Golden visas investment drops 81% in May to €27.7M
According to data from the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), 52 'gold' visas were granted last month, of which 46 were for the purchase of real estate (11 for urban rehabilitation), five for capit
Investment captured through golden visas fell 81% in May in year-on-year terms to €27.7 million, according to calculations Lusa made based on SEF data.
In May last year, the investment had amounted to €146.1 million.
Compared to April (€51.2 million), investment resulting from the Residence Permit for Investment (ARI) programme fell 45.8%.
According to data from the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), 52 ‘gold’ visas were granted last month, of which 46 were for the purchase of real estate (11 for urban rehabilitation), five for capital transfers and one for job creation.
The purchase of real estate totalled €26 million in May, of which €4.2 million in acquisition for urban rehabilitation, while the transfer of capital was responsible for €1.6 million.
By countries, 24 golden visas were granted to China, four to South Africa, three to Canada, three to the United States and two to Vietnam.
In the first five months of the year, 378 golden visas were granted, of which 55 in January, 100 in February, 73 in March and 98 in April.
The investment raised between January and May totalled €201.1 million, down 31.5% compared to the same period in 2020.
The ARI concession programme, launched in October 2012, recorded until last May – in accumulated terms – an investment of €5,840,181,311.08. Of this amount, most correspond to the purchase of the real estate, which after more than eight years of the programme amounts to €5,283,041,677.44, with the purchase for urban rehabilitation totalling €309,889,741.74.
The investment resulting from the capital transfer is €557,139,633.64.
Since the creation of this instrument, which aims to attract foreign investment, 9,767 ARI have been granted: two in 2012, 494 in 2013, 1,526 in 2014, 766 in 2015, 1,414 in 2016, 1,351 in 2017, 1,409 in 2018, 1,245 in 2019, 1,182 in 2020 and 378 in 2021.
By May, 9,170 visas had been granted for the purchase of the real estate, of which 859 with for urban rehabilitation.
By requirement of capital transfer, the visas granted total 578 and the ARI obtained by job creation rises to 19.
By nationalities, China leads the allocation of visas (4,923), followed by Brazil (1,021), Turkey (464), South Africa (403) and Russia (375).
Since the beginning of the programme, 16,615 residence permits have been granted to reunited family members, of which 565 this year.
