Investment in golden visas totalled €237.6M in H1
By June, 9,230 visas had been granted for the purchase of real estate, of which 874 were for urban rehabilitation.
Investment captured through golden residence visas for foreigners fell 38% in the first half of the year, compared to the same period of 2020, to €237.6 million, according to calculations made by Lusa based on SEF statistics.
In the first half of last year, the investment captured was €383 million.
In June, the investment resulting from the Residence Permit for Investment (ARI) programme totalled €36.4 million, 59.5% less compared to the same period of 2020 (€89 million).
Compared to May (€27.7 million), investment rose 29.9%.
According to data from the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), 67 golden visas were granted last month, of which 60 were through the purchase of real estate (15 for urban rehabilitation), six through capital transfers and one for job creation.
The purchase of real estate totalled an investment of €34.3 million in June, of which €5.2 million in acquisition for urban rehabilitation, while capital transfers accounted for €2.1 million.
By countries, 20 golden visas were granted to China, eight to Russia, seven to the United States, four to South Africa and three to Brazil.
In the first six months of the year, 445 gold visas were granted, of which 55 in January, 100 in February, 73 in March, 98 in April, 52 in May and 67 in June.
The ARI granting programme, launched in October 2012, recorded until last June – in cumulative terms – an investment of €5,876,633,851.08. Of this amount, most corresponds to the purchase of real estate, which after eight years of the programme amounts to 5,317,394,161.44 euros, with the purchase for urban rehabilitation totalling €315,157,475.74.
Since the creation of this instrument, which aims to attract foreign investment, 9,834 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 445 in 2021.
By June, 9,230 visas had been granted through the purchase of real estate, 874 were for urban rehabilitation.
For capital transfer, the visas granted total 584 and the ARI obtained for job creation rises to 20.
By nationalities, China leads the allocation of visas (4,943), followed by Brazil (1,024), Turkey (467), South Africa (407) and Russia (383).
Since the beginning of the programme, 16,698 residence permits have been granted to reunited family members, of which 648 this year.
