Minister of interior affairs Ken-Marti Vaher who is at the centre of the scandal where prominent members of IRL helped wealthy Russian citizens to obtain Estonian residence permits for a fee has promised to amend the law on residence permits the next year.
Speaking in front of the parliamentary constitutional committee, Vaher said that he will table draft amendments to the act at the beginning of the next year.
By information available to Postimees, the main principle in the amendment will be to remove the clause that foreigners who set up a company in Estonia and transfer 63,000 euros to the company’s account automatically qualify for the residence permit of Estonia.
Vaher said at a meeting that in his opinion it was not necessary to grant investors residence permits right away because initially it is possible to manage the investment and the assets with a regular Estonian visa. Only after it has been determined that the company founded by the investors has actual economic activity in Estonia, he or she would qualify for a residence permit.
Among others, the citizenship and migration department of the Police and Border Guard Board has initiated secondary checks over 147 residence permits that are linked to the scandal.
Toomas Hõbemägi
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