OK, let me introduce Azerbaijan's investor visa program, which gives you a Temporal and Permanent Residence Permit based upon your bank deposit or property investment, etc. Requirements for obtaining (I) Temporally Residence Permit are above (i)-(iv). Residence permit of your dependent and children are attached. You can also work in Azerbaijan, if you apply Work Permit separately.
This page mainly focuses on case (i) Bank deposit of AZN100,000 (USD59,000), as it is the fastest and easiest way. (procedure is almost same in case of (ii)-(iv).) You have to keep AZN100,000 (USD59,000) deposited on your bank accounts in Azerbaijan, at least at the timing of Temporary Residence Permit application / extension. Not only AZN, but also foreign currency accounts are accepted (eg. USD, EUR). (ii) Property ownership of AZN100,000 (USD59,000) is an another option to obtain Temporary Residence Permit. Baku is under housing bubble. Everybody believes property price rises forever and rushes into investment in apartment by mortgage loan. You can see so many new apartment projects anywhere in Baku, despite some of them face difficulty to find tenants. If you want to ride on the wave of Baku housing bubble, where property price rises by 2-4% every month, (ii) is an interesting option. However, be careful for currency risk. AZN was depreciated more than 100% for the past 3 years. (iii) Any investment of AZN500,000 (USD294,000) also grants Temporary Residence Permit under more favorable conditions. Not an investor visa, but (iv) business establishment grants Temporary Residence Permit as well. In general, corporate registration and tax administration are quite fast and easy in Azerbaijan. For more detail, please have a look at Starting Business section. (https://moving2azerbaijan.weebly.com/entrepreneur-visa) Let's move to (II) Permanent Residence Permit, which is granted based upon 2 years residency by Temporary Residence Permit and keeping the conditions of the application (bank deposit, property ownership, head of company, etc.). You will also have an Azerbaijan language test. This Permanent Residence Permit has 5 years validity period and has to be extended every 5 years. For more detail, please have a look at Migration Code. Article 45. Cases when permit for temporary residence in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan is issued to foreigners and stateless persons 45.0. Except the cases set forth in Article 50 of this Code, foreigners and stateless persons are issued permit for temporary residence in the Republic of Azerbaijan in the following cases: 45.0.1. In case they are in close relationship with a citizen of the Republic of Azerbaijan; 45.0.2. In case they invest at least 500 000 manats in the economy of the country; 45.0.3. In case they possess real estate which is worth at least 100 000 manats on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan or funds in the same amount in the banks of the Republic of Azerbaijan; 45.0.4. In case they are highly qualified specialists in the spheres of economy, industry, defense, science, culture, sports, etc; 45.0.5. In case they are family members of foreigners and stateless persons temporarily or permanently residing on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan; 45.0.6. In case they hold positions of head or deputy head in the branch or representation of a foreign juridical person in the Republic of Azerbaijan; 45.0.7. In case they engage in entrepreneurship activity in the Republic of Azerbaijan; 45.0.8. In case they obtain work permit in a way envisaged by this Code to carry out paid labor activity on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan; 45.0.9. In case they get full-time education at institutions of higher education and technical schools and in case they get education at secondary schools in the Republic of Azerbaijan; 45.0.10. In case they are engaged in professional religious activity at officially registered religious institutions; 45.0.11. In case there are grounds envisaged by the international agreements of the Republic of Azerbaijan. NOTE: The case set forth in Article 45.0.7 of this Code is only considered as a ground for issuance of a permit for temporary residence in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan, when those persons work actually by concluding labor contract with at least 5 persons on full time employment or 10 persons on part-time employment. In this case, at least 80 percent of the workers are required to be the citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Article 52. Permit for permanent residence in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan issued to foreigners and stateless persons and the document certifying it 52.1. Foreigners and stateless persons temporarily residing at least 2 years on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the grounds set forth in Articles 45.0.1-45.0.7 of this Code on the basis of a relevant permit can submit application to obtain permit for permanent residence on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. 52.2. Permit for permanent residence on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan is issued to foreigners and stateless persons by the relevant executive authority. 52.3. When foreigners and stateless persons are given a permit for permanent residence on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan, those persons are provided with permission card for permanent residence on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. 52.4. Permission card for permanent residence on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan is a document authorizing foreigners and stateless persons to reside on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan permanently and exit from the Republic of Azerbaijan and return back under visafree regime within its validity period, and certifying identity and registration of those persons upon place of residence in the territory of the country. 52.5. Description, specification and sample of the permission card for permanent residence are approved by the relevant executive authority.
6 Comments
Migration lawyer is the most important part for your succesfull migration, as lawyer with investor visa experience is pretty limited.
I tried to do it by myself, but soon noticed it's impossible. Even Migration Service officer can't speak English fluently, so I could not make even very simple query. Your Azerbaijani friend is not helpful, as various legal/administrative arrangements are required despite migration procedure is not well organized. I mean "professional" services is necessary. The points I appreciated my lawyer was:
Let me know if you want to contact my lawyer, who actually supported my investor visa application. Required documents for Temporary Residence Permit application are as follows. Assuming case (i) "AZN100,000 (USD59,000) deposit". (a) Application form (b) Passport copy (validity: requested residency period + 3 months) (c) Bank certificate (d) Health check result (e) 2 photos (3cm x 4cm / Red background) (f) Document of residence (property right registration, rent contract, etc.) (g) Application document by residence owner (h) ID copy of residence owner (i) TRP fee AZN10 (USD6) per permitted month (* Please check with your lawyer on required documents) Good news is that you don't need Police Certificate, which takes time for issuance/authentication! (Looks like crime record is checked through diplomatic channels.) What a easy procedure! All documents are quickly obtained in Azerbaijan without embassy's authentication! Let me describe a bit more. (a) Application Form Download from following link. https://eservice.migration.gov.az/assets/docs/muveqqeti-yasamaq-ucun-icaze.pdf Guess you have no difficulty to fill the fields, as they are pretty common. Please note that you have to write the following declaration in 20 Additional notes: "I have been informed that I will bear administrative responsibility if my actual address of residency differs from the provided one and if I do not inform of an address change within 10 days." (c) Bank certificate Migration Service specifies bank and branch where you open your accounts. Ask your lawyer to check with Migration Service. Just passport is OK to open accounts. Go to bank with your lawyer for account opening, as you have to sign some Azerbaijani documents, on which lawyer's translation is required. Foreign currency accounts (eg. USD, EUR) are accepted by Migration Service, so recommend to open accounts in multiple foreign currencies in addition to AZN, which is under depreciation. Once accounts are opened, send the fund and request Bank Certificate. If you sign/notarize Power of Attorney, your lawyer can receive Bank Certificate instead of you. (* Please check with bank in advance whether lawyer can receive certificate) Regarding fund transfer, recommend to send fund by separated several blocks. If you send large amount, bank's compliance check procedure may be triggered and you may have to submit fund source document and bank certificate of sending bank. (d) Health check Go to "Republican Treatment and Diagnostic Center", near 20 Yanvar station of Metro Green Line. (http://rdm.az/en/) Just passport and AZN80 (USD47) fee are required. You will have blood testing of HIV/HBV/HCV and quick medical inquiry. (f) Document of residence / (g) Application document by residence owner / (h) ID copy of residence owner You have to secure your residence BEFORE you apply Temporary Residence Permit. That is the biggest obstacle of this investor program, I think. Recommended procedure is as follows: (1) Have 1-year rent contract with "hotel" and apply Temporary Residence Permit; (2) Stay at the hotel at the beginning of your life in Azerbaijan; (3) Find your preferred apartment; (4) Check out Hotel and move to apartment.
If you have enough time to choose your preferred apartment to rent/buy, you can firstly secure your apartment, followed by Temporary Residence Permit application.
However, it takes time for finding good apartment and finishing tough negotiation with owner. In case you use apartment for application, you have to ask owner to come to ASAN Service (municipal office) for certification of documents (f), (g) and (h). This may cause a delay of your schedule. A recommended alternative solution is to have 1-year rent contract with hotel and move to Azerbaijan first. Once you find your preferred apartment, just check out hotel and move to the apartment. It is quite easy way. In my case, by using hotel, certification of documents (f), (g) and (h) was not required. (* Please check with lawyer on certification requirement) You may get anxious about the cost, but there are some hotels where you can stay by less than USD500 per month! In case you use hotel as residence, rent contract period becomes the Temporary Residence Permission period, so to get maximum period of residence, make "1-year" contract with hotel. Make sure your hotel contract has proper check-out terms. Start your Baku life in hotel and take your time to find apartment. Once you find apartment, check-out hotel and move to apartment. (You have to register an address change within 10 days to ASAN Service.) Whether you use hotel or apartment, don't worry, lawyer arranges everything well. (Let me know if you want to contact my lawyer.) For more detail, please have a look at Migration Code. Article 46. Documents required for issuance (extension) of a permit for temporary residence in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan to foreigners and stateless persons 46.1. Foreigners and stateless persons should submit the following documents for obtaining (extending) permit for temporary residence in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan: 46.1.1. Application form sample of which approved by the relevant executive authority; 46.1.2. Copy of the passport or other border crossing document (validity period of passport or other border crossing document should be more than 3 months of the expiry date of the temporary residence permit to be issued); 46.1.3. Notarized copy of the birth certificate or other document equal to it (for persons under the age of 18, without passport); 46.1.4. Notarized or equally certified document confirming existence of cases justifying issuance of temporary residence permit; 46.1.5. Reference certifying that the person is not carrier of a virus of any disease included in the list of dangerous infectious diseases approved by the relevant executive authority; 46.1.6. Copy of the document authorizing to stay or temporarily reside on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan; 46.1.7. Justified application by an authority, enterprise or organization inviting (to the Republic of Azerbaijan) foreigners and stateless persons who are highly qualified specialists in the spheres of economy, industry, defense, science, culture, sports, etc.; 46.1.8. Two photos sized 3.5 x 4.5 cm; 46.1.9. The document of a residential area-where the person shall be registered on (extract on the state registration of the property right from state registry of real estate, warrant for accommodation, rent or tenancy agreement or other document set forth in the legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan); 46.1.10. Application of the person providing a foreigner or stateless person with a residential area (except the cases when there is a residential area in possession of the foreigner or stateless person); 46.1.11. Copy of the passport of the person providing the foreigner or stateless person with a residential area (except the cases when there is a residential area in possession of the foreigner or stateless person); 46.1.12. Receipt certifying payment of the state fee; 46.2. Receipt certifying payment of the state fee is submitted by foreigners and stateless persons when the permission card for temporary residence on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan is presented to them. 46.3. Hand-fingerprints of the person (except minors under the age of 15) applying to obtain temporary residence permit are taken in accordance with biometric identification requirements. Let me introduce a super-efficient schedule example, which enables you to move to Azerbaijan just within 1 month.
What an efficient schedule! Of course, everybody has their own customized schedule plan, however recommend to quickly have a look at the above schedule idea, which is built based on my own trial and errors.
Let me explain each step a bit more. Preparation Contact lawyer and check price, schedule and work-scope, etc. Basically migration lawyer arranges / attends most of procedure. In case you use hotel as temporal residence, make sure contract period, fee and check-out conditions, etc. with hotel in advance. 1st visit Several working days is enough. You can enter Azerbaijan based on tourist visa. Meet the lawyer, go to bank to open accounts and take health check. Health check result is issued next working day. And go to hotel, sign the hotel rent contract and receive required documents from hotel owner. In case you want to outsource some procedures to lawyer, go to ASAN Service (municipal office) and notarize Power of Attorney. Required document in above processes is your passport only. Please note that issuance of bank debit card may take several working days, if you want to receive the debit cards at your 1st visit. Debit card number may be required for internet banking services of Azeri bank. If you have internet banking account in your home country, you can send the required fund and finish TRP application during your first visit. Or, you can return to your home country where you make a fund transfer, then re-visit for TRP application, if you prefer that schedule. Send AZN100,000 (USD59,000) to bank accounts in Azerbaijan. Recommend to send fund by separated several blocks. Sending large amount in one transfer may trigger bank's compliance inspection, which requests your fund source documents and bank certificate of sending accounts. Once fund is transferred, go to bank again and receive bank certificate. Now you get all required documents! You can submit Temporary Residence Permit application to ASAN Service. Approval After 2-4 weeks, you will receive an email of application approval. Migration to Azerbaijan Come to Azerbaijan under tourist visa and receive Temporary Residency Card (ID card) at ASAN Service. Now you can start new life in Baku! Please note that if you stay outside Azerbaijan more than 90 days during your permitted residence period, your Temporary Residence Permit is cancelled. |