Hungary’s opposition party Egyutt has questioned the immigration office over the background checks required to be done on foreign investors buying the country’s residency bonds in order to qualify for Hungarian residency.
The query was sent in the form of a letter by an independent member of parliament to the head of the Hungarian immigration office. The letter noted that Hungarian law imposed strict eligibility conditions for non-EU nationals seeking residency in the country, however the foreign investors purchasing the residency bonds have not been expected to fulfil all the criteria.
The question about screening of foreign investors arose after the ruling party’s leader Antal Rogan, who is also the chairman of the Economic Committee granting permissions for the sale of residency bonds, had made a public announcement recently saying that every foreigner “must go through strict screening by the immigration office”. Rogan had also been responsible for preparing the legal documents for the residency bonds program.
Following this announcement, the opposition has questioned the immigration office whether those foreigners who were given residency from sales of residency bonds were also subject to these strict screenings and background checks.They have asked the office to provide information on what kind of checks are made on these investors, the laws that are applicable to them, and the forms they are required to fill in.
The opposition party has also queried whether the immigration department works in cooperation with state police, Information Office, the Constitution Protection Office, foreign offices or any other international organizations or offices, and what kind of information is collected to perform due diligence on applicants under Hungary’s residency bond program.
Source: www.politics.hu