Client story
Client's Background
Where they started
Zhang is an entrepreneur from mainland China who earned his capital legitimately and decided to obtain European residence status through investment. His reasoning was straightforward: purchase income-generating real estate—several rental apartments in Budapest—and obtain residence permit in return.
Why the standard route did not work
We had to address the first misconception immediately. The Hungarian investor programme does not grant residence status for direct property purchases held in personal ownership—neither for individual apartments nor for multiple apartments under his name. A different structure qualifies: investment in units of a regulated real estate fund. The investor invests capital into the fund rather than acquiring real estate directly.
What BRIDGES had to solve
The second obstacle is China's capital controls. China strictly restricts outbound capital transfers for individuals, imposing an annual limit, making it impossible to simply transfer a substantial sum for EU investment. Simultaneously, European compliance requirements demand proof of funds origin.
Why a standard answer would not do
Zhang approached BRIDGES understanding that the challenge was not selecting apartments (which he would not own anyway), but rather investing in the correct instrument while legally transferring capital out of China with demonstrable source of funds.
I was confident I would purchase rental apartments in Budapest and obtain residence permit. Dmitry explained: that is not possible; property ownership does not qualify, only regulated funds qualify. The main difficulty was legally transferring money out of China. He selected the correct instrument, structured the transfer channel, and documented the source. As a result, I invested properly and obtained residence status.
