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Russia’s Little-Known Golden Visa Explained · IMI Podcasts

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: What is the coverage status of the Russian Golden Visa?
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's a program that is live, it's working, and we have people applying from most of the West, a bit of Chinese applicants trying out, so it's kind of getting its team up and running.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: So the average process time for the Russian Golden Visa, it depends on whatever they're gonna go for the real estate investment, which is at least one year.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: So you have to invest and wait one year before you apply, and then it's six months, so in total, 18 months.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: Or if you go for the faster option, which is investment in a company, then it's just six months altogether.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: We do recommend a lot.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: So, what are most people choosing in terms of the different ways of applying?
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Would you recommend a lot for the actual clients to go with the investment in a company?
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: The reason for it is that the actual company you can invest in could be a public blue chip company.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: So it's not a startup, it's a real company.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine you can invest in Zberbank, the biggest bank in Russia, or in Rosteft, one of the biggest oil producers, or Gazprom, right?
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: You invest, you have your money safe in the stock market for six months, and you're gonna get a permit residency for yourself, and later your whole family can also apply right away.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's a great proposition.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: So, what if somebody applies and invests in one company and then they want to change the investment down the line?
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: The answer to that is no, not during that process of six months.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: So essentially you pick, in that case, a stock and you are then bound to that stock until the process is done.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: So it can go up and can go down, but mostly we recommend to our clients to invest in something non-volatile.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: For example, the Moscow energy producing company, it's almost like a bond.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: It never kind of fluctuates a lot in the market.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: And after six months, you can sell the investment, invest in another company, buy real estate, or maybe take the money out of Russia if you need to.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: Everything is possible.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: So, can we actually expect changes to the Russian Golden Visa program?
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: We know that there is active talks within the ministries that constantly evaluate the efficiency of the program.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think probably people have expected a bit of different numbers if you look at the historic of what they came up with and what we're actually getting right now.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: But you never know, you know, some things they realize, maybe something will happen in one year, maybe in two years.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: But for sure, there's attention, and I think there is a desire to improve, whatever it's going to be, any results.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: But in general, I mean, opportunity to get a residency economy in Europe, the largest producer in gas in the world, the largest producer of wheat in the world, and a very safe, very nice country.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's why a lot of people right now more and more turn to Russian Golden Visa.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's the one.