Turkish Citizens Turn to EU’s Golden Passport Programs Following Surge in Schengen Visa Rejection Rates
The Citizenship-by-Investment program, or Golden Passport program permits wealthy internationals as well as their family members to acquire citizenship in EU countries that run such schemes, and move freely to the borderless area of Schengen, provided they make a specific amount of money investment and meet the needed conditions, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
However, the Golden Passport program has often been involved in unlawful affairs such as corruption and money laundering, leading the EU Commission to call on all Member States to terminate such programs as soon as possible.
Despite EU warnings, wealthy Turkish citizens are considering this program as an effective way to acquire citizenship in the EU.
Besides, recently,atozserwisplus.com reported that Turkey filed an appeal to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) regarding the notable increase in the number of Schengen visas rejected for a period from 2014 until 2020.
The report also revealed that four per cent of the visa requests filed by citizens of Turkey to the European Union countries were rejected in 2014, while the number increased to a total of 12.7 per cent in 2020, which accounts for a more than 200 per cent increase.
Besides, the report stressed that EU countries were asking for a large number of unnecessary documents and the charges for visa applications were too high while adding that they were turning direct documents into a hassle.
“It has been observed in some of the implementations that states in the Schengen Area have denied access to their lands. Therefore, states in the Schengen Area need to use the Schengen Information System in a joint standard. Furthermore, using the information in the system should not violate human rights, the right to private and family life, and the right to travel,” the report submitted by Ziya Altunyaldiz from Justice and Development Party (AKP) pointed out in this regard.
In this regard, the Turkey director of Henley & Partners, Burak Demirel, has stressed that the significant problems related to business visa applications faced by citizens of Turkey had once again brought into light the importance of the Citizenship by Investment Programs.
Recently, authorities in Albania unfolded their plans to introduce the Golden Passport scheme, but the EU Commission urged Albanian authorities not to take such a step after it poses a security risk and could also cause difficulties to the country’s accession to the European Union.
Another European country, Cyprus, in 2020 terminated its Citizenship by Investment scheme following an investigative report published by Al Jazeera, which brought to light the program’s involvement in many illegal affairs.
