Portuguese Golden Visa for Investors
2022.12.11 10:34
Portuguese Golden Visa for Investors
Budrigannews.com – According to data released on Sunday, investments made through Portugal’s “golden visa,” which grants wealthy foreigners the right to reside there, increased by nearly 50 percent last month. This comes as the government considers whether or not to discontinue the contentious program.
The European Commission has called for the end of such national programs after the golden visa was heavily criticized at home for driving up rent and house prices.
Over the course of the past ten years, it has attracted investments totaling 6.6 billion euros (or $6.95 billion) in Portugal, primarily from China, Brazil, and Turkey, with the majority of these investments going into real estate.
Non-EU citizens must make a significant investment in Portugal, such as purchasing real estate, in order to apply. After that, they are granted residency rights and can travel throughout the Schengen region of Europe without needing a visa.
Yet, Top state leader Antonio Costa said on Nov. 2 his administration planned to assess the 10-year-old plan, addressing whether the program might in any case be legitimate.
Get a Golden Visa, Murat Coskun (NYSE:) CEO Costa claimed that Costa’s remarks had “significantly impacted the appetite” for the measure, resulting in a fivefold increase in inquiries for his company.
According to Sunday’s data from the border agency SEF, investment in golden visas increased by 41% year-over-year and by 48% in November, reaching 65 million euros.
Kleya’s CEO, Vasco Silva, stated that his company had received numerous inquiries regarding the situation and that some investors had rushed to make a decision in case the program was changed or canceled.
“If there is no residence by investment program, (investors) will simply ignore the country,” Silva warned, claiming that Portugal’s “on the map” status had been established by the more than 10,000 visas issued since 2012.
The European Commission has stated that it considers such programs to be a potential security risk, while the Portuguese branch of the anti-corruption organization Transparency International (TI) has stated that the program could be used for money laundering.
According to Silva, this was not the case because everyone involved, from lawyers to banks, had to follow “very strict rules.”
Silva stated, “We are not allowing criminals or money for which we do not know the source” entry. There are exceptions, but they will be one in 10,000 or two in 10,000, and those are, naturally, the ones that go public.”
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, British officials decided to end golden visas due to concerns about the flow of illegal Russian money. According to SEF, despite Portugal’s suspension of golden visas for Russians, 431 individuals had already benefited from the program since its inception.
