What is the cheapest route to get residence in an EU country and eventually citizenship?

[Thule]

I am a Non EU citizen who wants to move to the EU. My wife is also non EU and I want to improve our future prospects. I am in my mid 30's and she is in her late 20's. I have college Diploma from an EU country as my highest qualification. I have searched different options but I was hoping to get a more detailed explanation here.

First of all I have looked into the Golden Visas and investment programs that some countries offer. The residencies given if you buy a property in these countries is of particular interest. I know that Greece offers the cheapest residency option with a big chance of eventual citizenship after 7 years residence if you invest 250,000 Euros. I can afford that amount, but the property taxes in Greece seem ridiculously high, so it does not seem lile a feasible option for me. Then there is Spain and Portugal who sell property for residency for 500,000 Euros each. although I did read that in Portugal you can buy property as low as 380,000 Euros in some situations, not sure on the exact detailsof that though. Again I am not sure what the property taxes are like in Spain or Portugal, but if they are reasonable then one of these 2 countries may be an option. However I do not want to spend too much on fees in order to go ahead with these programs. 20,000 Euros in fees on top of the investment would preferrably my maximum allowance on fees. I was wondering about other EU countries like Bulgaria, do they offer residence if one buys property there which can lead to eventual citizenship?

Another option is starting a business in an EU country, which will allow residence and then eventual citizenship. Which European nations offer this type of entreprenaur visa or business visa? Which has the cheapest requirements and is easiest to get? I would imagine a lot of EU countries offer such programs, but the details are not widely advertised on the internet. My goal in all of this is to get residence and then eventual citizenship so that I can secure my and my future families future in the EU.

Any information and insight into the posibilities out there would be greatly appreciated. Agian moneywise the lower the financial requirements the better, although if pushed then I would be willing to invest 500,000 Euros, but I really do not want to be investing as much as that on such programs if possible. The lower the investment the better.

[secret.simon]

Which EU country do you have a college diploma from?

Both the words "college" and "diploma" mean different things in different countries (for instance, just in England, the word "college" has three different meanings. It can mean a Further Education institution teaching vocational courses such as plumbing, etc; expensive private schools such as Eton and Winchester; or a constituent part of the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and London). So, can you be more precise?

What did you study and for how many years?

Was it at a University or was it at a Further Education institution or was it at a school?

Was it an undergraduate or postgraduate course that you studied?

Some countries have preferential terms of immigration for people who have studied in that country. Have you explored the possibilities of immigrating to the country that you studied in?

As an aside, interesting, but somewhat controversial, choice of name. Do you have German or Hungarian ancestry? I vaguely remember that there are people of German ancestry in Kazakhstan, who had used their German ancestry to migrate to Germany.

[Thule]

My paternal great great grandfather was of German descent. I have already checked this route for eligibility and I was declined. So unfortunately it is not an option for me.

I did a 2 year diploma in Greece in Business Management a few years ago at a Greek College. Greece is going through a job crisis right now so I don't think I will get prefferencial terms

However, that is another alternative. I would be willing to study again in a European country like Germany, Norway or another EU country and get a BA degree and maybe even a Masters after that if it would help me settle in an EU country. However, I just turned 37 and when I graduate I will be 40 or 41. Is it an option going to University and getting residence in an EU country in my situation? I currently work for myself freelancing.

What about the other options I mentioned as well, like the property investment programs or setting up a business in an EU country and getting residence that way? I want to explore all my options and understand all of them.

[secret.simon]

My paternal great great grandfather was of German descent. I have already checked this route for eligibility and I was declined. So unfortunately it is not an option for me.

Fascinating. I was under the impression that German citizenship laws gave a lot of importance to jus sanguinis and that quite a few Volga Germans had moved to Germany post the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Do you speak German? If you do, you could look for either courses of study or working in the Deutsche Sprachraum, ranging from South Tyrol in Italy to southern Denmark in the north and from Belgium in the east to Austria in the west.

I am not aware of the details of immigration for non-UK EEA countries, so I will leave it to others to advise you in more detail.

[Thule]

Yes it is true a lot of Volga Germans have moved back to Germany over the last 30 years. However most of my family are ethnic Russians. We went to the German Embassy here years ago to enquire about this but they said that we had very little grounds to appeal. I don't speak German, we speak Russian in our family as a first language.

Fair enough, I hope there are others on here who can advise me regarding immigration to an EU country.

[Caravel88]

What is your profession?

Cheapest option is to do masters as your said then (or without) getting a job.

Yes it is true a lot of Volga Germans have moved back to Germany over the last 30 years. However most of my family are ethnic Russians. We went to the German Embassy here years ago to enquire about this but they said that we had very little grounds to appeal. I don't speak German, we speak Russian in our family as a first language.

Fair enough, I hope there are others on here who can advise me regarding immigration to an EU country.

[Thule]

Studying and getting a Bachelors and then a Masters is an option and I would hope that I would be able to secure a job in an EU country in my early 40's by the time I would finnish that. But that is my last resort. I would prefer to know if there is another route through payment which preferrably does not exceed 500,000 Euros in payments.

How about setting up a business in an EU country as an entrepreneur? Does anyone have more information on such schemes within the different EU countries? I know the UK and Ireland have such schemes, but what about the other EU countries? One would think that such schemes would require less money in the poorer EU countries and these schemes usually can lead to citizenship after a number of years setting up a business in the country in question.

Again there is also the investment schemes that some countries offer, where the most appealing option is buying property in the country offering this and after a few years being eligible to apply for citizenship. Which EU country has the cheapest requirements in this route?

Anyone with any feedback or knowledge about such options?

[Caravel88]

The cheapest route is study. It does not sound like you are interested in the cheapest route however.

UK Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) visa requires £200k
Portugal investment scheme requires €350-500k
You already know about Greece.

If you can fulfil the requirements, you can become an entrepreneur in Ireland for €75k, €300k in France.

However in France you can be a founder with as little as €18k. Again, you have to fulfil special requirements.

I am sure many other EU countries will have similar schemes and offer possibilities.

Studying and getting a Bachelors and then a Masters is an option and I would hope that I would be able to secure a job in an EU country in my early 40's by the time I would finnish that. But that is my last resort. I would prefer to know if there is another route through payment which preferrably does not exceed 500,000 Euros in payments.

How about setting up a business in an EU country as an entrepreneur? Does anyone have more information on such schemes within the different EU countries? I know the UK and Ireland have such schemes, but what about the other EU countries? One would think that such schemes would require less money in the poorer EU countries and these schemes usually can lead to citizenship after a number of years setting up a business in the country in question.

Again there is also the investment schemes that some countries offer, where the most appealing option is buying property in the country offering this and after a few years being eligible to apply for citizenship. Which EU country has the cheapest requirements in this route?

Anyone with any feedback or knowledge about such options?