Know The Lingo

As you now focus on research related to resident visa options for the countries on your list, we want to be sure that you understand the relevant issues and terminology…

The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 27 member states. It’s important to note, though, that the EU is not the same as the Schengen Area.

When it comes to Europe, one of the most important terms to understand in the residency realm is the Schengen Area. It’s an area comprising 26 European states that have officially abolished passport and all other types of border control at their mutual frontiers (including four which are not members of the EU). An American or Canadian tourist can only spend 90 days out of 180 in the Schengen Area without leaving, necessitating a residency visa if you want to stay for more than six months of the year.

Of the countries we treat in depth in this course, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, and Spain are part of the Schengen Area. Only Cyprus is not. However, all seven countries are part of the EU.

A visa is a document that allows you to remain within a country’s borders for a specified period and, sometimes, with specified restrictions and limitations.

A tourist visa is the easiest form of entry into a country, and this is all you’ll need for your initial scouting visits to any country in Europe. Most Western passport holders (including Americans and Canadians) aren’t required to apply for tourist visas to most countries. You need only show up. When you arrive at the entry point into the country (typically the international airport), you show your passport, and you’re automatically granted a tourist visa and allowed entry. Sometimes you’ll be required to fill out a form, and sometimes you’ll be asked to pay a fee (on the order of, say, US$5 or US$10).

A tourist visa allows you to stay in a country for 30 to 90 days, depending on the country and the passport you carry. That’s why this is all you’ll need during the scouting phase of your overseas retirement adventure. To stay in a country beyond the 30 to 90 days allowed for by the tourist visa, you’ll need what’s called a residency visa.

When you hold a residency visa or permit for a country, you’re a legal resident. You’re not a citizen. This is an important distinction, especially for tax purposes. You’re not a citizen, and you don’t necessarily have the right to work. A work permit, again, is a separate thing.

Residency visas come in different forms—temporary and permanent, for example. A temporary visa, as you might guess, gives you the right to remain in the country for a limited time, typically one year. After that time, you must apply for another residency visa. The reapplication is usually a formality, but you may be asked to prove again that you meet whatever requirements you were required to meet to obtain the visa in the first place.

Depending on the country, after you’ve renewed your temporary residency visa a certain number of times (three or maybe five, for example), you can be eligible then for permanent residency. It depends on the type of temporary residency visa you started with.

In most countries, you’ll be required to make a new application to progress from temporary to permanent visa status. Once you’ve obtained permanent resident status, you’re done. You’re free to live in the country as long as you like and to come and go as you please.

A term that’s increasingly used is electronic visa or e-visa, which won’t indicate a new or distinct kind of visa but merely indicates you can apply for the visa online, saving you time and money. Some countries call this an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA).

Your final residency visa option can be to marry a local or have a child born in the country. While this probably shouldn’t dictate your decision process for a residency permit, if you marry someone not from your home country, you should easily be able to obtain legal residency status in your spouse’s country of origin. Likewise, if you have a child in a foreign country, you’re able to seek permission to stay in the country with the child (many countries don’t stipulate whether you fathered or bore the child).

Residency through marriage or children should allow you to skip the temporary visa period and move directly to permanent residency. (After some period of marriage, typically at least three years, and residency, you can apply for citizenship in your new country.)

Moving a step beyond residency, you might decide to seek citizenship in your new home, allowing you to apply for a second passport.

Again, before we go further, let’s make the difference between legal residency and citizenship clear: Legal residency allows you to live in a country. Depending on the residency visa, it may not allow you to work in the country, only to live there. In addition, there can be other restrictions on you as a foreign resident that vary country by country.

Citizenship is more permanent and more deliberate. You don’t lose your citizenship of your home country just because you move to or take on residency in another country. And you don’t lose or change citizenship by accident; it’s an onerous process to take on a new or denounce a previous citizenship, so you needn’t worry that your status as an American will be affected by going overseas. You won’t lose your U.S. passport unless you actively give it up. Uncle Sam wants you to keep you and your annual tax check in the fold.

In fact, most countries allow for dual citizenship. So even if you become a naturalized citizen of a second country, you don’t necessarily lose your original citizenship automatically. This is true of the United States and Canada, meaning that you can obtain a second citizenship and a second passport without affecting your U.S. or Canadian citizenship and passport status in any way. When you do this, you become a dual citizen.

Long-term legal residency can lead to citizenship through what’s called naturalization. Again, it depends on the type of residency visa you hold and how long you hold it. European countries require you to be a permanent resident for at least five years before you’re eligible to apply for citizenship (some require 10 or even 20). This means that your residency while you hold a temporary residency visa doesn’t typically count toward the years of residency required before you can apply for citizenship.

Other countries simply require you to have a certain number of years of residency, whether temporary or permanent, as long as it is legal residency. Living in the country under a tourist visa doesn’t count toward the required residency duration for citizenship.

If you don’t want to make the time investment that naturalization requires, some countries will allow you to bypass the whole residency process by making a sizable investment into the country. These economic citizenships are called citizenship by investment programs, or CIPs. CIPs allow foreigners to purchase citizenship through a significant donation or investment in the country.

Golden visas are increasingly offered throughout Europe. This is the name given to the economic citizenship offers throughout certain countries, including: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Monaco, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and the U.K. Unfortunately, Cyprus recently terminated their golden visa program.

Plus, in Europe more than anywhere else in the world, you might be eligible for a citizenship through ancestry. Read our detailed report, “Got A Grandparent? Get A Passport—9 Countries That Offer Citizenship Through Ancestry,” for an in-depth look at your potential options.