The minimum bond purchase required is €250,000 but applicants must also pay a €40,000 administration fee.

The five-year bonds offer yields at around 2%, lower than secondary market yields on similar maturity euro-based bonds.

Most applicants are businessmen, who are not planning to settle in Hungary, but who will make use of the residence permits to gain easier access to the country, Wang said.

Opposition parties have previously objected that the Special Fund set up to handle the right to permanent residence in Hungary is registered in the Cayman Islands.

Source: Hungary Around the Clock

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