Are the days of Citizen by Investment over? Is the end near? 28 March 2022, the European Commission issued a recommendation urging states to immediately repeal any existing Citizenship-by-Investment (CBI) schemes and to ensure that strong checks were in place to address the risks posed by Residence-by-Investments (RBI)schemes.

It further recommended that member states should immediately assess whether citizenship granted under a CBI scheme to Russian or Belarusian nationals on an EU sanctions list in connection to the war in Ukraine should be withdrawn, and that residence permits granted under an RBI to Russian or Belarusian nationals subject to sanctions should be immediately withdrawn.

The move followed a vote in the European Parliament on 9th march requesting the Commission to come up with a legislative proposal that would ban CBI schemes, phasing them out by 225, while regulating RBI schemes to ensure that investments flow into the real economy. MEPs also asked for stringent background checks, including on family members and on the origin of funds.