Golden visa programs closed: every ended scheme, what happened to holders and the live alternatives

Closures fall into three groups. The first is outright abolition: the investor ground is removed from the law and no new applications are accepted. Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, the UK, Australia and Canada's federal routes are in this group. The second is narrowing: the program stays open but its most popular route goes, usually real estate. Portugal, Latvia and Greece did this. The third is passport schemes, which granted citizenship rather than residence; Malta, Cyprus, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Moldova have all ended theirs.

The pattern is consistent. Governments cite housing affordability (Spain, Portugal), security and money-laundering risk (UK, Cyprus, Malta) or simple lack of use (the Netherlands). Existing holders are almost always protected, but notice periods can be zero: the UK closed Tier 1 with immediate effect^[12], and Ireland gave only a three-month window to finish applications already well advanced^[3]. The table below lists every program we track, with the date and the instrument. Each section further down explains what happened to holders and where investors went instead. For live options side by side, see our comparison of European investor residence programs and the directory of residence-by-investment programs.

Latvia: property and deposit routes abolished on 15 September 2026

Latvia's new Immigration Law, adopted by the Saeima on 20 August 2026 and published on 1 September, replaced the 2002 law on 15 September 2026^[10][11]. Two passive routes disappeared: property worth at least €250,000 (plus a payment of 5% of its value to the state) and a €280,000 subordinated bank deposit (plus €25,000). Applications lodged by 14 September 2026 are decided under the old law. Existing permits stay valid until expiry, and holders who apply while their permit is still valid can renew on the same ground for up to five years, paying €1,000 for each year of the previous and the new permit, less what they already paid under the old law^[10].

The company route survives: €50,000 in the share capital of a smaller Latvian company plus a one-off €10,000 state payment, for a permit of up to two years, valid only while the company pays at least €40,000 a year in Latvian taxes. A €150,000 state-fund route is in the law but not operational^[10][11]. Details are on our guide to Latvian investor residence after the 2026 reform.

Canada: Start-up Visa fully wound down

IRCC stopped accepting new Start-up Visa applications at 11:59 p.m. on 31 December 2025, except from holders of a 2025 designated-organisation commitment, who could file until 30 June 2026. The Self-Employed Persons Program stays paused, and the promised federal entrepreneur pilot had no published criteria at 2 October 2026^[16][44]. Applications already accepted continue to be processed, and Start-up Visa work-permit holders may extend while permanent residence is decided^[44].

UK and Cyprus: the legal tails of earlier closures

Two older closures reached their final legal steps. Tier 1 (Investor) holders lost the right to extend on 17 February 2026, leaving only settlement applications, which must be made before 17 February 2028^[13]. In Cyprus, Law 224(I)/2025, published on 12 December 2025, deleted the investor naturalisation clause from the Civil Registry Law, five years after the passport programme stopped taking applications^[20].

Instrument: the twenty-first final provision of Organic Law 1/2025 of 2 January, a justice-efficiency law, emptied articles 63 to 67 of Law 14/2013. It was published in the BOE on 3 January 2025 and took effect three months later, on 3 April 2025^[1]. The government framed it as a housing measure^[43]. Every route closed: €500,000 property, €1 million in shares, funds or bank deposits, €2 million in public debt and business projects^[2].

Existing holders: applications filed before 3 April 2025 are decided under the old rules. Permits in force keep their validity, and renewals (five years at a time) are decided under the rules in force when the permit was first granted^[1][2]. In practice, holders must keep at least €500,000 of qualifying property at every renewal.

Live alternatives: Spain itself now offers only income- or activity-based permits, such as the non-lucrative visa (€28,800 a year in passive means for the main applicant). Investors who wanted the old property route usually look at the Greek residence-by-investment program, which still accepts real estate. The full transitional rules are on our page on Spain's closed investor visa.

Instrument: the Government approved the Minister for Justice's proposal to close the IIP to new applications from close of business on 15 February 2023^[3]. There was no statute to repeal: the IIP was an administrative scheme under ministerial discretion. Its main options were a €1 million investment in an Irish enterprise for at least three years and a €500,000 philanthropic endowment, for applicants with at least €2 million in net worth^[5][49].

Existing holders and pending files: about 1,500 applications on hand at closure continued to be considered, and developers of significantly advanced projects got three months to finalise submissions^[54]. Already approved projects continue and remain subject to compliance monitoring^[3][4]. Approved investors and projects continue, subject to the IIP conditions and the renewal requirements that apply to them; investors renew their Stamp 4 permission on that basis^[5]. We could not access the Department's own closure FAQs to confirm renewal details.

Live alternatives: Ireland's Start-up Entrepreneur Programme needs a high-potential business and at least €50,000 in funding, and Stamp 0 for persons of independent means expects an income of about €50,000 a year per person (€100,000 for a couple), with no right to work^[5][6]. Neither is passive. See our page on what replaced Ireland's investor programme. For an English-speaking EU base with permanent status from day one, the Malta permanent residence programme is the nearest equivalent.

The Dutch admission scheme for foreign investors, introduced in 2013, gave a renewable residence permit for an investment of at least €1.25 million in the Dutch economy. Fewer than ten permits had been granted under it in recent years, and the government concluded that the scheme could not be adjusted while keeping safeguards against misuse. The scheme was abolished with effect from 17 April 2024, later than the 1 January 2024 date first expected^[7][8]. Applications filed before that date were processed, and existing holders can still extend under the requirements that applied before abolition^[7][8]. There is no Dutch investor route today; founders use the start-up or self-employed permits. The Netherlands has no page in our directory.

United Kingdom: Tier 1 (Investor), closed 17 February 2022

The Home Office closed the £2 million Tier 1 (Investor) route to new applicants with immediate effect, citing security concerns about illegitimately acquired wealth^[12]. Existing holders could extend if they applied before 17 February 2026 and can apply to settle before 17 February 2028^[13]. The replacement is the UK Innovator Founder route for active founders, which has no fixed investment but requires an endorsed, innovative business that you run.

Australia: BIIP and the Significant Investor visa, closed 31 July 2024

The Business Innovation and Investment Program, including the A$5 million Significant Investor stream, closed permanently to new applications on 31 July 2024. Pending applications are still processed, and applicants who withdraw a pending subclass 188 or 132 application can claim a refund of the visa charge^[14]. A subclass 188 Significant Investor holder can still move to the permanent 888 visa after keeping the A$5 million complying investment while holding the 188 for at least three years (four if invited before 1 July 2021) and meeting the stay test of 40 days a year^[15]. The successor is the invitation-only Australian National Innovation visa for investors and founders, which has no investment minimum.

Canada: federal investor program (2014) and Start-up Visa (2025)

Section 87.5 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, added by the Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, terminated federal investor and entrepreneur applications that had not been decided before 11 February 2014 and required both the fees and the investment to be returned without interest^[17]. That remains one of the few closures that cancelled a queue outright. The Start-up Visa followed at the end of 2025 (see above). What remains is the Québec investor program and Canada's business routes: a C$1 million five-year guaranteed investment plus a C$200,000 contribution, C$2 million net worth and spoken French.

Portugal, 7 October 2023. Lei 56/2023 (the Mais Habitação package) removed property purchases, renovation and the €1.5 million capital transfer from the ARI, and barred the remaining routes from investing in real estate, directly or indirectly^[9]. Permits granted under the old routes can still be renewed. What is left is a €500,000 non-real-estate fund, a €250,000 cultural donation (€200,000 in low-density areas), research, company and job-creation routes. Since 19 May 2026 most non-EU holders need 10 years of residence before naturalising^[41]. See the Portuguese investment residence permit and the Portuguese naturalisation timeline.

Greece, 1 September 2024. Law 5100/2024 raised the property threshold to €800,000 in Attica, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and larger islands and €400,000 elsewhere, kept €250,000 only for conversions and listed buildings, and banned short-term letting^[33][34]. Purchases already secured by 31 August 2024 kept the old rules if completed by 28 February 2025.

Hungary, 2017 and 2024. The residency bond scheme required €300,000 in special government bonds per applicant and closed on 31 March 2017^[29]. It is now under police investigation, opened on 17 September 2026^[45]. Hungary reopened with the guest investor permit in July 2024: €250,000 in a real estate fund or a €1 million donation^[37]. A planned €500,000 property route was repealed before it took effect. See the Hungarian guest investor residence permit.

Hong Kong and New Zealand. Hong Kong suspended its original capital investment scheme on 15 January 2015 and relaunched it as the New CIES on 1 March 2024, now at HK$30 million^[31]; see the Hong Kong investor entrant scheme. New Zealand stopped accepting Investor 1 and 2 applications after 27 July 2022 and replaced them with Active Investor Plus^[30], now NZ$5 million (Growth) or NZ$10 million (Balanced); see the New Zealand investor residence visa.

These were citizenship schemes, not residence permits, but buyers often compare them with golden visas. All five have ended, and no EU member state can lawfully sell nationality for a fixed payment after the 29 April 2025 judgment in Commission v Malta (C-181/23)^[18]. For the wider picture see EU passports through investment and naturalisation and how a passport program differs from investor residence.

Malta: MEIN, closed 29 April 2025

The Grand Chamber held that granting nationality in exchange for predetermined payments or investments breached Article 20 TFEU and Article 4(3) TEU^[18]. Act XXI of 2025 removed the investor wording from the Citizenship Act, and Legal Notice 159 of 2025 (29 July 2025) provided that MEIN files not approved by the Minister before 29 April 2025 "shall cease to have effect"^[19]. Citizenship already granted remains valid under the old law. Details are on our page on the end of Malta's investor citizenship.

Cyprus: Cyprus Investment Programme, closed 1 November 2020

The Council of Ministers decided on 13 October 2020 to terminate the programme from 1 November 2020, after undercover reporting on senior politicians^[21]. Files lodged by 30 October 2020 could still be decided, and Law 224(I)/2025 later deleted the legal basis^[20]. Most passports stand, but Interior Ministry figures from November 2025 put approved deprivations at 373, 116 of them completed, out of 7,329 people naturalised^[22]. See what happened to Cyprus's passport programme.

Montenegro: Special Investment Programme, last filings 31 December 2022

Investors put €250,000 (north and centre) or €450,000 (coast and Podgorica) into approved projects plus a €100,000 donation^[23]. Montenegro kept processing the 1,113 files lodged before the deadline: by 30 April 2026, 867 were approved, 239 refused and 7 pending^[24]. The European Commission has asked Montenegro to repeal the legal basis and review citizenships granted to sanctioned people^[25]. See Montenegro's closed investor passport route.

Bulgaria: investor naturalisation, abolished April 2022

Parliament adopted the amendment to the Bulgarian Citizenship Act on 24 March 2022. It was promulgated in State Gazette No. 26 of 1 April 2022 and took effect on 5 April 2022, repealing the fast-track routes in articles 12a and 14a and terminating pending proceedings^[26][27][47]. Those routes required BGN 1 million or more in government securities or BGN 2 million through licensed institutions; MPs said more than 100 files were pending, and the State Agency for National Security had six months to check article 14a naturalisations for grounds to revoke them^[26][47]. See Bulgaria's abolished investor citizenship. Bulgarian investor residence remains open.

Moldova: repealed 18 June 2020

Moldova's Parliament repealed its scheme on 18 June 2020, after earlier moratoria, by passing Law No. 111 of 18 June 2020 in second reading. The law was published in Monitorul Oficial No. 161–164 (article 315) and the repeal took effect on 1 September 2020, when the last moratorium expired^[46]. Some secondary sources cite it as Law 115. By January 2020 only 20 applicants and 32 family members had been naturalised. Files already lodged continued to be assessed, but no new ones were accepted^[28]. See Moldova's former investor citizenship.

No live program on our list has a confirmed closure date, but several are under real pressure. Treat this as a risk list, not a forecast.

• Cyprus: on 24 September 2026 the deputy minister for migration told MPs the €300,000 permanent residence scheme will be tightened before Schengen entry, and about 12,000 permits issued since 2013 are being checked^[36]. No draft text had been published. See Cyprus permanent residence for investors.
• Greece: the planned 15% transfer tax for non-EU buyers, provisionally from 1 July 2027, would make the property route much dearer without closing it^[42].
• Hungary: the guest investor program was created by the previous government; the Tisza government elected in April 2026 has not said what it will do with it^[37].
• Latvia: a bill tabled on 3 September 2026 would delete the unused €150,000 fund route^[51], and the new Saeima sits from 3 November 2026.
• United States: the EB-5 Regional Center Program is authorised only until 30 September 2027. It lapsed once before, from July 2021 until the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 15 March 2022^[39]. See the EB-5 investor green card.
• Montenegro: the €150,000 property residence threshold is before the Constitutional Court, and the Government has said the property ground could be abolished; see Montenegro residence through property.

Several live programs changed materially in 2026 without closing. Portugal's 10-year naturalisation rule (in force 19 May 2026) changed the long-term value of its investment permit for anyone seeking a passport^[41]. Malta's MPRP has run since July 2025 on a flat €99,000 in fees and donation plus €375,000 property or €14,000 a year in rent^[32]. Italy kept its investor-visa thresholds (€250,000 start-up, €500,000 company, €1 million donation, €2 million bonds) ^[38] but raised its flat tax for new residents to €300,000 a year from 2026^[52]; see the Italian investor visa. New Zealand tightened its Active Investor Plus fund rules in August and September 2026^[53], and the US raises EB-5 amounts with inflation for petitions filed from 1 January 2027. For a ranking by price, see our guide to the lowest-cost residence programs.

The right replacement depends on what the closed program was doing for you.

Schengen residence with no stay rule. Greek residence by investment is the closest match to the old Spanish and Portuguese property routes: five-year renewable permits, no minimum stay, parents included. The Hungarian fund route costs the same €250,000 but carries political risk after the 2026 election.

Permanent status from day one. Malta's MPRP grants permanent residence immediately with no stay requirement, and Cyprus permanent residence does the same from €300,000, though Cyprus is outside Schengen. Bulgarian investor residence also gives permanent status, from BGN 1,000,000 (€511,292) in Bulgarian investment funds.

A path to citizenship. No EU state sells passports any more. Residence-first routes now take 7 to 10 years of genuine residence; see residence programs with the fastest naturalisation. Investors who need a passport quickly turn to the Caribbean, for example Grenada citizenship from $235,000 or St Kitts and Nevis from $250,000, accepting that these give visa-free travel, not the right to live in the EU. The second-citizenship hub lists every live option.

Outside Europe. The UAE golden visa (AED 2 million) has no minimum stay, the Panama Qualified Investor visa starts at US$300,000 under Executive Decree 17, and the Singapore Global Investor Programme starts at S$10 million.

Closures usually protect people already in the system, but only if they act inside the rules. These steps apply to most of the programs above.