The Netherlands government has made a decision to end granting residence permit to foreign investors, based on investment will no longer be available from 1 January 2024. The Law will be published in gazette, until then applications are processed.
The Dutch foreign investor scheme allows wealthy foreign investors to apply for a Dutch residence permit for foreign investors, you need to invest at least €1.25 million invested in a company or a venture capital fund, must add value to dutch economy. The residence permission is issued for 3 years with extensions with a possibility of applying for citizenship after 5 years.
The IND checks for legitimate source of funds with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) whether the investor can be linked to suspect transactions.
The Netherlands launched foreign investor visa scheme on Oct 2013 for High-net worth individuals (HNW). The program aims to attract foreign investors to bring substantial investment in The Netherlands to boost the Dutch economy. Several amendments have been made to increase the attractiveness of this scheme in 2016.
Although the exact reasons for closure not clear, the following factors have contributed to the ending of this unpopular program.
- Exclusion of real estate to invest.
- Lack of popularity
- Low investments raised.
- EU pressure on more regulations to phase out golden visas by 2025.
- Corruption and Tax evasion.
In the past ten years, wealthy foreigners in the Netherlands has only made a marginal contribution to the Dutch business climate and the financing of startups. The State Secretay has stated in a parliamentary discussion, clearly the risk of criminal money was not mentioned as a reason for abolishing the admission scheme.
The main reason to abolish is the minimal use of the scheme.
State Secretary Van der Burg (Justice and Security)
The Minister went on further to answer, the government has twice informed the House of Representatives about the abolition of the admission scheme for foreign investors. Since the House of Representatives has not objected to the decision to abolish the admission regulation, preparations to amend the Aliens Act 2000 have started and are now at an advanced stage. The government sees no reason to reconsider the decision.
The Minister of Justice in his statement to parliament stated in 2019,
Compared to other EU member states, the Dutch admission regulations are restrictive. The amount to be invested is high, the added value test is strict and applications are submitted to the FIUs. Perhaps this is partly why the number of applications in the Netherlands has been limited to twenty since October 2013 and fewer than ten residence permits have been granted.
State Secretary for Justice and Security,MGJ Harbers
