Portugal Ends Golden Visa Scheme

Portugal has put an end to the "golden visa" scheme, which had generated billions in economic growth.

A local media says that residence permits for investment will continue to be valid even though all new golden visa applications submitted after February 16 are no longer valid.

According to the Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa in a statement, "Nothing justifies a special regime for golden visas."

According to Costa, there were just 22 instances between 2012 and 2023 where investors produced jobs; instead, 89% of residency permits were used to buy real estate. He added that resident permits issued under the plan would be changed to regular residence permits, comparable to those issued to foreign nationals.

Golden visas for entrepreneurs will still be accessible to foreign entrepreneurs who wish to launch a project in Portugal. Portugal's government issued 11,758 Golden Visas in total between October 2019 and February 2023. Chinese nationals continue to be the largest beneficiaries, accounting for 45% of those granted golden visas, followed by Brazilians (at 10%) and a sizeable contingent of Americans, South Africans, and Turks. These visas are evaluated depending on the investment's importance in terms of economic, social, scientific, technological, or cultural factors.

Portugal's Golden Visa Program allows wealthy foreign investors to obtain residency in the country by making financial investments. The decision to terminate the program follows a housing crisis and risks losing digital nomads, who are mainly headed toward Dubai, Singapore, Turkey, Germany, and Hong Kong. Portugal is determined to become a more attractive country for digital nomads, who are concerned that canceling one form of visa can cause uncertainty for others and make them think about whether they want to stay here.

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