By Uglobal Staff
The Bulgarian cabinet has approved a bill to abolish the country’s golden visa program for foreign investors, citing the reason that the CBI program did not significantly boost the country’s economy or create many jobs, according to various media reports quoting the Bulgarian premier’s office.
The Bulgarian Ministry of Justice submitted a draft law to amend the Bulgarian Citizenship Act at a meeting of the Council of Ministers on January 12 during which the bill was adopted. The draft law will now be presented to the country’s parliament where it is expected to be debated and approved.
In a statement issued after the Council of Ministers meeting, the Bulgarian cabinet said the bill to abolish the golden passport program in Bulgaria was being pushed because of “the absence of real investments in the economy, likely to lead to job creation,” according to the French wire service AFP.
The Bulgarian golden visa program allows foreign investors to gain permanent residency and eventually citizenship following an investment of at least 500,000 euros.
The Bulgarian move to end its golden visa program came on the same day as the European Commission announced that it was partially suspending its visa waiver deal with Vanuatu because of security risks caused by the island nation’s investment immigration program.
Bulgarian investment immigration professionals approached by Uglobal were guarded in their comments, stating that the emerging situation remained fluid since there were still many uncertainties following the government cabinet’s adoption of the bill.
It remains unclear for how long foreign investors would have the option to apply for Bulgaria’s golden visa under the current rules and what would happen to pending applications.