Client story
Client's story
Where they started
A family from Belarus—husband, wife, and two children—was planning life closer to Europe and chose a Greek Residence Permit through investment. They had the funds and willingness, but encountered the same barrier as Russian citizens: since 2022, Greece has suspended new Golden Visa applications from citizens of Belarus and Russia holding their own passports. The route through a Belarusian passport is closed.
Why the standard route did not work
The solution here is the same as we applied in the case with the Russian couple: the restriction is tied to citizenship, therefore the application must be submitted as a citizen of another non-sanctioned country. The legal way is to obtain a second passport. For this family, Kyrgyzstan became the basis again, but with an important detail: the right to a simplified procedure belonged primarily to one of the spouses—he was born in Soviet times, in a family with roots in the Kyrgyz SSR.
What BRIDGES had to solve
Family-specific considerations then began. Obtaining a passport for only the primary applicant was insufficient—it was necessary to include the second spouse and children through citizenship so that the entire family could subsequently enter the Golden Visa program as a unified group. We established a sequence: first, we confirmed and formalized the basis for the parent with the right, then we included the other family members based on their respective grounds, so that everyone had passports from a non-sanctioned country.
Why a standard answer would not do
Once the entire family had Kyrgyz passports, we proceeded with the standard part—investment in real estate meeting the program thresholds and submission of the Greek Residence Permit application for everyone: spouses and children. Children are included in the Golden Visa as family members. As a result, the family came to European life in full—through a legal route that was unavailable through the Belarusian passport.
We all wanted to move closer to Europe through a Greek Residence Permit. And we found out that new Golden Visa applications through a Belarusian passport have not been accepted since 2022. BRIDGES explained that we needed to apply through another country's passport, and that I had grounds for Kyrgyzstan—I was born in the Soviet Union with roots in the Kyrgyz SSR. They secured citizenship for me, my wife, and our children, and then submitted all of us for Greece's Golden Visa. We received the Residence Permit as a whole family. It was important for us not to leave anyone behind and to do everything legally—and that's what happened.
