July 3, 2017
Today is the last day of the Investment Migration Forum, a 3-day event held yearly to discuss trends and policies in international migration. Experts also touched upon the Hungarian Residency Program, and mentioned that there is a possibility that it might restart soon.
The Investment Migration Forum
The Investment Migration Forum is the largest and most renowned event where experts around the world can meet and discuss all kinds of topics related to migration, immigration, policies, and trends. Among the experts you may find government officials, academics, investment agents and immigration specialists from about 40 countries. Participants can learn a lot not only from the talks and panels themselves, but also from the informal chats during breaks.
A colleague of the Hungarian daily newspaper Magyar Nemzet was also among the speakers. He heard the Chinese speaker praise the Hungarian Residency Program for its favorable conditions, including the simple investment procedure (which is really important to Chinese businessmen, as cash movements are far more frequent there than in Western Europe), that there is no requirement of actually have an accommodation, and the quick processing of applications. He also asked some of the participants what they think about the Hungarian program. Many of them mentioned that they expect the Hungarian program to restart soon, maybe even next year. One of the experts with more than 20 years of experience in the migration business also added that it is quite usual for programs to be suspended and then restarted according to the local political environment.
Hungarian program suspended, but not over
Indeed, the Hungarian Residency Program is just suspended, not closed. This means that the law regulating immigration of investors who make a considerable contribution to the Hungarian economy (through the 5-year investment into government bonds) is not revoked. The treasury is not currently selling residency bonds, but that can easily be remedied should the Hungarian Parliament come to an agreement regarding the restart of the program. Until then, you have various options you can choose from if you are interested in visa-free travel in Europe or around the world.