Permanent residency for foreigners who buy property in Bulgaria for at least 307000E

25.02.2013

Bulgarian has passed a law that will ease even further the process of granting citizenship to foreign investors in a bid to boost the country’s ailing economy.

Bulgaria will be offering citizenship to foreigners, who come from non EU states, ready to invest at least BGN 500 000 which is about 256 000EUR and create ten jobs for Bulgarians, under amendments to the investment Encouragement Act adopted conclusively on Tuesday, February 12 by parliament in response to the presidential veto at the end of last year.

Under the amendments, the candidates would have to invest in a Bulgarian company involved in a high-priority investment project in industry, infrastructure, transport or tourism. The investors will not be required to have had residence status in the country for at least one year.

Parliament backed the proposal for lowered the investment amount thresholds for foreign investors in poor regions. These will be granted permanent residency status and Bulgarian citizenship if they pour 250 000BGN, which is about 128 000EUR, and hire five Bulgarians in regions with high unemployment.

The purchase of real estate property, worth at least 600 000BGN or about 307 000UR, is another way to gain permanent residency status, according to the new law.

The draft legislation provided permanent residency status to a foreigner who has invested over 1 Million BGN in public companies or joint ventures or has deposited the money at a Bulgarian bank for a period of five years.

Bulgaria already is handing out passports to ethnic Bulgarians outside its Borders, the main beneficiaries being citizens of Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine and Tyrkey.

Sources: Novinite.com

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