The Golden Visa program continues - for now

If you are considering investing in Portuguese real estate for Golden Visa purposes, you may not have a lot of time left to do so.

Speaking during the WebSummit which took place in early November in Lisbon, Prime Minister Antonio Costa hinted at the end of the country’s Golden Visa program when he said it had served its purpose and was “no longer justified.” This possibility instantly led to a lot of industry speculation.

However, since then the Portuguese parliament has debated the issue and the Prime Minister's own Socialist Party voted against the proposal. Instead, the government decided to create a working group made up of the ministries of Economy, Foreign Affairs and Internal Administration, to assess the impact of the program on the country and its economy and help decide on the way forward for the program.

To simplify, this means that you are safe to apply until at least 2024. Golden Visa processes are not impacted, and new applications remain protected by law. Also, any future change to the Golden Visa program will not be applied retroactively.

Still, this reminds us that such residency schemes are not permanent. Because it does take time to find the right property and prepare an application, we do not advise you to wait if you want to take advantage of this opportunity.