Government could limit property Golden Visas

The Portuguese Government has admitted that it could review its policy on its Golden Visa programme because it has contributed towards artificially driving up house prices in Lisbon and Porto.

The review was made public on Friday, 1November by the newspaper Expresso which reported that the government would seek to place limits on real estate investment through the scheme which has so far raised nearly €5Bn for the Portuguese real estate economy.
One of the ways in which overseas non-EU citizens can gain Authorisation for Permanent Residence in Portugal (ARI) or even Portuguese nationality is via the ARI regime by making a minimum investment of €500,000 in property.
Investors can also do so by making a minimum capital transfer of €1 million or the creation of at least 10 jobs in Portugal.
However, the actual number of jobs created through the scheme has been negligible. Since the programme was started in 2012 by the then Deputy Prime Minister Paulo Portas most of the Golden Visa investment has been via property acquisition (€4.3Bn) in Greater Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve.
According to the newspaper, the reviews will not completely exclude property investment but would require the properties to be purchased in other parts of the country where the pressure on house prices is not so high.