Golden visa investment falls 43% in January Y-o-Y
In the first month of the year, 93 'golden' visas were granted, of which 75 were for the purchase of real estate, 18 for capital transfers and no visa was granted for job creation.
Investment raised in Portugal through ‘golden’ visas fell 43% in January, year-on-year, to €43.4 million, according to calculations made by Lusa based on Foreigner and Immigration Service (SEF) data.
Compared to December (79.1 million), investment fell 45%.
In the first month of the year, 93 ‘golden’ visas were granted, of which 75 were for the purchase of real estate (31 for urban rehabilitation), 18 for capital transfers and no visa was granted for job creation.
The amount raised through the purchase of real estate totalled €36.9 million in January, of which €11.1 million corresponded to acquisition for urban renewal. The remaining €6.4 million were for capital transfers.
In January, the United States ‘beat’ China in the number of ‘golden’ visas granted, with 21. China came in second place with 11, followed by the United Kingdom and Brazil (both with 10) and Lebanon (8).
In January, 153 visas were also granted to regrouped families.
In cumulative terms, from October 2012 to January, the investment amounted to €6,797 million.
In this period, 11,628 ARI were granted, of which 5,258 to China, 1,178 to Brazil, 558 to the United States, 547 to Turkey and 508 to South Africa.
Since the start of the programme, 10,668 ‘golden’ visas have been granted through the acquisition of real estate, totalling over €6 billion euros. Of this amount, €545.2 million euros are related to purchases for urban rehabilitation, in a total of 1,516 ‘golden’ visas granted.
In terms of capital transfer, the accumulated amount amounts to €718.7 million, in a total of 938 ARIs granted, and in more than 10 years of the programme only 22 ‘golden’ visas were granted through job creation.
Investment in 2022 totalled €654.2 million, an increase of 41.9% over the previous year.
On Thursday, Prime Minister António Costa announced that, as part of measures to combat real estate speculation, the government would stop granting ‘golden’ visas.
Speaking to journalists at the National Palace of Ajuda in Lisbon after a cabinet meeting exclusively dedicated to housing, António Costa announced that the government would eliminate the “granting of new ‘golden’ visas”.
“As for the ‘golden’ visas already granted, (…) there will only be room for renewal if they are for the owner’s own and permanent residence and that of their descendants, or if the property is placed long-term on the rental market,” the prime minister announced.
