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Permanent residency and temporary residency difference
You may have heard about permanent residency and temporary residency, but firstly, you may not know the differences between them.
Temporary residency is a type of residency that grants its holder the right to reside, work, and study in a country temporarily and legally. Permanent residency holders typically enjoy the same citizenship rights, such as taxes, health care, and educational benefits, as citizens, except for holding a special jobs and voting.
Some countries provide a direct route to permanent residency, such as Malta, after investing in their territory, and some, such as Spain and Portugal, offer long-term European residency, which remains effective as long as the investor maintains an active investment.
Temporary and permanent residency
The procedures and policies for obtaining residency depend on your nationality and the laws of the country from which you will be applying for residency. In order to apply for residency, you must be mostly present in the country of the residency provider, and whether you will be granted residency depends on your nationality and the reasons you can provide while applying.
To reside in a country, you must have one of the following:
✦ Travel visa: of all types (paper, electronic, etc.). There are countries that exempt citizens of some countries from visas for a certain period.
✦ Temporary residence: is a legal document through which you can reside in a country for a short period (usually one or two years).
✦ Long-term residency: You can reside for a long time in one of the countries for a period ranging from (5 to 10 years).
✦ Permanent Residency: It is the law that allows you to reside in a country for an unlimited period, in other word, how much you want.
✦ Nationality: Obtaining the nationality and passport of the country and thus you will be a citizen of this country.
Temporary residence
In most cases, including Europe, you will initially be able to obtain temporary residency, and then you will be granted longer residency, which you must renew a month or more before each residence permit expires.
As for family, in general, your children and spouse are entitled to join in most countries. But the details of this vary according to several factors, such as whether the children are studying or not, whether there is a specific age for them or not, whether they are married or not, and others.
In order to apply for temporary residence, you must have a purpose, for example to create projects, invest or study, and the extension of residence depends on maintaining the same aforementioned purposes.
In addition, you must have a place to stay, you must prove that you can support yourself and your family, pass a medical examination, and you are not supposed to have a criminal record.
Of course, permanent residency is better than temporary residency, because with temporary residency you may face the risk of not being renewed for several reasons, including failure to succeed in your work or complete your studies.
For this reason, it is preferable to apply for permanent residency as soon as you become eligible, as after obtaining residency you will be in a better position for the second and third time, as most countries offer a one-year residence permit first, and if your business venture is successful, it will be extended to two years or five years.
Permanent residency
~ GCC
After obtaining temporary residency you must always seek permanent residency. After you have resided for 5 or 8 years, you will most likely be eligible to exchange your temporary residency for permanent residency.
However, countries require several laws in order to grant permanent residency to individuals, including residency for a specified period of time annually during temporary residency and other requirements.
Other requirements you must meet to obtain permanent residency are: to have a place of residence, to be able to prove that you can support yourself and your family, to be in good health, and to have a good criminal record.
The previous conditions share many points with the requirements for temporary residence, but there are additional requirements such as the extent of your integration into the community, your knowledge of its language and history, and others.
In what cases can you use temporary residence?
✓ Live for a specific period
✓ Explore the country
✓ Work for a limited time
✓ Studying
In what cases can you use permanent residency?
✓ Live for the long term
✓ Settling in a country
✓ Seeking social services
✓ Career advancement
✓ An alternative option for nationalities that do not accept dual citizenship
Advantages of obtaining temporary and permanent residency
✓ Living in the country
✓ Buying real estate
✓ Participation in business
✓ Study in public and private institutions
✓ Use of medical services
✓ Visa-free travel to other countries
Ways to obtain temporary and permanent residency
✓ Working under an employment contract
✓ Reunification with family
✓ Studying
✓ Carrying out official activities
✓ Ongoing medical treatment
✓ Special individual benefits
✓ Volunteer work
✓ Temporary residency programs (golden visa)
✓ Permanent residency programs
Countries obtain permanent residency and a golden visa
1. Golden visa
There are some countries that claim to provide permanent residency by granting investors who invest in their land’s residencies of up to 5 years at a time, and are renewed whenever their duration expires, but we can say that these residencies are long-term residencies and not permanent.
Spain, Portugal and Greece have Golden Residency programmes, which grant investors long-term stays after investing in their properties or in specific areas they have earmarked for the Golden Visa programme.
It is true that the Golden Visa program is distinctive and it is true that it helps investors to reside in all European Unions at the same time and have the possibility to work, live and study in the best universities. However, it does not provide a path to permanent residency like Malta.
In order to obtain the Golden Visa program, investors must invest in these countries in amounts ranging between 200 and 500 thousand euros, most of which are refundable after a period.
These programs are called long-term residency because residency in them is linked to the person’s investment, which ends when the investment ends, unlike permanent residency, which gives you the right to reside permanently in countries that do not require a purpose for that.
2. Permanent residency
Malta offers the European Permanent Residency Program for businessmen and wealthy people to establish their businesses in Europe and for their families to benefit from the distinguished European health and education systems.
After living in Malta for 5 years, you will be eligible to obtain permanent residency, through which you can add your family members with you, and then obtain the fifth Maltese passport in the world in the future.
You can apply for the Maltese permanent residency program after investing in Malta in the amount of 300,000 euros to buy a property from which the amount will be recovered after 5 years and a contribution of 70,000 dollars to the State of Malta.
Do you want to learn more about programs that offer Golden Visa and Permanent Residency, or are you looking for Citizenship by Investment programs? In all cases, you can consult us to clarify the differences between these programs and learn all the details of the programs from one of the expert advisors at Global Citizen Consultants, the approved office for obtaining residency and citizenship by investment.
About Author
Taher Shehab
As co-founder and CEO, Taher Shehab has guided Global Citizen Consultants to be a leader in providing citizenship by investment in over 20 territories, including the Caribbean.
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