Portugal Golden Visa
Portugal Golden Visa
Portugal Golden Visa: Find out about all the 2021 updates, get in touch, and let us help you speed up the process before the new changes are introduced.
Golden Visas will still be available, but only outside Lisbon, Porto and the coastline (Starting May 1st, 2021
Limits on the granting of residence permits, which aim to channel investment inland, will have a transition period that will last until 2022.
Launched in May 2012, with the aim of attracting foreign investment to the country, the gold visa regime is about to change. The Portuguese Government approved the decree-law that alters the legal regime for residence permits for investment, which has worked as an engine for real estate in recent years. The new rules, which limit the granting of golden visas in the metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto, as well as on the coastline (especially the Algarve), come into force as of May 1, 2021, and in a phased manner.
Encouraging foreign investment to be channeled to the interior and islands is one of the main arguments of the socialist government to justify this change of rules, demanded in Parliament. The objective, in particular, is "to promote the promotion of foreign investment in low-density regions, namely in urban requalification, in cultural heritage, in activities of high environmental or social value, in productive investment and in job creation".
Due to the current crisis and the importance that gold visas have had for real estate, the Government opted to create a transitional period for the sector to try to adapt, instead of the entry into force at the beginning of the year, initially thought. "May 1st is too close for an amendment of this nature", declared the Minister of State, at the press conference that followed the Council of Ministers, stressing that the context in which the legislation was approved, she stressed, "it is different from what we live today".
As of May 2021, the intention to restrict golden visas to geographical areas of the interior or low-density real estate investments does not start immediately. The plan is that the measure will be introduced gradually until the end of 2022.
This means that, within the scope of the transitional period, those interested in obtaining residence permits in exchange for making investments in real estate in the metropolitan areas of Lisbon, Porto, and the coastline can thus continue to benefit from the current regime.
What will happen is that, during this period, the amounts required from investors for access to golden visas will be progressively higher, at the same time that the possibility of applying to buy in metropolitan areas will be reduced.
Currently, the law determines that a Golden Visa is granted after the acquisition of real estate with a value equal to or greater than 500,000 euros, or the purchase of a building over 30 years old, located in an area of urban rehabilitation, that is rehabilitated with an investment adding up to a total of 350,000 euros.
In May 2020, 86 residence permits for investment were issued, 80 of which were for the purchase of real estate. In terms of investment volume, there was an increase of 35% compared to the same period in 2019, to 50 million euros, according to accounts made by Lusa based on SEF statistics. In relation to May, the growth was 75%.
In total, over these eight years, 9,340 gold visas were granted, associated with investments of 5,611 million euros. Of these amounts, 8,782 visas and 5,071 million have to do with real estate. Besides this sector, the category with the most receptivity is capital transfer, with 541 gold visas and 5,398 million euros.
The idea is that, with the entry into force of the new rules, foreign investment mostly linked to real estate, especially in large urban centers and main tourist areas, begins to be directed to inter-municipal communities in the interior and autonomous regions.
So far, only 17 visas have been awarded for the creation of ten jobs, and three (two of which this past May) for the transfer of 350,000 euros linked to the creation or strengthening of a company's capital and the creation or maintenance of five jobs.
There are still two categories that never managed to attract a single investor: the one that requires a minimum investment of 250 thousand euros in artistic production and the one that implies the minimum investment of 350 thousand euros in scientific research.
Portugal Golden Visa 2021 Update.
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