Consulate in Macau gets 1,500 golden visa requests in H1

  • Lusa
  • 30 July 2020

Portugal's Consulate in Macau and Hong Kong has registered 1,500 requests from people who want to reside in the country.

The Portuguese Consulate in Macau and Hong Kong has registered about 1,500 requests from people who want to reside in the country, Consul Paulo Cunha-Alves announced on Thursday.

The information was advanced during the webinar “Investing in Portugal. Your Next Place”, whose main mission was to attract investment and promote Portugal as an investment destination for Macau and Hong Kong citizens.

Paulo Cunha-Alves explained that in the first half of the year the number of people who applied to the consulate based in Macau was about 1,500.

The criminal record certificate is one of the requirements for the process of golden visas and residence in Portugal.

The total investment raised through golden visas increased by 2.9% in the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2019, to €383 million, according to accounts made by Lusa based on SEF statistics.

In the first six months of the year, the total investment resulting from the granting of Residence Authorisation for Investment (ARI) amounted to €383 billion, up 2.9% on the first half of 2019 (€372 billion).

In June, a company specialising in obtaining golden visas in Portugal told Lusa that requests for information from Hong Kong residents had skyrocketed following Beijing’s announcement of the national security law imposed on the former British colony.

At the event, one of the organisers of which was the Portuguese Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade (AICEP), Consul Paulo Cunha-Alves also stressed the success of foreign investment in Portugal and that the country is now “on the radar” of several companies around the world.

Paulo Cunha-Alves also said that the Portuguese consulate will always be available to support investments through Hong Kong and Macau.

For her part, the Investment Advisor of the Portuguese Embassy in Beijing, Patrícia Conceição, said that foreign investment is central to the country’s economy

“It has a tremendous impact on all businesses,” she said.

In order to capture the attention of investors present at the online conference, Patrícia Conceição said that Portugal is the second safest country in the EU, according to the security threats index.

The fact that Portugal is part of the EU and is a link to Portuguese-speaking countries means that potential investors have access to a market of more than 700 million people, she stressed.