No letup in Golden Visa demand

There has been a lot of talk in the overseas press that Portugal’s Golden Visa is dead; that is far from the truth.

In 2023 many investors simply shifted from the property route which had been terminated by the government to the investment in a fund route where they mostly invest in Portuguese companies.
Last year, the Portuguese authorities granted 352 golden visas worth €125 million through this route to overseas non-EU citizens.
The investment funds and venture capital companies that invest in Portuguese companies, last year registered an “avalanche” of money from investors looking to get Portuguese Golden Visas.
According to data from the now defunct borders and immigration agency SEF, between January and September last year over €125 million were channelled to such funds and VSs specialising in providing capital from Portuguese companies from overseas investors who want to gain the Authorisation of Residency for Investment (ARI) or Golden Visa as it is more commonly known.
This was an increase of 45.4% on the amount invested by this route in 2022 and 2.6 times more than the resources applied for the same end in 2019, 2020, and 2021.
The impact of investment in funds and VCs was so significant last year that in the first nine months alone, for each 10 ARIs issued, three were from the funds and VCs route of which 60% of the investment went into Portuguese companies.