A golden visa programme that offered residency in Ireland and access to the EU has continued to generate €500 million even after it was shut down by the Government two years ago, reports RTE.
Despite this, the Government cannot confirm how many “immigration permissions” were granted under the scheme.
Details about the Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP) were disclosed on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, revealing that the Department of Justice, which managed the programme, cannot say how many residency permits were tied to the 2,472 project approvals it issued since the scheme began in 2012, reports RTE.
Additionally, 83 applications that were submitted following the programme’s closure are still under review.
Sinn Féin has called for a probe into this issue.
The IIP granted investors and their families residency rights, known as immigration permissions, in exchange for large financial contributions to Irish projects, reports RTE.
Launched in 2012 during a time of economic need, the scheme was formally ended in February 2023 by then-Minister for Justice Simon Harris.
Also referred to as a “golden visa programme,” the IIP allowed wealthy individuals to live, work, study, and open businesses in Ireland, provided they met the investment requirements, reports RTE.
Investors initially received a two-year residency, with the potential to extend it for three more years and later an additional five, subject to State review.
If they maintained residency throughout, they could eventually qualify for Irish citizenship.
To apply, participants needed a net worth of €2 million and had to invest in one of four categories, reports RTE.
These included putting €1 million into an Irish business for three years; €1 million into an approved investment fund for the same duration; at least €2 million in Real Estate Investment Trusts; or making a €500,000 (or €400,000 if part of a group of five or more) donation to a public-benefit initiative in arts, sports, health, culture, or education.
Examples include funding for GAA development efforts nationwide, reports RTE.
The IIP enabled individuals from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), along with their families, to obtain Irish residency by contributing to such projects.
Government promotional materials and parliamentary responses stated that “successful applicants under the Immigrant Investment Programme and their nominated family members may be granted a residence permission in Ireland,” reports RTE.
The programme was terminated due to “serious concerns” raised by the EU Commission, Council of Europe, and OECD about golden visa schemes, particularly regarding “border security, money laundering, tax evasion and circumvention of EU law”.
“The programme gave rise to issues of a broader public policy concern,” reads a statement on the Department of Justice’s website, reports RTE.
Records show that from 2012 to the end of 2024, 2,482 investment applications were approved under the scheme.
However, the Department of Justice says it cannot provide data on how many residency permissions resulted from those applications.
According to the department, statistics are not maintained in a format that allows for a breakdown of IIP-related residency permits, reports RTE.
“Statistics are not maintained in such a way as to provide the information on all IIP residence permissions granted,” the department said in a statement, reports RTE.
“Each individual’s immigration record will detail the reason why they been granted an immigration permission and this includes successful IIP applicants,” reports RTE.
“Data is currently not collated in a manner which allows for the extraction of information beyond the Stamp category granted, i.e., Stamp 1, Stamp 2, Stamp 3, Stamp 4,” reports RTE.
These stamp categories refer to different kinds of immigration statuses in Ireland.
The department also stated it “does not collate the number of permissions granted on the basis of a valid IIP application” and “is satisfied that immigration permissions are only granted on the basis of a successful IIP application.
Each individual permission granted will note the basis for the persons permission”, reports RTE.
So far, the approved 2,482 investments have brought in €1.7 billion, with Chinese investors contributing the largest portion. Some applications involved multiple investors.
Of those approved, 94% (2,332) came from China, and 53 came from the United States.
Other applicants were from Vietnam, Taiwan, South Africa, and Vanuatu, reports RTE.
In 2023 and 2024, 794 applications received approval.
These accounted for over €503 million in investment.
This means that nearly a third of the total €1.7 billion raised since 2012 was generated in just the final two years of the scheme, up to the end of 2024, r r
Although the programme is closed, additional investments may still come through it.
The Government is currently reviewing 100 applications involving 1,700 investors.
Criticism has arisen over the continued processing of applications—especially those submitted after the scheme officially ended, reports RTE.
Sophie in ‘t Veld, a former European Parliament member and rapporteur on legislation to regulate golden visa and passport schemes, criticised Ireland for not ending the IIP more decisively.
She said applications made after the scheme’s closure should not be allowed, reports RTE.
Current data shows 83 applications now under review were submitted after the scheme officially ended on 15 February 2023.
In a statement, the Department confirmed: “as of February this year, 83 post closure projects are on hand”.
It also said: “In the short period allowed following the announced closure of the programme, the IIP unit received over 140 new project applications. A considerable number of projects were ruled out for not having a valid investor application associated with the project proposal by the closure deadline. A number of other projects were ruled out of scope,” reports RTE.
To give context, when the scheme was winding down, the Department stated: “a number of projects where an application has not been formally submitted but which have been significantly developed following contact with the IIP Unit of the Department of Justice. It is proposed that such projects be given a period of three months in which to finalise and submit their applications. Otherwise, the scheme will be closed to new applications from close of business on 15 February 2023”.
Ms in ’t Veld questioned the legality of accepting applications that weren’t formally submitted before the cut-off date, r r
She said any application “that was not on the table at the moment the programme closed should not be processed” because there is a question about the “legal basis” of the application and awarding or a visa or immigration permit.
Speaking to Morning Ireland, she said the grounds for granting immigration permission to applicants who submitted after the closure are unclear, reports RTE.
She urged the Government to clarify the legal status of those applications.
Sinn Féin’s Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire also raised doubts about the legality of post-closure applications and called for an investigation, reports RTE.
The TD for Cork South Central demanded that the Minister for Justice look into applications submitted after the deadline.
“The scheme was open to abuse. There is an issue of principle there as to whether residency should simply be something that if you have enough money that you can obtain it. I don’t think that that’s right,” he said, reports RTE.
“I do think it needs to be examined if people didn’t actually formally have applications in at the time of the closing of the applications … then on what legal basis were later applications, than that processed and approved? If they weren’t in, if the application wasn’t in at the date, a completed application, or at least a seriously advanced application wasn’t in before the programme was closed, then I don’t think that should be processed. It certainly needs to be investigated,” he said, reports RTE.
When asked what the Minister for Justice should do, Mr Ó Laoghaire replied: “If there have been applications processed without an application having actually been substantially advanced, then I think that needs to be investigated”.
“I think with any scheme you expect that when a scheme is closed that that is the end of that and that maybe you process whatever applications are in [at the closing date]. So I think there is a questionable legal basis for the processing of applications. If the application wasn’t already in and significantly advanced,” he added, reports RTE.
Other members of the opposition have also demanded a complete end to the programme.
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy called for a total shutdown.
“The idea of golden visa schemes is utterly repugnant to any democratic notion of citizenship, of access to citizenship, of pathways to citizenship.
“The idea that people with a lot of money could effectively be able to buy themselves a way of getting citizenship, later down the line, is overly offensive, reports RTE.
“I don’t think we should be processing these applications anymore. This was shut at short notice because internally the Government recognised it is a problematic scheme.
“It can displace other investment. It can be used for money laundering. It can be used for tax evasion. I think this scheme should now be stopped entirely, reports RTE.
“We should not be processing any more applications. We should not be giving special privileged access to visas and the possibility of citizenship down the line to people on the basis of wealth,” said TD for Dublin South West.
When contacted for comment, the Department of Justice responded to the calls for a full closure and investigation.
It stated that “applications were accepted in line with the wind down announcement” and clarified that applications were “accepted until close of business on the 15th February 2023 and a number of pending applications were also given three months to finalise their applications”, reports RTE.
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