Plan B for Your Family: Where to Move From Russia in 2026–2027 and on What Grounds

Where to Move From Russia: Choose Your Basis First, Then Your Country

Where to move from Russia is determined by your basis for status, not by a list of countries: capital investment, verified income, or family ties. The country is then selected within your chosen basis — each has its own geography, thresholds, and citizenship restrictions.

The mistake that derails a relocation halfway through looks the same every time: you choose the country first, then discover there is no legal basis for it. The order is backwards.

This guide covers relocation destinations where the basis is money or income: the profile of a reader choosing between property purchase and other investments. Routes through employment, education, repatriation, and asylum have not been verified in this series and are not described here — not because they don't exist, but because we have no primary sources for them.

What Changed in 2026: Property Stopped Being a Basis

Property purchase no longer grants a residence permit in three of five working European programs, and Spain canceled its program entirely on April 3, 2025. This is the biggest change in the past two years, and it is what breaks relocation plans based on articles from 2022–2023.

Myth-busting: "Buy an apartment and get a European residence permit." Of six investment programs, real estate counts as an investment in two — Greece and Cyprus; in Malta, housing is mandatory but not recognized as an investment. Portugal excluded property in October 2023, Hungary accepts only fund shares, Italy — company shares and bonds, Spain closed its program entirely.

Real estate remains a basis for status in three European countries: Greece, Cyprus, and Bulgaria. Bulgaria's route does not usually appear in golden visa compilations because it goes through ordinary rules in the foreign nationals law, not through an investment program: a residence permit is issued for investing €600,000 in real estate (€306,775), the state fee for issuance is 500 BGN (€255.65) per year, processing time is 14 to 60 days. Separately, Bulgaria offers permanent residency for 1,000,000 BGN (€511,292) in a fund, and it grants permanent status immediately, bypassing the annual residence permit.

This leads to a practical conclusion for those planning relocation: real estate in Europe remains an asset and part of your file — proof of residence and ties to the country — but it has stopped being an entry ticket almost everywhere.

Five Working Golden Visas in Europe and Their Thresholds

A Golden Visa for relocating to Europe works in five countries with a threshold from €250,000 to €800,000. These are Greece, Cyprus, Hungary, Portugal, and Italy. A sixth program, Malta's, is structured differently: real estate is a condition for obtaining status, not the investment itself.

The differences between these rows are larger than the differences in the numbers. A Hungarian fund share at €250,000 grants a card valid for 10 years with no residency requirement, but the money goes into a fund, not into a property: the fund itself must hold at least 40% of net assets in residential real estate, and the investor cannot choose a specific apartment. The Greek €250,000 is an exception for specific property categories; the usual threshold is higher, and in Athens, on the islands, and in Thessaloniki it reaches €800,000.

The Restriction That Doesn't Show in Thresholds: Applicant Citizenship

A money threshold is not the only filter: Italy, Malta, and Greece do not accept applications from Russian citizens. Cyprus has not introduced a formal ban, but rejects applicants without a second passport. This line in program descriptions is usually absent, yet it completely cancels the calculation.

Dual citizenship does not help everywhere: Italy's 2024 note directly extended the suspension to those holding Russian or Belarusian citizenship as one of their nationalities. Portugal and Hungary have not introduced formal citizenship restrictions.

Myth-busting: "A golden visa is open to anyone with the sum." Of six European programs, applications from Russian citizens are accepted in two — Portugal and Hungary. In one more, Cyprus, there is no formal ban, but there is a practice of rejections.

Relocate on Income, Not Capital: D7, D8, and the Digital Nomad Visa

You can relocate from Russia on verified income rather than capital: the threshold starts at €920 per month under Portugal's D7 visa. This is the most underrated layer of bases: it costs an order of magnitude less than golden visas, but requires provable regular income and an actual relocation, not just status on paper.

The Spanish threshold rose to €2,849 automatically: the law ties it to 200% of the minimum inter-professional wage, which was raised by 3.1% via Royal Decree 126/2026 on February 18 with retroactive effect to January 1. Migration rules did not change by a single word — the sum grew on its own.

The Croatian visa stands out: you can relocate on it, but it grants temporary stay for a maximum of 18 months with a mandatory break before a new application, and it does not lead to permanent residency. The Spanish and Portuguese ones do.

The UAE and Turkey: Relocation Without Citizenship Restrictions

A residence permit in the UAE for property purchase has been issued without a minimum property price for sole owners since late April 2026 — the Dubai Land Department removed the previous threshold of 750,000 AED. For co-owners, the threshold remains: 400,000 AED per share.

The UAE's 10-year Golden Visa follows its own rules: it requires properties worth 2,000,000 AED — approximately €470,000 at the Central Bank of Russia exchange rate on September 3, 2026 — and imposes a lien on the property through the end of the status period. You cannot dispose of such property, and the emirate's migration authority states this condition directly.

Turkey is the only country in this guide where the route leads not to a residence permit but to a passport: the citizenship by investment threshold is $400,000, or €345,124 at the Central Bank of Russia exchange rate on September 3, 2026.

Both destinations are open for relocation from Russia with no citizenship restrictions. On the Homzer catalog on September 3, 2026, there are 10,379 properties across both destinations: 9,041 in Turkey with a median of €203,698 and 1,338 in the UAE with a median of €778,500, out of 42,847 total properties.

How Much Plan B Costs for a Family of Four

The program threshold is the entry price for one applicant, and a family of four's relocation budget is calculated separately. It is almost always different. The difference arises in three places: fees for each family member, school, and taxes.

Caribbean tariffs are calculated for one composition: principal applicant, spouse, and two children ages 10 and 15, fund option. The full sum by official tariffs can be gathered from only two of five programs — the other three publish part of their price list or none at all.

School is usually the line item in a relocation budget that outweighs taxes. By four tracked expense categories, a family's life in Dubai costs €3,950 per month against €1,916 in Lisbon with public school; once the Lisbon family chooses an international school, the bills align — €3,937 against €3,950.

Citizenship: How Many Years to a Passport and Where the Period Grew

Portuguese citizenship by naturalization as of May 19, 2026, is available after 10 years of legal residence instead of the previous 5 — the Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2026 retained the 7-year period only for EU citizens and citizens of Portuguese-speaking countries. Applications submitted through May 18 inclusive are reviewed under the previous version.

The Malta route to a passport without relocation closed earlier: on April 29, 2025, the EU Court of Justice found the Malta program to contradict EU law, and parliament removed it from the statute that summer. The remaining naturalization by merit has neither a fixed contribution sum nor a guarantee of success: the minister decides at his discretion.

A Caribbean passport remains the fastest route to second citizenship and simultaneously the most urgent: the European Commission's letter of June 25, 2026, demanded that all five programs be wound down by June 1, 2028, and as of December 30, 2025, the existence of such a program became an independent ground for suspending visa-free status under Article 8a(1)(e) of Regulation (EU) 2025/2441.

Myth-busting: "A Caribbean passport lasts forever." The Commission's requirement concerns accepting new applications, not annulling issued passports, but the planning horizon for this destination is no longer measured in decades but in dates: September 2026 — the deadline for interim measures, December 2026 — the Commission's next report, June 1, 2028 — the stated deadline for winding down.

Calendar 2026–2028: Twelve Dates That Change the Calculation

The dates in this calendar stand between a plan and its execution: each has already changed either a threshold, access, or timeline. None is a forecast: all twelve are confirmed by an act, court ruling, or official publication.

The practical meaning of the calendar is simple: any calculation of relocation from Russia made before one of these dates must be recalculated after it. The articles in this series, where each date is analyzed separately, are listed in the data verification section.

What You Need to Do in Russia: Notification Within 60 Days

The law does not prohibit second citizenship but requires you to notify the Ministry of Internal Affairs within 60 days of acquisition. The period runs from the day you acquire the status, not from the day you return to Russia; the rule "upon entry" is an exception for those who missed the deadline while abroad.

The difference in liability is fundamental, and it is often confused. For failing to notify, you are liable under Article 330.2 of the Criminal Code: a fine up to 200,000 RUB or income for a period up to one year, or mandatory labor up to 400 hours. The administrative Article 19.8.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses with a fine of 500–1,000 RUB is for breach of notification procedure: lateness, incompleteness, or inaccuracy.

Myth-busting: "Failure to notify about second citizenship brings a 500-ruble fine." A fine of 500–1,000 RUB is a penalty for lateness and inaccuracy in notification. For failing to notify at all, a criminal article applies, and there are convictions under it.

A residence permit from another country is subject to the same notification requirement, and this is a separate line in the relocation calendar: the 60-day period is built into the timeline along with the migration authority deadlines, not after them.

The Road to Relocation: Schengen Visa, Funds at the Border, and EES

Schengen visas are issued to Russian citizens, but as of November 6, 2025, multivisa are granted only to two categories of applicants — close relatives of EU residents and transport workers. Everyone else receives a visa for a specific trip; the consular fee is €90.

The visa itself does not grant entry rights — neither for tourists nor for those relocating. Entry is allowed when five conditions from Article 6 of the border code are met simultaneously, and one of them is funds: reference amounts in the European Commission's official handbook range from €40 per day in Hungary to €122.10 in Spain. The border officer, not the consul, makes the decision.

From April 10, 2026, passport stamps are abolished: crossings are recorded by the Entry/Exit System using biometrics.

Myth-busting: "Russian citizens will need ETIAS." ETIAS is for travelers entering Europe without a visa, and Russian citizens do not need it now or after launch. The authorization system itself is not operational: applications are not being accepted, and the previous target date — the last quarter of 2026 — has been removed from the official page.

When Plan B Doesn't Work: Five Situations

A relocation plan collapses not at the program threshold but on a condition that does not appear in its description. Five situations where the calculation breaks down, and a figure that shows it.

1. The budget is calculated for one person, but your family is moving. A Caribbean passport for four costs $266,700 instead of a $230,000 contribution; the Spanish digital nomad visa costs €4,629.64 per month instead of €2,849.
2. Your citizenship was not verified before the calculation. Italy, Malta, and Greece do not accept applications from Russian citizens; the amount is irrelevant.
3. Your bet is on real estate as a basis. In Portugal, Hungary, Italy, and Spain, buying a home does not grant a residence permit — three of these four programs work, but with different assets.
4. Your naturalization calculation is based on old timelines. In Portugal, the residency period grew from 5 to 10 years on May 19, 2026; a plan where you obtain a passport in five years shifts by five years.
5. You will need to sell your asset before the deadline. The UAE Golden Visa requires a lien on the property for all 10 years; the Cyprus route requires a new build from the developer.

How We Verify Data

Methodology

Every figure in this overview of relocation destinations comes from a separate article in this series, where it was checked against a primary source: the text of a law, court ruling, official program regulations, or a government agency's price list. The summary introduces no new facts — it connects what has already been verified. Catalog numbers (number of properties, median price) were retrieved from a database query on September 3, 2026. Currency conversions use the Central Bank of Russia exchange rates on September 3, 2026: 86.9963 RUB per USD and 100.8287 RUB per EUR.

Sources

Thresholds of European programs and status of applications from Russian citizens come from the series on European Golden Visas. Portuguese D7 and D8 visas, fees, and deadlines come from articles on residence permits and naturalization. Spanish and Croatian income thresholds come from articles on the digital nomad visa. UAE conditions come from articles on owner visas and the Golden Visa. Caribbean tariffs and the European Commission requirement come from articles comparing five programs and forecasts through 2028. The obligation to notify and Criminal Code Article 330.2 come from an article on second citizenship. Schengen visas, entry rules, and ETIAS are covered in three separate articles in the series.

Limitation of Liability

This information is for reference and reflects the status as of September 3, 2026. Program conditions, thresholds, and taxes change, and some calendar dates refer to the future. Final conditions for your specific application are confirmed by a lawyer in the jurisdiction of filing. Verify conditions before any transaction.

Questions and Answers

Where should I move from Russia if my budget is limited to income rather than capital?

The basis is verified regular income. The lowest threshold among the programs covered in this series is €920 per month under Portugal's D7 visa for passive income. For remote work, thresholds are higher: €2,849 in Spain, €3,622.50 in Croatia, €3,680 under Portugal's D8.

Does buying real estate in Europe grant a residence permit?

In two of six programs with working options. Greece accepts real estate property, Cyprus accepts new builds from the developer. Portugal excluded real estate in October 2023, Hungary accepts only fund shares, Italy accepts company stakes, Spain canceled its program on April 3, 2025.

Where can I move from Russia with children, and how is the family threshold calculated?

The threshold is calculated by family composition, not by the applicant alone. In the Spanish digital nomad visa, each family member adds a fixed share of the minimum wage: 75% for the first and 25% for each subsequent one, totaling €4,629.64 per month for four. Caribbean programs have separate line items in their price list.

Can a Russian citizen obtain a European Golden Visa?

Yes, in two of six programs: Portugal and Hungary. Italy suspended acceptance on July 14, 2023, and extended the suspension to those with dual citizenship, Malta does not accept applications, Greece lifted its suspension only for renewals. Cyprus has no formal ban.

What happens to Caribbean passports after June 1, 2028?

The European Commission's requirement of June 25, 2026, concerns winding down programs, meaning acceptance of new applications, not annulling issued passports. The next verifiable points are interim measures with a September 2026 deadline and the Commission's next report in December 2026.

Do I need to notify the Ministry of Internal Affairs about a residence permit or citizenship of another country?

Yes, within 60 days of acquisition. Failure to notify is covered by Criminal Code Article 330.2: a fine up to 200,000 RUB or income for a period up to one year, or mandatory labor up to 400 hours. A fine of 500–1,000 RUB under Article 19.8.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses applies for lateness and inaccuracy.

Do Russian citizens need ETIAS?

No. The authorization is for travelers who enter Europe without a visa. Russian citizens need a Schengen visa for travel, and ETIAS as of September 3, 2026, is not operational: applications are not being accepted, and the target date for launch has been removed from the official page.

Do I need to live in the country to keep a Golden Visa?

In four of five programs, there is no residency requirement: the Hungarian card valid for 10 years does not enforce the 90/180 rule upon renewal, and proof of means of subsistence is not checked at the issuance stage either. An ordinary residence permit is different — it typically requires 183 days per year.

What happens to an application submitted before a rule change?

Transitional provisions do not exist everywhere, but where they do, they protect the applicant. Portuguese naturalization applications submitted by May 18, 2026 inclusive are processed under the previous rules with a five-year residence requirement. The Greek suspension for Russian citizens has been lifted only for renewals submitted earlier—initial applications remain closed.

How much money do you need at the Schengen border?

The European Commission publishes reference amounts, which vary by country: from €40 per day in Hungary to €122.10 in Spain. This is not a formality: proof of funds is one of five conditions under Article 6 of the border code that are checked simultaneously.