Internationals planning to acquire residency in Portugal through the country’s Golden Visa Program may no longer be eligible to do so, after the program may soon be abolished.
According to Prime Minister of Portugal, Antonio Costa, the country is planning to put to an end its Golden Visa scheme, after it has fulfilled the function it had to fulfil and it is no longer needed to be kept in place, VisaGuide.World reports.
“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,” Portugal’s Prime Minister stressed.
Portugal’s PM emphasized the fact that the scheme is being further evaluated whether it makes sense while stressing that it probably already fulfilled its function and there is no reason for keeping it anymore.
The Residency by Investment Scheme (RIP) also known as the Golden Visa Program permits all internationals to acquire residency in this country by making a specific amount of money investment and meeting specific requirements.
The minimum amount of money invested by wealthy internationals interested in Portugal’s Golden Visa Scheme is €500,000.
Recently, authorities in Portugal announced that the country imposed stricter requirements for this program. These conclusions were reached through the report for last year “on Migration Prospects for 2022,” based by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
“Residence permits for investment will no longer be possible based on real estate investments in Lisbon, Porto, the Algarve, and on the coast. Once acquired, properties intended for housing only allow access to this regime if they are located in the Autonomous Region of the Azores and of Madeira or in territories in the interior of the country,” the statement reads.
According to Portuguese Immigration and Border Service (SEF), in September this year, as of 120 Golden Visas were granted, which means that the number of Golden Visas issued more than doubled during September this year compared to the figures of the same period last year.
SEF’s report revealed that of the total number of Golden visas issued 26 were granted to citizens of China, 17 to those from the United States, 16 to citizens of the United Kingdom and 14 to citizens of Brazil.
Even though Portugal’s Residency by Investment scheme it is considered very important for the country’s economic sector, it has often been criticized for being involved in many unlawful affairs, such as corruption and money laundering, and thus urged to be terminated as soon as possible.
The post Portugal to Abolish Its Golden Visa Program, PM Announces appeared first on VisaGuide.World.
