Curious about which counties give residency when you buy a property? You’re not alone!

Countries that  give residency when your buy property

There are many countries that give South Africans residency and even citizenship by investment. The best thing about residency is that you can apply for work in these countries without having a sponsored work visa. Residency visas can be obtained when you buy a property or open a business in these countries:

Dominica

You can move to Dominica in the eastern Caribbean Sea by making an economic contribution (donation) to the country under the government’s investor visa program or purchasing a property from $100,00+. You also need to spend a minimum of 90 days out of 365 days per year in the country. Alternatively, you can apply for the Entrepreneur Visa

• Invest a minimum of 50,000 USD in an existing government-approved company through the Investment Fund.
• Invest a minimum of 100,000 USD in a new startup business locally registered in the Commonwealth of Dominica employing at least 3 full-time employees

Mauritius

If you want to move out of South Africa, an investment of $500 000 or more secures permanent residency in Mauritius.

Portugal

Portugal launched its ARI/Golden Visa scheme in 2012 and it has fast become one of the most popular European property investment schemes and one of the best ways to move to Europe for South Africans. This visa a residency permit for a family including dependent children. The golden visa can be renewed every two years providing the applicant spends two weeks in the country every two years.

You can get this visa by:

• Opening a business in Portugal and employing at least 10 employment positions based in Portugal.
• investing a minimum of €500,000 (8.8 million rands) in organic agriculture, ecotourism, renewable energy, and other environmental projects.
• Buy real estate with a minimum investment of €350 000 (6.1 million rands).

Serbia

In Serbian residency is straightforward: you buy a property, get a residence card. There is no minimum investment to obtain Serbian residency. You can invest as little as $1,000 in real estate and be approved.

Turkey

You can move to Turkey from South Africa by purchasing a property. To become a resident there is no minimum property investment value but to become a citizen in Turkey, you need to invest in real estate or leave your money (minimum $500,000) in a Turkish bank for a minimum of 3 years. This requires a property purchase of a minimum of $250,000 + fees, making Turkey one of the lowest cost citizenship by investment programs on the market.

You get residency, citizenship, and a second passport. Another thing to know is that Turkey and the US have an E-2 visa treaty which means Turkish citizens are eligible to apply for US residency, through the E-2 Visa program.

United States

You can move from South Africa to the USA by investment. You can become a permanent resident of the United States by investing $500,000 or more in certain types of real estate.

The USA EB-5 program allows foreign investors to insert either $500,000 or $1 million into the US economy as either direct investment or through a regional center program, and some of those regional center programs involve real estate deals.