The Golden Visa Portugal, one of the most sought-after citizenship-by-investment programmes for foreign investors, is set to disappear, Portugal’s Prime Minister Antonio Costa said during a visit to the Web Summit in Lisbon. Prime Minister Costa announced that the country is re-evaluating its visa plans and considering the abolition of the Golden Visa Portugal due to the strong criticism the programme has received from the European Union. In Portugal, the programme has been criticised for driving up housing prices and rents, especially in Lisbon and other popular areas.
According to the prime minister, the Golden Visa Portugal has fulfilled its role in helping the country’s economic recovery and its continuation is no longer justified, even though the programme has made a significant contribution to the eastern economy. The programme has brought in more than 6.5 billion euros in investments from foreigners, especially from China, Brazil, South Africa and the United States, and most of the money has been used to buy real estate.
The Portuguese government’s new, stricter requirements are intended to control the influx of applications. They have raised the minimum investment in real estate to 500,000 euros and limited the areas of the country where such investments are allowed. Applicants can no longer buy property in Lisbon, Porto, the Algarve and coastal areas.
Despite all this, the Golden Visa Portugal remains popular. Once granted, beneficiaries immediately enjoy freedom of movement within the Schengen area, among other benefits.
On the other hand, pressure to end the Golden Visa programmes is increasing, as some countries have suspended their Golden Visa and passport programmes for Russian and Belarusian citizens because of the war in Ukraine.
Portugal’s move appears to be in response to the European Parliament’s new push to curtail and regulate the multi-billion dollar citizenship and visa industries, which the EU has long considered a security risk. The European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee has described these systems as “ethically, legally and economically objectionable”. Malta, Cyprus and Bulgaria are among the countries that have committed to ending their Golden Visa programmes.