Since 2012, the Portugal Golden Visa program has enabled more than 9,800 investors to get Portuguese residency. The Portuguese Immigration and Borders Service (SEF) indicates that it raised €5,8 billion until now.
The program offers a fast EU residency with few requirements. It also requires one of the cheapest investment amounts to get EU residency.
Non-EU/EEA/Swiss nationals with high-net-worth can apply for the Portugal Golden Visa.
What are the Benefits of Portugal’s Golden Visa Program?
This is mainly a residency by investment program which can also lead to citizenship. The main benefits of the program are as follows:
- You don’t need to settle in Portugal to keep your residence permit. It’ll be enough to stay in Portugal for seven days on average each year,
- The minimum required real estate investment is €280,000. Among other Golden Visa programs, this is one of the lowest to get EU residency,
- Citizenship is available to apply at the end of five years. Compared to other programs, this is quite a short time to get EU citizenship,
- Citizenship allows you to get visa-free access to 188 countries,
- As of 2021, the Portuguese passport ranks 6th among all other passports,
- Your dependent family members can benefit from the program as well,
- When you get permanent residence or citizenship, you can liquidate your investment.
What are the Investment Types to Become Eligible?
Golden Visa Program Portugal offers investments in real estate, investment funds, national heritages, and R&D. Capital transfer and establishing a business are also other options. Each option entails different investment amounts.
Real Estate Investment is the Most Popular Option Among Investors
According to SEF, 9,230 out of 9,834 applicants received residence permits by property purchase. In total, four different real estate investment options are available.
You can buy a property at a minimum amount of €500,000 in Portugal. If the property is in a low-density area, a minimum of €400,000 will be sufficient.
The third option is to buy property at a minimum amount of €350,000. The property must be older than 30 years and in an urban rehabilitation area. You also need to renovate the property. If such property is also located in a low-density area, the minimum required amount drops to €280,000.
You can buy more than one property as long as you invest the minimum amount. Also, more than one person can buy one property as long as they meet the minimum amount specified above. For example, two people can buy a property worth €1 million. In this case, each of them can apply for a Golden Visa.
Investment Fund Option is Gaining Popularity
Another investment option is to invest in venture capital funds or units of investment funds. The minimum amount to invest is €350,000.
This option is relatively a recent one compared to other investment types of Portugal Golden Visa. Despite this, it has enabled around 90 applicants to get Portuguese residency.
Other Investment Options
- A minimum of €1 million capital transfer to Portugal,
- Creation of ten new full-time jobs. It must be a Portuguese business owned by yourself. Or, you can invest a minimum of €350,000 in an existing business in Portugal. The business needs to create at least five new full-time jobs for at least three years.
- A minimum of €250,000 invested in preserving national heritage in Portugal,
- A minimum of €350,000 invested in an R&D (research and development) activity in Portugal.
Some Changes Will Be Effective as of 2022
The Portuguese government has announced some changes regarding the minimum investment amounts. The changes in Portugal Golden Visa will be effective as of January 1, 2022.
Increase in Minimum Investment Amounts
The following investment amounts will increase:
- The Investment Fund option: Increase from €350,000 to €500,000
- Capital Transfer option: Increase from €1 million to €1.5 million
- R&D investment: Increase from €350,000 to €500,000
- Investing in an existing Portuguese business: Increase from €350,000 to €500,000. The required minimum number of jobs will still be five.
Change in Locations for Real Estate Investment
Although the required minimum amount will remain the same, there’ll be a restriction in location.
As of 2022, you’ll not be able to buy property in Lisbon and Porto, and in the coastal towns of the mainland. Still, you can buy property in rural, low-density areas, or inland. The part of Algarve or Guimaraes and Braga are among them.
The rest of the investment options will be the same.
In short, you can obtain EU residency and even citizenship when you meet certain requirements including those above. In this case, citizenship allows you to work, live and study in any EU country.
We hope you enjoyed the article.
Sources
https://www.sef.pt/en/Documents/JUNHO_2021_ARI_CUMULATIVO.pdf
