Tired of UK, US visa policy? Uzbekistan to offer 5-yr residency for Rs 2 cr

From June 1, 2025, Uzbekistan will begin offering a simplified five-year residence permit in exchange for a government donation

Tired of changing policies of UK, Canada, US, and other top countries? Foreigners looking for a stable residency route now have a fresh option: Uzbekistan. From June 1, 2025, the country will begin offering a simplified five-year residence permit in exchange for a government donation.

 

The new scheme, introduced under Presidential Decree PF-67 and signed by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on April 18, allows foreigners and stateless persons to apply for a five-year residence permit by paying $250,000. Additional family members — including spouse, children and parents — can be added for $150,000 each.

 

There are no restrictions on nationality, and the process will be separate from the country’s existing investment and real estate-based residence routes.

 

Three ways to get residence in Uzbekistan

 

With the addition of this new donation-based route, foreigners now have three ways to gain residency in Uzbekistan:

 

Donation route (Presidential Decree PF-67, April 18, 2025)  

$250,000 donation for the main applicant  

$150,000 per family member  

Five-year permit (renewal rules pending)  

Open to all nationalities  

Payment to a designated state account

 

Real estate route (under amended Decree UP-5611)  

$300,000 property purchase in Tashkent or nearby  

$200,000 in cities like Samarkand or Bukhara  

$100,000 in other regions  

Indefinite residence status  

Open to nationals from 85 listed countries  

No extra cost for dependents

 

Investment visa route (Presidential Decree UP-5611, amended 2019)  

Three-year permit for $250,000 company investment  

Ten-year permit for $3 million in goods and services production  

Dependents included  

No nationality restrictions

 

Clarifications expected before June 1

 

Before applications open in June, the Cabinet of Ministers and the Ministry of Internal Affairs are expected to release additional guidance, including:

 

Final format of the request form  

Processing timelines  

Renewal rules after five years  

Treasury account details for the donation  

Anti-money laundering documentation  

Whether time under this permit counts towards naturalisation

 

Former Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov wrote on LinkedIn that Uzbekistan has been offering residence permits through real estate purchases since 2019, available to citizens of 109 countries. Back then, property prices needed for permits ranged from $100,000 to $400,000, with Tashkent topping the charts.

 

In 2022, the threshold in the capital was lowered to $300,000, while foreigners could purchase property worth $70,000 in regional cities or $150,000 in Tashkent without the need for residence permits.

 

India one of Uzbekistan’s priority markets

 

The Indian community in Uzbekistan is currently around 15,000, with more than 12,000 Indian students studying medicine in cities across the country.

 

Tourism Minister Umid R. Shadiev said Uzbekistan is now focusing on India. “Our target is to treble the number of Indian visitors to Uzbekistan by 2030. Already, Indian passport holders are eligible for an e-visa. In the near future, I would like to see India added to the list of countries that can visit Uzbekistan visa-free,” he said earlier this month.

 

Uzbekistan welcomed 72,300 Indian travellers in 2024 alone. Shadiev said cultural closeness and easier entry procedures have helped push the numbers up.

 

“Our target is to attract 15 million international arrivals per year by 2030,” he added.

 

Since President Mirziyoyev took office in 2017, tourist arrivals have climbed from 2.7 million to a record 10 million. International visits rose by 24 per cent in the past year.

 

The new residence permit scheme is being introduced as part of the broader ‘Uzbekistan-2030’ strategy launched in April 2023, aimed at transforming the country into an upper-middle-income economy.