Portugal Mulls Scrapping Golden Visa Program
Portugal is considering giving up its Golden Visa scheme aimed at attracting wealthy non-EU investors, as it has achieved its objective and is no longer needed.
The country’s Goan origin Prime Minister, Antonio Costa, indicated earlier this week that his country is considering abolishing its popular but much-criticised 10-year-old Golden Visa scheme because it seems to have fulfilled its function. “There are programs that we are currently re-evaluating and one of them is the gold visa which, probably, has already fulfilled the function it had to fulfil and which, at this moment, it is no longer justified to maintain,” Costa said.
The program is one of the most sought-after programs by foreign investors in the country, is currently under intense reevaluation. For those unaware, the Golden Visa scheme is a residence visa issued to non-European Union nationals who make a significant investment in Portugal, such as purchasing real estate, making a capital investment, or creating employment opportunities.
Officially known as the Authorisation of Residence for Investment Activity for people from non-EU countries, the Golden Visa program, has been heavily criticised at home for sending house prices and rents up, and the European Commission has called for the end of such national schemes.
Lisbon also came under fire when it was revealed that Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich received Portuguese citizenship last year by claiming that he was a descendant of Sephardic Jews. A rabbi who helped the billionaire obtain his Portuguese citizenship is being investigated.
Bowing down to pressure, the government was compelled to introduce new, stricter requirements intended to control the influx of applications, including raising to €500,000 the minimum investment in properties and limiting the areas of the country where such investments are permitted. Yet critics say that those measures apparently aren’t sufficient and the scheme has to end end or further restrictions have to be imposed.
The decision also comes as the country offers its new Digital Nomad Visa, which allows remote workers with regular and specified monthly salaries to live and work in Portugal. This aligns with further intentions to shrink and regulate the multi-billion-euro visa and citizenship industries, according to Forbes.
Portugal does not give citizenship upon investment, but once a person has residence they have the right to travel freely within the EU as long as they spend at least seven days a year in the country.
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are for informational purposes only based on industry reports and related news stories. SSIL does not guarantee the accuracy, legality, completeness, reliability of the information and or for that of subsequent links and shall not be held responsible for any action taken based on the published information.