The volume of investments in the residence permit program for investment in Portugal decreased
For a long time, the Portugal Golden Visa has been considered one of the best investment programs in Europe. Many foreigners preferred to buy a house in this country for the purpose of their own residence or to generate additional income. However, the pandemic has dealt a significant blow to demand for the Portuguese residence permit program for investment – the number of applicants has decreased significantly.
According to data from the profile service of the country, last month, foreign nationals invested in the program to obtain a residence permit in exchange for an investment of about 27.7 million euros. By comparison, the figure for the same period last year was more than 146 million euros. The volume of investment fell by 81%, while two months ago the amount was almost 46% more – 51.2 million euros.
Last month, the Government of Portugal was issued 52 golden visas, of which 46 came to the purchase of the real estate, with 11 applicants have decided to invest in projects related to urban regeneration. 5 foreigners chose to transfer capital into the country, and one – to create jobs.
Active applicants for residence permits are citizens of China, they have filed 24 of the 52 applications. 4 participants in the investment program from South Africa, 3 – from Canada, 3 – from the U.S., 2 – from Vietnam.
A total of 378 golden visas were issued for the current year, 55 applications were issued in January, and 100 in February. In March and April, 73 and 98 applications were approved. Total investment for the period amounted to more than 201 million euros, which is almost 32% less than it was last year.
Since January this year, Portugal has had new rules for obtaining a residence permit, while the old ones were valid until July 2021. Changes in the program have affected the minimum threshold for investment in an investment fund, it rose from 350 thousand to 500 thousand euros. The transfer of capital has also increased from 1 million to 1.5 million euros. As for investments in real estate, the conditions remained unchanged – the amount of investment starts from 500 thousand euros and 350 thousand euros for objects that are subject to reconstruction. At the same time for this option, Golden Visa restricted the regions in which to participate in the program. For example, real estate in Lisbon, Port, and a number of cities on the coast is now unavailable to foreigners.
To get a residence permit in the country through the creation of jobs must have a minimum capital of 500 thousand euros, rather than 350, as it was until 2022.