14 February. The government of Ireland announces the end of its golden visa scheme, citing wider public policy considerations and assessments of international organisations.

16 February. The government of Portugal announces the end of its golden visa scheme as part of a housing reform package.

9 March. The European Parliament adopts a report which proposes a significant revamp of EU investment migration schemes, echoing Transparency International’s positions.

24 March. Bulgaria announces the end of its golden passport scheme.

28 March. The European Commission issues a recommendation urging Member States to act against golden passport and visa schemes, and to take immediate steps in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Commission announces it will refer Malta to the EU Court of Justice for its continued refusal to end its golden passport investor citizenship scheme.

Investigations into documents leaked to the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation and The Guardian confirm a loophole in Malta’s citizenship scheme that allows applicants to bypass a 12-month residency requirement. This was first uncovered by Transparency International in 2018.

6 June. In Cyprus, the government-commissioned independent investigation finds serious irregularities and breaches in the country’s now-suspended citizenship scheme. (See: November 2020)

10 June. The European Commission advances infringement procedures against Cyprus and Malta over their haphazard sale of citizenship. Transparency International welcomes continued legal action and once again urges the Commission to harmonise rules across the Union and address the problem in a systematic manner.

The European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) releases a draft report “with proposals to the Commission on citizenship and residence by investment schemes”, proposed by Member of the European Parliament Sophia in 't Veld.

The EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders tells European Parliament’s LIBE committee that the Commission has entered into a dialogue with the governments of Bulgaria, Cyprus and Malta to recommend the phasing out of their citizenship programmes and convince them not to “go too far with these schemes.”

The Cyprus Papers are released by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit. Investigative reporters obtained a trove of documents that appear to show how an investment of over €2 million in Cyprus secured EU citizenship for 1,400 wealthy individuals and their 1,100 family members from 2017 to 2019. Reportedly among the primary applicants were at least 30 individuals with pending criminal charges or convictions, as well as 40 politically exposed persons.

We put forward key questions for members of the European Parliament to “quiz” Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders on ways to curb the threats to the entire bloc posed by certain member states’ golden passport and visa schemes.

The government of Cyprus abolishes its controversial citizenship-by-investment scheme.

10 January. Transparency International Portugal calls on the Ministry of Home Affairs of Portugal to immediately release information on its golden visa programme. This is the third time that our chapter submits a formal request for the information.

23 January. A report by the European Commission recognises that golden visa schemes present “inherent” risks to EU’s collective integrity and security. The Commission announces plans to convene a group of experts from member states to recommend minimum security and due diligence checks for investor schemes by the end of 2019.

The European Parliament calls for a phase-out of all investor schemes and singles out Cyprus and Malta for weak due diligence.

The European Commission convenes the group of member state experts for the first time to discuss joint work on a common set of security checks, risk management processes, and governance and transparency matters for investor citizenship and residence schemes.

The European Commission organises a stakeholder consultation meeting with civil society and the investment migration industry, which Transparency International, Global Witness and Transparency International Portugal attend. A summary note of the consultation is shared with the group of member state experts afterwards.

The European Economic and Social Committee demands an end to all investor citizenship and residence schemes in the EU.

The group of member state experts meets for the fourth and final time, but the release of minimum security and due diligence checks for investor schemes stalls. Minutes from this meeting are never published.

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) publishes Gold for Visas investigations that reveal the rampant sale of EU citizenship and residency to the ultra-rich with few checks. Transparency International calls on the EU to closely monitor these schemes and ensure that proper oversight is in place.

A report by Transparency International and Global Witness European Getaway – Inside the Murky World of Golden Visas details the corruption risks inherent with the golden visa programmes. In the absence of harmonised standards at the EU level, these schemes open EU’s doors to the criminal and corrupt.