Investment in Portugal’s Golden Visa sets record

The changes to the rules for granting Residence Permits for Investment (ARI), also known as golden visas, which came into effect earlier this year, may not have triggered a rush by the market, but they still brought some dynamism.

According to a report by a Portuguese digital publication Dinheiro Vivo, during the first month of 2022, ninety-four Golden Visas were granted, the result of a global investment of €48 million, according to data from the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF). The value is more than 45 percent when compared to the same month of 2021, marked by a critical period of the health crisis, and 6 percent compared to the same month of 2020.

Through the acquisition of real estate, 75 Golden Visas were granted last month, which resulted in an investment of €38.7 million, higher than that generated in the same period in 2021 (€32 million) and last December (€35.6 million), but slightly lower than the €39.5 million in the first month of 2020.

Lisbon was by far the city that drew the most interest with an impressive 41 Residence Permits for Investment granted through the acquisition of properties to live in or rehabilitate in the capital. Portuguese industrial capital Porto took the second place with ten ARIs being granted and five in Évora. The remaining ARIs were granted across other regions of the country.

Seventy-five Golden Visas were granted in January 2022 with an investment of €38.7 million.

The biggest investment of a whopping €3 million was made by a Brazilian citizen towards house purchase in Portugal’s premier holiday destination of the Lisbon coastline - Cascais. Another significant investment was made by an US national who pumped in €1.9 million by acquiring a property in Lisbon. The third highest investment in property was by a Russian who spent €1 million on a house purchase in Albufeira, located in the southernmost Portuguese region of Algarve.

The report concludes by indicating that last month, 19 ARIs were awarded totalling €19 million for capital transfers and for investments in funds and or commercial companies. The report citing SEF statistics indicates that China leads the overall ranking of ARI granted in January with nineteen Golden Visas and an investment of more than €9.4 million. China was quickly followed by the USA with 17 ARI and and an investment of €8.9 million, followed by India with eight ARI and 3.9 million investment, Russia with seven and €4million and Brazil with six visas and and an investment of €5.6 million.

It is imperative to note that the total investment in 2021 had a global value of just over €460 million, a drop of 28 percent compared to the €646.7 million generated in 2020.

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