February has been a challenging month for the Golden Visa by Investment industry in Europe. First of all, the situation with the program of Portugal again entered the zone of turbulence. Recall that in 2022 the program was on pause for about six months due to bureaucratic difficulties. According to the authorities, the rising cost of residential real estate prompted a decision to terminate the program in its current form. However, no dates have been given. Then Ireland officially announced the closure of the program for investors. And also, in the press discussed the program of golden visas to Spain for the purchase of real estate. At the same time, the Italian authorities quite favorably accept the draft law with new options for issuing Dolce Visa for the purchase of real estate. Perhaps this is the best time to restart the golden visa investor program. This is a developing story.
Golden Visa of Portugal: revised or finished?
This February Prime minister of Portugal, António Costa, during press conference said the Government will “stop granting new Golden Visas” to foreign buyers. The measure is part of new legislation under the ‘Mais Habitação’ (More Habitation) program that can be formally ratified at the Council of Ministers on March 16.
Nuri Katz, says to Bloomberg that even though countries may be announcing cuts to programs, it is likely they will come back in some way, shape or form. What is more, they have spread around the globe, from Australia to the Caribbean. While a blacklash similar to that in Europe has mounted in Australia, other countries have no plans to change their policies.
“These programs have opened and closed in many different countries for a very long time. My guess is in Portugal they’ll reform the program, not close it permanently. For now, we should wait for a while for things to clarify themselves, because there are no exact dates since when any changes will come to force in Portugal”, comments Nuri Katz.
Indeed, there are voices in Portugal that already claim prolongation of the Golden Visa program but for special locations. The President of the Government of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque, on the 19th of February said that the autonomous region wants to keep golden visas and licenses for local accommodation (AL), and criticized the “centralized and Lisbon perspective” of the More Housing program.
“At this moment, to turn everything back, I think it is ridiculous and it is bad for the country and it is bad for the national economy,” he said. Further adding, “Nothing justifies Madeira being covered by these set of measures that are fundamentally aimed at Lisbon and Porto. The real country is not Lisbon“, he stressed, adding that the More Housing program should listen to the regions and municipalities and determine measures according to their needs.
Meanwhile, more than 300,000 applications for Portuguese citizenship through naturalization are awaiting processing by public services, which are experiencing a severe shortage of staff.
Golden Visa of Ireland – closed
Ireland has officially announced that it will stop issuing residence permits for investors. Irish residence permit in exchange for investment was introduced in 2012. Applicants were required to invest at least 1 million euros in the country for a period of at least three years. In 2022, the number of applicants was 1,316, more than double the number in 2021. 80% of applicants for a residence permit are Chinese.
Spanish Golden Visa – no real estate option
As neighboring Portugal announced ending its golden visa, the Spanish left-wing party, MásPaís (More Country), came forward with a parliamentary proposal to end the real estate option in the country’s golden visa program. The program has been running for 10 years. The investor can choose from the following options: purchasing real estate worth at least €500,000, investing €2 million in Spain’s public debt, make a bank deposit of €1 million or investing in a new business which would offer employment in the country. To be continued.
