2023 hails the end of a ‘golden’ age – on the 16th of February 2023, the Portuguese Government declared they have decided to bring about the end to the Golden Visas program, wherein through investment, applicants could qualify for Portuguese residency.
The Portuguese Government sent the proposal for the new law to Parliament on the 30th of March 2023 and approval ought to have been granted within the month but at the time of writing, there have been no official changes.
If this is your first time hearing of a golden visa, you may very well wonder what all the fuss is about. What is a Portuguese golden visa and why would you want one?
The Portuguese golden visa is a residency permit for investment activity.
- It is a visa that allows entry to Portugal and visa-free entry within the Schengen area of Europe.
- It allows you to live and work in Portugal even if it is not your main country of residence.
- It opens a route to Portuguese permanent residency in just five years and a route to Portuguese citizenship in six.
- You may apply for tax residency in Portugal and then make a further application for the Non-Habitual Resident program, which offers tax exemptions applicable to most foreign sources of income, including gifts and inheritance.
- It has a flexible annual residency requirement of just seven days.
How do you apply for a Portuguese golden visa?
To qualify for a Portuguese golden visa, you’ll need to make a significant investment in one of the following categories:
- Real Estate
- Transfer of Capital
- Investment Funds
- Entrepreneurship/Job Creation
- Cultural Donation
The qualifying value of each investment differs depending on the category of investment.
The application process requires a number of legal documents to be suitably legalised via notarisation and apostilles before they can be used in Portugal, such as:
- A copy of the applicant’s passport
- A criminal record check of the applicant
- A sworn declaration of compliance with the investment over the minimum time period
- Proof of investment, such as a promissory sale agreement/deed (where the applicant qualifies for the visa through investment in property)
Applicants will also require a Portuguese bank account and a NIF number, (Numero de Identificacao Fiscal), in order to apply for the golden visa. Of course, if you’re too busy to find the time, it’s possible to have a Power of Attorney drafted, allowing an agent to do so on your behalf.
This Power of Attorney would need to be notarised by a notary public and it would then require a Hague apostille issued from the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, as would any documents issued by a non-Portuguese entity and any document that is not written in Portuguese.
At Pardus Bloom, we work with a network of legal professionals such as notary publics and are able to have your documents translated, notarised, and apostilled, both electronically and physically.
We offer virtual notary appointments and free video consultation calls as part of our bespoke service tailored to our client needs. The document legalisation process can be conducted remotely, with no need for you to take time out of your schedule to attend in-person document notarisation appointments at our offices.
We offer same or next working day services for those who cannot or choose not to wait.
In a rush? Talk to a member of our enquiries team today about our express services in order to get the ball rolling!
How does this affect those who already hold Portuguese golden visas?
Well, those who hold golden visas obtained through purely real estate investment may not be allowed to renew their golden visa if the property in question is not permanently occupied by the owner, the owner’s descendants or if the property is not on the rental market full-time.
At this moment in time, it appears that those who obtained golden visas through capital funds transfer, investment funds, job creation, or donations to cultural institutions in Portugal will not be affected by the government’s decision and will likely be able to renew their golden visas with no additional stipulations.
Those who successfully renew their golden visas will have their visas converted to a D2 (Entrepreneur) visa that has the same seven days a year residency requirements as their previous golden visa.
Until the new law has been passed, you may still apply for a golden visa. There may be a grace period introduced for those currently in the application process when the law comes into effect, but it’s unlikely that this grace period would extend beyond 2023, with predictions that the golden visas program could be brought to an end as soon as the end of April.
In this grace period, if it is similar to the one allowed by the Portuguese government during the last changes to the golden visas program in 2022, any pending applications for a golden visa won’t be automatically rejected when the government’s proposal becomes law.
Instead, applicants will likely have their pending applications converted to D2 (Entrepreneur) visas, the same visas that will be given to the current holders of the golden visas upon successful renewal.
It’s also a possibility that although real-estate golden visas are coming to an end, the government may still allow applicants to obtain golden visas or similarly flexible visas through investment in funds, capital transfer, creation of jobs, and donations to cultural institutions.
Need to fit document legalisation around your busy schedule? Don’t have the time to travel to London for an in-person notary appointment?
Not to worry – we can arrange document notarisation appointments via video call and have your documents legalised remotely, with both notarisation and apostille completed within 1 working day!
If you have any questions, please get in touch with a member of our enquiries team today!