EU calls for tougher checks on golden visa applicants

BRUSSELS — The European Union is warning countries running lucrative schemes granting passports and visas to rich foreigners to toughen checks on applicants amid concern they could be flouting security and tax laws.

The EU Commission said in a report Wednesday that so-called golden passports and visas offered in one EU country can open a back door to European citizenship or residency in all 28.

Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos says the Commission “will monitor full compliance with EU law.”

He warned that “the work we have done together over the past years in terms of increasing security, strengthening our borders and closing information gaps should not be jeopardized.”

Bulgaria, Cyprus and Malta offer passports to investors without connections to the countries or even the obligation to live there. Twenty EU states offer visas for investment. /ee