The Bulgaria’s Justice Ministry is proposing amendments to the Bulgarian Citizenship Act which would scrap the possibility of obtaining citizenship through investing in the country.
Under current law, Bulgaria requires EUR 500,000 investment in government bonds for citizenship in five years and EUR 1 million investment where citizenship is fast tracked within five years.
No applications received
Officials recently said that there have been almost no applications for Bulgarian citizenship through investment.
The Justice Ministry said only 50 foreigners – from Russia, Egypt, Israel and Pakistan – had been sold a passport against investment since 2013.
Missing Chinese investors
The key to success of any citizenship or golden visa schemes are chinese. Portugal, Greece, Ireland and Caribbean CIP’s have enormously benefited with over 80% chinese applying for these schemes. For Bulgaria, the chinese have disappeared from investing, causing the downfall of the bulgarian scheme. The number of Chinese tourists visiting Bulgaria did increase by 43% in 2017.
No economic development or job creation
The objective of increasing real foreign investments and economic development such as job creation and economic development has not been achieved through the citizenship by investment program, according to the ministry
The Justice Ministry’s proposals, drafted by a working group appointed by Justice Minister Tsetska Tsacheva in February 2018, are to be discussed by the Cabinet council on development on January 30 and then put up for public discussion. Another of the proposals is to require applicants for citizenship on the grounds of Bulgarian ancestry to prove they can speak Bulgarian and have work and income in the country.
The Justice Ministry further said that the new measures to prevent abuses in citizenship applications.
The current rules for Bulgarian citizenship by increasing the investment is available in the Ministry of Justice website
The Ministry of Justice introduced an electronic registration for filing documents and conducting a citizenship interview from Jan 2, 2019
Source: balkaneu.com
