Hungary's golden visa for Russians: why it is sold when EU sanctions close it

In short

• The main option of Hungary's guest investor programme is buying real estate fund units from EUR 250,000.
• EU sanctions Regulation 833/2014 prohibits selling units of funds holding such securities to Russian citizens and people living in Russia. There is one exception: citizenship or residence of an EU or EEA state or Switzerland.
• A third-country second passport does not help. The Commission explains that restrictions remain for dual nationals holding a Russian passport.
• Hungary's migration authority must assess every application for compliance with UN and EU sanctions.
• Malta and Italy have officially closed their programmes to Russians. For a Russian citizen, Cyprus and Greece via a second citizenship remain workable.

A call I hear too often

The pattern is always the same. A person looks for residence in Europe and finds the Hungarian programme. It looks the best of all: a ten-year status renewable for another ten, no need to live in the country, the right to work, entry from EUR 250,000. He is told Russians are accepted and that Hungarian law contains no ban. He pays the commission up front. Then it begins: the fund is checking for a long time, the consulate is delaying, just wait a little longer. After a few months it turns out the case will never move.

The worst part begins when the person asks for the money back. Nobody wants to return a commission for a service that could never have been provided. The contract has no refund clause, or it is worded so that it cannot be used. The man who called me got his EUR 20,000 back only because he did not give up. Many do give up.

I do not name names or the company that took the money. My task is not to punish anyone. My task is that the reader of this article does not pay for something that cannot work.

What this means for you. If you are being sold a Hungarian golden visa on a Russian passport and asked to pay up front, that is a reason to stop and ask the questions in this article.

How the Hungarian programme works

The guest investor programme has operated since 1 July 2024 under Hungary's law on the entry and residence of third-country nationals. There is no direct property purchase in it. There are two investment options.

1. Real estate fund units from EUR 250,000. The fund must be registered with the National Bank of Hungary, at least 40% of its assets must be in Hungarian residential property, and the units must be held for at least five years.
2. A donation from EUR 1 million to a higher education institution run by a public-interest trust, for education, science or the arts.

The order is this. The investor first obtains a guest investor visa at a Hungarian consulate in the country of citizenship or permanent residence. He then enters, makes the investment within three months and applies for residence within 30 days of entry. The permit is issued for up to 10 years with one possible renewal for another 10. There is no requirement to live in the country, and work is unrestricted.

All of this is true, and for a citizen of Kazakhstan, India or Turkey the programme really is good. The problem begins with a Russian passport.

For nationals of other countries the terms are on the page Hungary guest investor programme. Compared with a neighbour: Hungary or Cyprus.

Where the ban sits

The ban is not written in Hungarian law, and the whole sale rests on that. It is written in an EU regulation that applies in every member state directly, without any national law.

Regulation 833/2014 on sanctions against Russia prohibits selling to Russian citizens, people living in Russia and Russian companies securities denominated in the currency of any EU state issued after 12 April 2022, as well as units of collective investment undertakings that provide exposure to such securities. Units of a Hungarian real estate fund fall under this description. The exception is named in the regulation: citizens of EU, EEA states and Switzerland and people with residence in one of these countries.

Then a second layer. The same regulation prohibits EU banks from accepting deposits above EUR 100,000 from Russian citizens. For dual nationals the Commission is explicit: if the second citizenship is of an EU, EEA state or Switzerland, the exception applies; if the second passport is from any other country, the restriction remains. A Vanuatu or St Kitts passport does not override the Russian one here.

And a third, Hungarian layer. On the programme's official page Hungary's migration authority states that when examining a guest investor visa it assesses circumstances that exclude the investment because of UN or EU restrictive measures. So the sanctions check is built into the procedure itself.

What this means for you. The main option of the Hungarian programme is closed to a Russian citizen by three layers at once: the ban on selling units, banking restrictions and the migration authority's check.

The same regulation closed the Portuguese funds: Portugal golden visa for Russians, how golden visa funds work.

What about the EUR 1 million donation

Sometimes sellers reply: units are not allowed, but a donation is. Formally a donation to a university is not a sale of securities. But let us look at it soberly. The person must transfer EUR 1 million from Russia or from his own EU account, where the bank will not accept more than 100,000 from him. The migration authority will assess the application for sanctions risks. The money is never returned.

I do not know a single Russian citizen who obtained Hungarian residence this way, and I see no sense in giving away a million with no return for a status that costs EUR 300,000 in Cyprus with the capital preserved. Above all: nobody offers this option to people being sold a visa for 250,000. They are sold precisely the units.

Malta and Italy said it plainly

It is useful to compare Hungary with its neighbours. Malta's residency agency has not accepted applications from Russian and Belarusian citizens since March 2022. Italy suspended its investor visa for Russians and Belarusians on 14 July 2023, and since March 2024 also for nationals of other countries with a second, Russian or Belarusian, passport. The notice is posted on the programme's government portal.

The difference with Hungary is not in substance but in form. Malta and Italy wrote the ban on their websites, and nobody sells these programmes to Russians: any client can check in a minute. The Hungarian ban is hidden in the sanctions regulation, and you need to know how to read it. That is exactly why Hungary feeds the most intermediaries.

What this means for you. If you cannot find a ban on the programme's website, that does not mean there is none. It means it has to be looked for in EU sanctions.

How to tell a genuine offer

If you are still offered a Hungarian visa, ask five questions. A genuine consultant will answer all of them in writing.

If the answer to the first question is "Hungarian law has no ban", you can stop listening. If the commission is requested before written confirmation from the fund, do not pay.

If the money is already paid

The man who called me got his refund himself, and his story contains no secret trick. It contains persistence and documents. What you can do:

1. Gather everything in writing. The contract, correspondence, payment documents, promises about timing and about Russians being accepted.
2. Send a written claim. Point out that the service could never have been provided because of EU sanctions, which the provider could not have been unaware of.
3. Set a deadline for a reply. And decide in advance what you will do if there is none: a lawyer in the provider's country, a complaint to a professional association, court.
4. Do not sign anything new. Sometimes the response to a claim is an offer to "move the case" to another programme for an extra fee. That is not a refund.

This is not legal advice on your case: deadlines and procedure depend on the contract and the provider's country. But the logic is always the same: the earlier and the better documented your actions, the higher the chance of getting the money back.

What really works for a Russian

Now the good news. European residence for a Russian citizen in 2026 is possible, just not where it is most often advertised.

• Cyprus. Permanent residence from EUR 300,000 in property, including commercial property. This is direct ownership of an asset, not fund units, so the ban on selling securities does not apply. How this works on a real office deal I explained in the article on the Cyprus market records.
• Greece via a second citizenship. Filing on a Russian passport is suspended, but filing as a citizen of a second country works. The scheme with a Vanuatu passport is described in on a Vanuatu passport and Greek residence.
• Hungary on other grounds. The sanctions concern fund units, not the country. Moving through your own business and real activity is possible; we look at the conditions for each situation. More in the article on Hungarian residence through business.

EU sanctions restrictions are tied to citizenship and to the type of asset, not to the country. So the same sum can be a lawful investment in a Cypriot office and a prohibited purchase of Hungarian fund units. What must be checked is not the country but what exactly the money is invested in.

Anna KovalevskayaHead of Legal, BRIDGES

Related: Cyprus permanent residence for Russians, Greece golden visa for Russians. The exact amount for your family is shown by the Cyprus residence cost calculator and the Greek golden visa cost calculator.

My conclusion

Hungary's golden visa is an excellent programme. For everyone except Russian and Belarusian citizens. The ban on it is not written in the advertising or in Hungarian law, but it exists and it works. If it is sold to you on a Russian passport, you are being sold not a visa but a commission. Do not pay up front, ask your questions in writing and choose a country where your passport and your money are accepted lawfully.

How we handle an application is shown on the page Greek golden visa support. The wider European picture is in the column EU golden visas in autumn 2026, and the Portuguese queue in 6,000 decisions out of 46,000.

Sources

Rules of the guest investor programme and explanations of Hungary's migration authority. EU Regulation 833/2014, Articles 5b and 5f, and the Commission's guidance on them, including on dual nationality. Notices of Malta's residency agency and the Italian investor visa government portal. The client's story is given without his name or identifying details. Author: Sergey Evdokimov, Managing Partner of BRIDGES. Facts checked on 14 October 2026.

Related: Hungary golden visa: terms, Cyprus permanent residence, Greek golden visa.