Blog · 2024-11-23

Relocation news digest: visas, taxes and residency updates

Here are the week's most important stories for anyone planning a move abroad, investing overseas or pursuing a second citizenship.

🇲🇪 Montenegro floats introducing visas for Russians

Montenegro may scrap visa-free travel for Russian citizens. The prospect was raised in an interview by Milan Knezevic, a Democratic Front deputy in Montenegro's parliament and head of its committee on security and defence.

"Introducing visas for Russian citizens is possible, but it depends not only on Montenegro but also on the international situation and the end of the conflict in Ukraine," Knezevic said.

🇨🇾 Cyprus could scrap its real-estate golden visa

That is the view of analysts, who point to how quickly Greece, Portugal and Spain moved to end their property-based golden visas.

On the EU mainland, only one real-estate golden visa now remains - Hungary's - and even there the programme has been officially announced but not yet launched.

Anyone weighing citizenship through real-estate investment should move sooner rather than later: it remains one of the most attractive options, and the window before several programmes close is narrowing fast.

💰 BCS to raise fees on yuan transfers to outside banks

From 1 December, the broker BCS World of Investments will raise its fee for withdrawing Chinese yuan from the exchange to other banks.

Transfers of yuan to an account at an outside bank will incur a fee of 1% of the amount plus 450 yuan.

🇯🇵 Japan: getting a visa just got easier

Applicants in Moscow can now file for a Japanese visa without a prepaid hotel booking - a simple confirmation is enough.

🇹🇭 Thailand raises penalties for document fraud

The Board of Investment (BOI) has introduced new penalties to combat falsified documents in applications submitted through the SW system.

The penalties scale with the number of violations. A first offence brings a warning and a 180-day ban on submitting applications. A second offence suspends the company's access to the SW system for one year, and a third results in a permanent suspension.

Applicants caught reoffending lose the right to be employed as skilled foreign workers.

🇺🇸 The US may end birthright citizenship

Last May, Donald Trump released a campaign video pledging that on his first day in office he would sign an order under which children born to parents without legal status in the US would no longer be considered American citizens.

Until now, children born on US soil have automatically acquired citizenship regardless of their parents' status.

It is worth looking at other countries that offer strong passports for children and a path to citizenship for their parents: Argentina, Brazil and Chile.

🇷🇺 Russia's tax on crypto sales could reach 15%

Russia's Finance Ministry has proposed a revised bill on taxing cryptocurrency transactions.

From 2025, income from selling cryptocurrency would be taxed as follows:

• 13% on annual income up to 2.4 million rubles;
• 15% on the amount above that threshold.

In parallel, the State Duma is drafting amendments to the Administrative and Criminal Codes to tighten liability for violations involving digital assets.

🇨🇳 Shenzhen plans to cut property transaction taxes

Authorities in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen are cutting taxes on property deals to reinvigorate the housing market. From 1 December, the distinction between different categories of residential property will be removed, easing the tax burden on larger transactions.

Sellers of spacious homes they have owned for two years or more will be exempt from the 5% tax and can enjoy the same benefits as standard-apartment deals. "Spacious" is defined as a living area above 144 square metres.

Earlier in the week, Beijing and Shanghai announced similar policy changes.

Buyers also stand to benefit. The transaction tax will drop from three to one percent depending on the size of the apartments and how many a household owns. The same rates apply to a second home, though larger properties will be taxed at two percent.

🇸🇬 Singapore to pass anti-discrimination legislation

Singapore's government has introduced a workplace fairness bill designed to protect workers from discriminatory employment practices.

The bill, tabled in parliament on 12 November 2024, targets discrimination on grounds including nationality, age, gender, marital status, race, religion, disability and mental health.

🇪🇸 Spain plans to regularise undocumented migrants

Spain intends to grant residence and work permits to roughly 300,000 undocumented migrants a year over the next three years, starting in May 2025.

The new policy, approved by the government, streamlines visa procedures and offers additional protection to migrants working in the informal economy.

💴 Gazprombank and Primsotsbank report UnionPay problems abroad

Gazprombank and Primsotsbank, both under US sanctions, have warned of possible problems using UnionPay cards outside Russia.

"From 21 November, there may be difficulties with UnionPay cards abroad. If you are outside the country, we recommend using cash," Gazprombank's support team said.

Primsotsbank likewise advised customers to withdraw cash soon.

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