The security threat posed by golden visa schemes is even more serious than the EU is letting on. According to a recent investigation, the EU's report warning of the threats that arise from cash-for-residency programs was significantly watered down, and tougher sections included in an earlier draft were left out. An October 2018 draft had proposed "member states should not accept investor scheme applications from persons listed on UN and EU sanctions lists", but this was left out of the final report that was published on 23 January.

To learn more about golden visa schemes, watch our video.