Ireland visa to close a scheme.
Ireland visa scheme that handed immigration wealthy foreigners investing at least 1 million euros($1.08 million), a minister said on Tuesday following disapproved of similar schemes by the European Union.
Ireland visa’s Imigrant Investor Programme, which also handed visas to those giving 500,000 euros to humanitarian causes, has overseen investments of over1.2 billion euros over a decade, Justice Minister Simon Harris said in a statement.
While the scheme didn’t give passports, investors and qualifying family members could apply for citizenship after five years of residency in Ireland.
The minister said the decision to close the scheme had taken into account studies by International bodies similar as the European Commission, which last time called on EU governments to end nationals programmes to vend citizenship to investors, which it has long considered a security threat.
Roughly 1,500 cases that are awaiting approval for the Irish scheme, which has been popular with Chinese investors, will be considered, the statement said.
