Greece Golden visa, suitable as schengan area access?

[Paddy Fields]

Too many Russians buying mansions in the sun...

I don't mind the money.

It's more the fact that people who benefit from oppressive/totalitarian regimes are able to buy themselves into and enjoy the freedoms that come from being in a (relatively) democratic society, whilst not doing anything to bring about the changes in their home country that would allow the broader population to enjoy those freedoms.

Sorry for the rant.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

Not obvious to me. Each member of the EU is an independent Nation entitled to allow tourists or business visits for the normal three month. Then along came Schengen where every member of Schengen are linked together with a shared tourist revenue of a collective three month only. Shared between 26 Nations. A lot of these Nations are questioning whether this was a good move. I think it was Orwell who stated that a country without borders is not a country.

I have a feeling that this situation will not last much longer. As countries re-instate their border control they will also get back their individual three month bite of the tourist dollar. Recall that Germany got back on her feet very quickly after WWll with the American, British, and French armies of occupation a de facto gold mine of tourist money day after day for years. They even bought Mercedes and BMW for goodness sake. So Germany is well aware of the advantage of tourism. The Americans are still there for goodness sake. Nations are waking up. Almost every donor country has its Frexit, nexit, swexit, italexit, even the calm Danes with a Dexit movement. Strange that Germany does not have an exit movement of any size.

Anyway, these are ramblings while I take a break from my preparations for my flight to Greece in a few days. Exhausting stuff mothballing my house for the Swedish winter.

Each member is an independent nation, and that is why there is a 90 day rule for everyone - including EU citizens - if you stay longer than 90 days in another EU state, you still need to register, prove you can provide for yourself, and sign up to whatever healthcare system the host country has - you have no access to any social services until you are effectively a taxpayer (other than those provided by your EHIC card). Meanwhile, goods, EU tourists, money, and workers flow freely within the EU. FoM just means that beyond 90 days, you have a right to support yourself in another EU country, not just "be there" - they expect registration, taxes, healthcare payments etc. if you choose to exercise that right.

It is also why residency in one country does not grant FoM in the EU. Barriers to residency are generally far lower than the barriers to citizenship, so no EU nation wants a decision on residency in one country to grant the right to live and work in another.

Once an EU country has formally granted citizenship though, such that the person in question is a citizen of an EU country, then they can be sent back to that country should they turn out to be unable to support themselves, or a criminal - citizenship of an EU country grants FoM for the Schengen area.

FoM is not going to disappear anytime soon because with every passing day, more and more citizens are living and working in countries they are not citizens of, more and more companies are building and investing in EU countries they are not based in and more and more families consist of parents of different EU nationalities. To unravel it all, throw up borders and red tape, demand visas and permits, would be catastrophic for europe economically - Central Europe now has so many cross-border relationships - personal, financial, corporate and political - that to tear it all down would almost certainly result in war in europe within 5 years as they all squabble with each other as their economies nose-dive.

 

[nortada]

Each member is an independent nation, and that is why there is a 90 day rule for everyone - including EU citizens - if you stay longer than 90 days in another EU state, you still need to register, prove you can provide for yourself, and sign up to whatever healthcare system the host country has - you have no access to any social services until you are effectively a taxpayer (other than those provided by your EHIC card). Meanwhile, goods, EU tourists, money, and workers flow freely within the EU. FoM just means that beyond 90 days, you have a right to support yourself in another EU country, not just "be there" - they expect registration, taxes, healthcare payments etc. if you choose to exercise that right.

It is also why residency in one country does not grant FoM in the EU. Barriers to residency are generally far lower than the barriers to citizenship, so no EU nation wants a decision on residency in one country to grant the right to live and work in another.

Once an EU country has formally granted citizenship though, such that the person in question is a citizen of an EU country, then they can be sent back to that country should they turn out to be unable to support themselves, or a criminal - citizenship of an EU country grants FoM for the Schengen area.

FoM is not going to disappear anytime soon because with every passing day, more and more citizens are living and working in countries they are not citizens of, more and more companies are building and investing in EU countries they are not based in and more and more families consist of parents of different EU nationalities. To unravel it all, throw up borders and red tape, demand visas and permits, would be catastrophic for europe economically - Central Europe now has so many cross-border relationships - personal, financial, corporate and political - that to tear it all down would almost certainly result in war in europe within 5 years as they all squabble with each other as their economies nose-dive.

Doesn’t bode well for the longer term ambition for United States of Europe, with cohesion and freedoms similar to those in the USA.

Possibly one of the causes of Brexit.

Although many Brits could live with the current EU; they were unhappy with the direction the EU was heading - Ever closer together with a common foreign policy and federal armed forces.