Golden visa investment up 16.6% in April to €59.7M

Investment raised through golden visas rose 16.6% year-on-year in April to €59.7 million, according to the Portuguese Immigration and Borders Service (SEF).

Compared to March (€34.6 million), investment raised through the Residence Permit for Investment (ARI) programme rose 72.5%.

In April, 121 golden visas were granted (94 in January, 94 in February and 73 in March), of which 92 were for the purchase of real estate (43 for urban rehabilitation) and 29 for capital transfers.

Investment in property purchase totalled €48.3 million in April, of which 1€5.4 million was in urban rehabilitation, while in the capital transfer, the value was €11.4 million.

Last month, 26 golden visas were granted to the United States, 15 to China, 13 to Turkey, 11 to India and eight to Brazil.

In this period, 116 residence permits were granted to reunited family members, with a total for the year of 393.

Since the ARI grant programme was launched in October 2012, over €6 billion has been raised through this instrument. Of this amount, most is for the purchase of real estate, which last month totalled €5.65 billion, with acquisition for urban rehabilitation amounting to €417 million.

The investment resulting from the capital transfer is nearly €631 million.

In the first four months of the year, the accumulated investment was €184.5 million, which represents 6% more compared to the €173.4 million registered in the same period of 2021.

In over nine years, 9,872 visas have been granted by purchasing real estate, of which 1,165 with a view to urban rehabilitation.

There were 744 visas granted for capital transfers and 20 for job creation.

Since the beginning of the programme, 17,614 residence permits have been granted to regrouped family members, of which 393 in 2022.