Swiss Golden Visa scheme faces opposition

Passports for sale? Golden visa schemes are residency for the rich. Keystone / Christian Beutler

Geopolitical tensions and tougher tax regimes have created a mass global migration of millionaires. Switzerland wants to snap up as many wealthy globetrotters as possible, but not everyone agrees with the methods being used. 

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Opposition has focused on Swiss Golden Visa residency deals, which are issued only to the highest bidders. A growing number of rich migrants are willing to pay hundreds of thousands of francs to gain entry to Switzerland by this means. 

The Swiss Secretariat for Migration says 496 people currently hold a Golden Visa in Switzerland. This is up from 404 held in 2022, according to the Tages-Anzeiger. 

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The cost of Golden Visas varies depending on the canton of residency. Obwalden charges CHF250,000 ($300,000) while Zurich demands at least CHF1 million, the newspaper adds. 

Left-leaning political parties say they have had enough of pandering to the rich. The Green Party is making a second attempt since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to scrap the visa scheme. 

The visa system was introduced by Switzerland in 2008 to attract wealthy foreigners from outside the European Union – if their move to Switzerland is of “special interest” to the country. Recipients of the visa are granted an extended residency stay, which can be converted into citizenship after at least ten years. 

“What bothers me is that not everyone is treated equally under immigration law. The wealthiest get the best deal,” Green Party parliamentarian Balthasar Glättli told Swiss public broadcaster, SRF.  

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Glättli also fears these visas could be an open invitation for oligarchs and other undesirables to come into the country. “Russians and Chinese continue to top the list of recipients. We all know that in these countries you can’t get rich without pleasing the regime.” 

But the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, which is against mass immigration of foreigners, takes a different line on this method of entry. “We need immigration that benefits society as a whole and the economy. And that is certainly the case with these people,” Swiss People’s Party parliamentarian Barbara Steinemann told SRF. 

Global issue 

Switzerland is not the only country to grant residency via Golden Visas, otherwise known as Citizenship by Investment (CBI) schemes. European nations such as Portugal and Greece have similar schemes. United States President Donald Trump has plans to issue such visas costing $5 million (CHF4.1 million). 

But the European Union is putting pressure on member states to tone down the practice of selling EU residency. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) also fears that CBI schemes are being used to launder criminal funds. 

The European Court of Justice last month ruled that Malta’s visa scheme is illegal as it erodes trust between EU member states on the theme of citizenship. 

Further afield, Australia scrapped its Golden Visa programme last year after the government said it was “delivering poor economic outcomes”. But a similar scheme in New Zealand is booming after being ramped up last month. 

In the past few weeks, 53 people have applied for a New Zealand Golden Visa, according to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper. This compares to 115 in the previous three years, when the scheme was less attractive.  

Golden Visas are aimed at wealthy entrepreneurs to run businesses from Switzerland, but they are not the only means for footloose millionaires to buy entrance to the Alpine state. Cantons also offer special lump sum tax deals for wealthy people, provided they don’t derive an income within Switzerland. 

This makes Switzerland an attractive venue for rich people looking for a new place to live. Their wanderlust could be driven by conflict, growing authoritarianism in their home country or, like in Britain, a radical overhaul of the tax regime. 

Millionaire migration 

This cocktail of events is pushing a growing number of wealthy people away from their current domiciles, according to global relocation specialist firm Henley & Partners. Some 128,000 millionaires were tipped to switch residence last year by the Henley Private Wealth Report 2024. 

The British media report that more than 10,000 wealthy residents moved to other countries in 2024. In addition to tax changes, “non-domiciled” foreign residents in Britain also complain of a declining business environment, education standards and diminishing privacy, according to Ben Rosen, a partner at London law firm Quastels. 

“There has been a misplaced perception by the authorities in the elasticity of the economy and attractiveness of Britain to the wealthy,” he told SWI swissinfo.ch. “But the band has been stretched too far and has well and truly snapped.” 

However, not all departing millionaires are selling properties and taking all their assets with them just yet. Some are seeking temporary shelter from the storm elsewhere, Rosen says, “hoping the government comes to its senses”. 

Younger departees are happy to spend some time in Dubai, he adds. The Middle East emirate doesn’t levy taxes on personal income or capital gains and is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the wealth migration trend. Others want to be closer to Britain. Italy and Portugal are among the countries also rolling out the red carpet, but some millionaires fear this attitude might prove illusory.   “There is a perception that the tax system and wealth preservation are more entrenched in the psyche of places such as Switzerland and Monaco,” Rosen adds. “They are seen as more stable jurisdictions.” 

Edited by Marc Leutenegger/ts