7. Malta
Ah, the island life! Who wouldn’t want to live in a sunny place, enjoying the sea and the weather? Well, if you’re planning to uproot your life and have your eye on Malta, then you’re in luck. The country is found in the Mediterranean sea, south of Italy, and has under half a million citizens. It’s been a member of the European Union since 2004, benefitting from everything that comes with the membership card.
If you want to apply for citizenship in Malta, then you need to have a clean criminal record, know the language and have a permanent residence there for at least the last five years. There’s also another possibility, dubbed the Malta Individual Investor Programme. This allows people to “buy” their way into the country. For instance, if you make a significant nonrefundable contribution to the National Development and Social Fund, you can get some perks. And when I say significant, I mean that you have to donate €650,000 as the main applicant, while the spouse and minor children need to add €25,000 to the sum. Adult children, dependent parents and grandparents need to donate an extra €50,000.
There’s also the alternative of buying property of at least €350,000 in Malta and owning it for at least five years. Bond investments of at least €150,000 are also an option. In Malta, money talks.
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