New Golden Visa Program Terminated as Portugal Gives Approval

The Assembly of the Portuguese Republic has voted in favor of the proposal of Portugal’s government to cancel new residence permits when investment is made in housing.

This was supported by the Socialist Party, Bloque de Izquierda - a political left-wing party - and Portuguese Communist Party.

SchengenVisaInfo.com reported that the More Housing Program was introduced by the previous government to address housing issues, and regulate the real estate markets.

In accordance with the new law, new requests for residence visas to pursue investment activities won't be granted. However, existing authorisations can still be renewed.

The law does not affect the validity of requests for residence permits to be granted or renewed for investment activities, including those that were pending in the Municipal Councils prior to the entry into force date.

A report by Portugal News states that the limitation adopted has been removed from the grant or renewal of residency permits for family reunion.

The initial proposal of the Portuguese government accepted new requests for residence permits based on investment, but the Socialist Party suggested eliminating this exception.

Portugal ended its Golden Visa program on February 16, this year to address the housing crisis. The decision was controversial in Portugal.

It was thought that the removal of this program, which allowed wealthy foreigners to obtain residency in Portugal if they met certain requirements and made a financial donation to Portugal, had a minimal impact on residential markets.

These estimations were published in the analysis by the financial services firm DBRS.

"The end of granting new golden visas concludes a program that was developed in a difficult period for the country. The decision should have a limited impact on the residential market, as it was not a decisive driving force in terms of transactions, either in terms of volume or in terms of value for the country as a whole," the report noted.

A previous report by the Portugal News stated that the termination Portugal's Golden Visa Scheme led to the cancellation a residential tourism program worth EUR800 million that would have brought to Portugal EUR4.8 billion.

Golden Visa is a program that allows wealthy foreigners to reside in Europe.

Source: schengenvisainfo.com