If you get residence by investment (RBI) in a European country for the purpose or qualifying for naturalization (citizenship) in 4-6 years, you are taking a significant risk.

1. Risk that you could lose your residency before you are eligible to naturalize.

2. Risk that the basis of residency could be changed legislatively (as is being threatened in Portugal), requiring way more physical presence in country than you planned for.

3. Risk that statutory naturalization eligibility criteria could change.

4. Risk that foreigners like you could become unpopular and so the govt institutes an informal soft policy to restrict/deny naturalization applications that look like yours.

These are not hypothetical musings. They happen regularly and I’ve seen them all in my practice over the years.

If your consultant/advisor/agent hasn’t told you about these risks, you probably spoke to nothing more than a salesperson shilling their product.

Even with all those risks, the RBI may still be worth it for you but only do so understanding the vulnerability!

#residencebyinvestment #dualcitizenship #freedomofmovement