The lawyer called the issuance of a "golden visa" to 10 foreigners a significant result.

Getting 10 foreigners a "golden visa" in Russia is a significant result, says Anton Imennov, senior partner at the Pen & Paper Bar Association. He told Izvestia on February 26 that such indicators correspond to global trends.

"The Golden visa program in the Russian Federation is relatively new — it has been in effect since January 2023. The media reports that in 2024, only 14 investors applied. At the same time, 10 approved visas is quite a significant result. These figures correspond to global trends: for example, in the first year of the program in Portugal, only two investors received a golden visa, and in the second year 494 already received it," the lawyer noted.

According to him, the relatively small number of approved visas may be explained by the fact that investors first assess the prospects for doing business in the country, analyze regulatory and macroeconomic conditions, and then decide on investments.

"In addition, the program provides for various forms of investments, including registration of a legal entity operating in Russia for at least two years. This means that a certain amount of time inevitably passes between investing in a new business and obtaining a visa," he said.The expert explained that the advantage of obtaining a residence permit (residence permit) under the Golden visa program is a simplified procedure for obtaining it and shorter terms: a residence permit can be obtained without obtaining a temporary residence permit.

Few are enrolled: only 10 foreigners have received "golden visas" in the Russian Federation

This is modest even considering the sanctions and the novelty of the program — the mechanism may still be rehabilitated in the future.

Earlier in the day, it was reported that since January 2023, foreigners have submitted href="https://iz.ru/1844892/olga-anaseva/malo-zachisleno-vsego-10-inostrancev-poluchili-zolotye-vizy-v-rf " target="_blank">40 requests for a golden visa. This was reported by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the agency sent a positive opinion to only 23 of them, and only 10 have already received the document. Citizens of Azerbaijan, Algeria, Germany, Georgia, Israel, Iran, China, Mongolia, Serbia, the USA, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Croatia, and South Korea have expressed interest in applying for such visas.