Association foresees wave of court cases over “illegal” scrapping of Golden Visas

The Portuguese Association of Real Estate Developers and Investors (APPII) says that the Government’s decision to end Golden Visas is not legally valid and will likely cause a wave of lawsuits.

The APPII points to around 10,000 Golden Visas that are up for renewal with holders likely to take the Government to court over its decision to scrap all Golden Visa options except the entrepreneurs option for residency from investment.
In a communiqué sent out on Tuesday, the APPII says that the Government’s decision is “unconstitutional” and “illegal” and is a “violation of some of the most elementary rules of the State of law”, particularly in the aspect that backdates the end of the Golden Visa programme to 16 February, 2023 – the day that the measure was officially announced.
“We believe that the announcement after the Council of Ministers meeting has no validity in law and that intending to retroactively apply the laws undermines everything that had been mentioned beforehand”.
This measure “which is going forward will lead to enormous litigation in our country”, the APPII states, adding that there are “more than 10,000 applications for renewal” in the pipeline.
According to the APPII it will “certainly lead to a huge wave of lawsuits since the interests of these investors have not been safeguarded”.

Photo: APPII President, Hugo Santos Ferreira