Hungary has decided to increase the investment requirement of its accelerated residency scheme. In a statement released last week, lawmakers said that applicants to the scheme will now be required to invest 300,000 Euros – up from 250,000 Euros – in special government residency bonds. The five year bonds are non-tradable and have zero yield but give applicants and their immediate family fast-track access to permanent residency and ultimately citizenship in Hungary.
Defending the increase, Hungarian legislators have argued that the Hungarian bonds would still remain the most competitive of such securities in the European Union, and the price rise would not affect the rapidly increasing demand for the scheme.
Hungarian passport holders are entitled to live and work in any country in the European Union, making the scheme attractive to people wishing to settle in Europe.
Hungary introduced the residency bonds in 2012, and to date has accepted around 3,000 applicants under the scheme, with 2,200 being from China alone. Demand from China is expected to stay high, where the scheme is being heavily marketed; in just six months, a network of 105 agencies working from 200 offices in 46 major Chinese cities has been setup just to market the scheme.
Source: www.politics.hu