Where has the cheapest golden visa scheme these days?

(assume pretending to live in Ireland for x years is off the table)

Portugal. Minimum € 250.000 donation to invest in preserving national heritage, or minimum of €500,000 subscription in a qualifying Portuguese fund. Used to be 250.000 investment in real estate as well, but that's been cancelled (though not before having made much of Lisbon unaffordable for the Portuguese).

BTW Portugal and Bulgaria are the only EU Member States where you can get citizenship w/o being a full-time resident.

 

 € 512,000 (BGN 1 million) in Bulgarian

  • Stocks/ shares (traded in Bulgaria)  
  • Private equity funds.     
  • Venture capital or hedge funds.     
  • Real estate investment companies. 

RED FLAGS GALORE, plus Bulgaria is not in Schengen (and a pariah in the EU).

Re ISA

That's not how that works. You're essentially paying a bribe to get in, so you don't try to fiddle with the requirements. Your money has to go to that country. Your shares need to be held in an onshore (in this case Bulgarian) account.

Does it have to be a visa in your own right Clergs or would it be enough to be the trailing family member of an EU-citizen worker within the EU? No capital or residence requirements, just partner up with an EU citizen. 

 

I'm not sure that Ireland's de facto 50% income tax rate rate (with tax on almost all capital gains) and comedy housing market is quite the golden visa that perhaps others offer.

UK? Take a boat over the channel (or swim the channel if you are up it)    and you get put in  a luxury hotel and given your meals and even an allowance too and free NHS care....