa upon arrival and 9 will grant an electronic visa. So, by our count, about 102 countries are easily accessible.

Some “easy access” countries are: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, South Korea, Mexico, Most of the Caribbean, Panama and Hong Kong.

Dual Citizenship

Russia allows dual citizenship with prior permission and investors are not required to renounce their previous citizenship.

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Russia's Residence Permit by Investment

By Timur Beslangurov

As of January 15th 2023 Russia joins the club of countries that offer foreign investors a Residency by investment.

Under the proposed regime of investment foreign investors will have the following benefits:

Obtaining a lifelong residency for the investor and their family members – spouse, children, parents, spouse’s parents, grandparents, and grandchildren

Foreign investor will skip the necessity of obtaining a quota for temporary residency and obtaining temporary residency itself, but will instead directly apply and obtain permanent residency

No requirement to reside in Russia for the investor or family members

Possibility to reside in any region of Russia and work without work permit

Eligibility to apply for citizenship after 5 years as a legal resident

Processing time – 4 months after submission of the application

Investment options

Social and charity donation
Business creation
Investment in existing business in Russia
Investment in real estate in Russia

Social and charity donations

Donation of 15 million rubles (~250.000 USD) to a charity fund.

Donating to a charity fund is the most straightforward option as it doesn’t require making an investment decision but the donated funds are non-refundable

Investment of 15 million rubles (~250.000USD) into social, cultural objects in the Russian regions

Business creation

The foreign national must create a company in Russia. The qualifying requirement is the amount of taxes paid by such company. Taxes paid should be not less than 4 million rubles (~65.000USD) annually. The foreign investor is eligible to apply for residency after 1 year of company registration. To keep the residency such company must operate and pay the required amount of taxes for 2 more years after residency is granted.

Foreign investors that already have a business in Russia and their company meets the tax payment requirement can also benefit from the new program.

Investment in existing business in Russia

Investment of 30 million rubles (~500.000USD) into a Russian company which is at least 3years old, and either has 25 employees or has paid taxes for the last year of not less than 6 million rubles (~100.000USD). The investment must be held for at least 3 years to keep the residency

For this option the foreign investor can invest into publicly traded shares of Russian companies or in private Russian companies.

Buying shares on the stock exchange is the simpler option as less due diligence is required, and future resale is easier. The foreign investor would need to seek standard professional investment advice with regards to potential profits from dividends payable by the company and potential profit from future sale of the shares

Investment into a private company requires a more thorough due-diligence process before making an investment and the signing with the seller party of a proper share-purchase agreement including an exit strategy.

Real Estate Investment

Foreign national purchases a newly built piece of real estate (residential or commercial). The foreign national will be eligible to apply for residency after 1 year of such purchase. To keep their residency, the foreign national must own such real estate for 2 more years after obtaining residency. The required amount of investment varies by region:

Moscow is 50 million rubles (~830.000USD)

Crimea and the Far East region is 20 million rubles (~335.000USD)

Other Russian regions is 25 million (~415.000USD)

Foreign investors that already have invested and own real estate before January 15th 2023, can also benefit from the new program, provided that they have already owned it for at least 1 year and the price of the real estate meets or exceeds the program requirements.

International business center Moscow City, Russia. Panorama of Moscow

Russia has Advantages

Russia is well placed to draw high-quality investors looking to relocate from any part of the World. Importantly, it is an industrialized country and the sole European power whose economic cycle is synchronized with Asian economic growth, rather than with western economic contraction.

Other important advantages of Russia:

Self-sufficiency in energy and food – World's largest exporter of energy and wheat
Financial stability - Trade surplus and low government debt (ca 14% debt to GDP)
Attractive tax system – Flat income tax of 13%, no inheritance tax, no wealth tax, highly preferential corporate tax frameworks

A qualified, well-educated labor force and cheap, abundant land and natural resources