EXEO Attorneys | Golden Visa Program

Portugal Golden Visa Program to Expire Soon

In a very surprising turn of events, after saying that the Golden Visa program wouldn’t be changed or terminated during 2023, the Portuguese Government held a Ministry Council meeting on February 16 where it approved the termination of the Golden Visa Program under a new legislative package to control the Portuguese Housing Crisis.

This decision comes as a surprise, especially after the vote on the National Budget for 2023 determined that the Golden Visa Program would continue in full force without any changes.

This is what we know so far about the announced termination:

1. The termination of the program will only affect new applications, which means the applications presented before and the ones presented now, until the law changes, will not be terminated;
2. This decision will currently impact all the GRP investment options, from real estate investments to cultural, scientific and investment funds;
3. Application renewals based on real estate investments will be limited and they will only be granted in two situations:
   1. if the property is being used as the permanent residence of the applicant and his family or any of his descendants; OR
   2. if the property is being rented out in a long term lease agreement;
4.  Application renewals based on all other types of investment will not suffer any changes and will still be granted.

Importantly, the Government does not have the ability to make changes to the Golden Visa legislation by itself, since immigration matters are legislated by Law and, which comes under the Parliament’s legislative jurisdiction.

Therefore, the announcement now starts a 30-day mandatory period of public discussion of the matter and on March 16 the Government will finally present the Bill that will be presented in the Parliament, and which will be discussed and voted on by all the represented parties.

Until that day comes, there is no way to know the exact content of the Bill and what the proposed termination date of the program will be.

What comes next? For those interested in this immigration program, if you decide to move forward with your application now, it will still be received and processed by the border authorities, since the ongoing files will not be affected by the termination announcement.

In the meantime, our team is following up with every update and will be by your side to help you navigate this process and to get you the best investment options for a fast pace application and unproblematic immigration status renewals for the future.

Compliments of EXEO Attorneys – a member of the EACCNY.