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The Closed Routes Record
Property residency programs that ended.
Three flagship European property routes closed in three consecutive years - Ireland in 2023, Portugal's real estate route in 2023, Spain in 2025 - and Hungary revoked a legislated property route twelve days before it was due to open. This record exists because rule stability is measurable: every closure below is dated, tied to its legal instrument, and sourced.
The record
Immigrant Investor Programme closed
The entire IIP (introduced 2012) closed to new applications from close of business on 15 February 2023, announced by the Minister for Justice on 14 February 2023. Property-linked elements were indirect - REIT and enterprise/fund options rather than a simple buy-a-home route - but the closure belongs in the stability evidence base as part of the European wave. Stated rationale, as reported: concerns raised by the EU Commission, Council of Europe and OECD on border security, money laundering, tax evasion and circumvention of EU law.
Consequence: roughly 1,500 cases were on hand at closure, after approximately EUR 1.25 billion invested or donated over the program's life; existing approvals were unaffected.
Confirmed: gov.ie press release and Immigration Service Delivery FAQ, both accessed 2026-07-15. Corroboration: KPMG flash alert, Fragomen. Rationale wording: Reported.
Golden visa real estate route removed
Law no. 56/2023 (the "Mais Habitacao" housing package), published in the Diario da Republica on 6 October 2023, ended new applications based on real estate purchase (the EUR 500,000 standard and EUR 350,000 rehabilitation routes) and simple capital transfers of EUR 1.5 million, from 7 October 2023. The golden visa program itself survives via funds, culture, research and job-creation routes. Stated rationale, as reported: housing affordability.
Consequence: applications submitted before the reform are grandfathered under the former rules, including the discontinued real estate route.
Confirmed (law number and publication date consistent across legal sources; primary gazette text not fetched directly): Defesa Legal, Belion Partners, LVP Advogados, all accessed 2026-07-15.
Guest Investor Program property option: never activated
The EUR 500,000 direct residential purchase option was legislated as one of three Guest Investor Program routes and scheduled to become available on 1 January 2025. An amendment published in the Hungarian Gazette (issue MK_24_131) on 20 December 2024 removed it - twelve days before activation. Zero applications were ever possible under it. The GIP remains open via a EUR 250,000 real estate fund share and a EUR 1,000,000 education donation; the fund route is a securities purchase, outside this index's scope. Stated rationale, as reported: housing-market strain.
Consequence: the sharpest rule-stability lesson in the dataset - a legislated, government-marketed property route was revoked between enactment and activation with twelve days' notice.
Confirmed (the current official factsheet lists only the two non-property options): oif.gov.hu factsheet (page updated 2026-03-03, accessed 2026-07-15). Gazette coverage: IMI Daily, 22 December 2024 (accessed 2026-07-15).
Golden visa repealed in full
Organic Law 1/2025 (of 2 January, on the efficiency of the Public Justice Service) repealed the golden-visa articles of Law 14/2013 in its final provisions, with effect from 3 April 2025 - the entire investor-residence scheme, all five routes including real estate at EUR 500,000. 94% of permits had been tied to real estate purchases. Last day to file: 3 April 2025. Stated rationale, as reported: housing affordability and the concentration of permits in stressed city markets.
Consequence: investors approved before 3 April 2025 keep residency rights and renew under the original Ley 14/2013 framework.
Confirmed (law number and effective date consistent across legal sources; BOE primary text not fetched directly): KPMG legal alert, Perez Parras, Vissum Lex, all accessed 2026-07-15.
EUR 250,000 real estate route: abolition vote pending
The route remains open, but the Saeima voted 65-17 on 11 June 2026 to remove it, with intended effect 1 January 2027. The President returned the law for a second review on 19 June 2026; the final vote is expected in autumn 2026. If enacted, Latvia moves into this record in Edition 2.
Source: IMI Daily, 25 June 2026 (accessed 2026-07-15).
What this record feeds
Every program in the Index carries a rule stability criterion: documented rule changes 2020-2026, counted and weighted by severity. This record is that criterion's evidence base for closures - the severest class of change. The pattern it documents is not abstract: in each closed case, applications filed before the cutoff were honored, and applications contemplated but not filed were worth nothing. Rule stability is the difference, and it can be measured before it is needed.
The current watch list holds one entry: Latvia, above. Watch-list programs remain in the Index's open coverage with a watch flag until a closure takes legal effect. See the methodology for how closures are dated and statused.
Sources
- Government of Ireland, press release: Minister Harris announces closure of the Immigrant Investor Programme. gov.ie - accessed 2026-07-15.
- Immigration Service Delivery, FAQs: closure of the Immigrant Investor Programme. irishimmigration.ie - accessed 2026-07-15.
- Defesa Legal: More Housing Law 56/2023, end of real estate golden visas. defesalegal.com - accessed 2026-07-15.
- Belion Partners: Portugal golden visa, Law no. 56/2023 key changes. belionpartners.com - accessed 2026-07-15.
- LVP Advogados: Portugal's golden visa, what remains after the 2023 reform. lvpadvogados.com - accessed 2026-07-15.
- National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing (Hungary): residence permit for guest investor, official factsheet. oif.gov.hu - page updated 2026-03-03, accessed 2026-07-15.
- IMI Daily: Hungary eliminates real estate investment option from Guest Investor Program. imidaily.com - published 2024-12-22, accessed 2026-07-15.
- KPMG Spain, legal alert: elimination of the Golden Visa (Organic Law 1/2025). kpmg.com - accessed 2026-07-15.
- Perez Parras Economists and Lawyers: end of golden visa in Spain, 3 April 2025. perezparras.com - accessed 2026-07-15.
- Vissum Lex: cancellation of golden visa in Spain. vissumlex.com - accessed 2026-07-15.
- KPMG: Ireland, Immigrant Investor Programme closure, GMS Flash Alert 2023-035. kpmg.com - accessed 2026-07-15.
- Fragomen: Ireland Immigrant Investor Programme closure. fragomen.com - accessed 2026-07-15.
- IMI Daily: Latvia's parliament scraps two golden visa options, president sends law back. imidaily.com - published 2026-06-25, accessed 2026-07-15.