Only 14 persons applied for Russia’s Golden Visa Program in 2024, according to the figures provided by RBC.
2024’s statistics show that the program experienced a decrease compared to the figures of 2023, in which year 24 applications were filed, VisaGuide.World reports.
Furthermore, in early 2025, only two investors applied for Russia’s Golden Visa scheme which offers residency in exchange for financial investments.
Russia launched its Golden Visa Program in 2023 in a bid to contribute to its economy’s growth. However, the figures registered within these two years since the program was launched were far from its goal to attract 52 billion rubles (about $590 million), securing only 2.66 billion rubles (about $30.2 million) instead.
The plan of Russia was to receive about 600 applications through its Residency-by-Investment program in the third year of activity, the Managing Director of movetorussia.com, Ilja Belobragin told Imi Daily.
It means that the plan was to attract about 50 applications per month in 2025. However, considering the figures of the past two years, such a goal is far from being achieved.
Introduction of Golden Visa Program in 2023
In a bid to attract wealthy investors from China, India, Africa and the Middle East, authorities in Russia launched the Investor Immigration Program known as the Golden Visa Program in 2023.
The investment amount starts from 215.000 USD for investment into social projects in Russia and goes up to 715.000 USD for the investment into real estate in the City of Moscow. But for example, real estate investment in the Far East region is only 285.000 USD, Moscow region is 360.000 USD. So, we are talking about the middle to upper class of Indian investors.
Introducing the program, authorities in Russia said the scheme offers wealthy foreign investors the opportunity to invest in both active (stock) and passive (real estate) ways.
It gives foreign investors a one-year temporary resident visa providing they meet all the needed requirements.
To benefit from this program, applicants are not required to reside in Russia. However, it is required to keep the investment in Russia for a year, depending on the investment type, in order to maintain permanent resident status, according to Forbes.
While Russia aims to attract wealthy investors from other countries, Russians cannot benefit from several European countries that run Golden Visa Programs due to the sanctions imposed by the EU on Russia following the latter’s invasion of Ukraine.