Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) Portugal is planning to scrap its golden visa scheme, with advisory firms noting that the announcement has led to a rush in applications.
The scheme has helped Portugal to attract investments worth roughly 6.8 billion euro since it was launched in 2012, with the lion’s share of the money going towards real estate, according to a Reuters report on Tuesday.
The European Commission has called on EU member states to end such programs and critics have warned that the golden visa scheme pushes up real estate prices.
Rents in Portugal went up along with real estate prices, with Prime Minister António Costa announcing a package of measures to address the housing crisis last month. As part of the package, he announced the golden visa scheme would be discontinued.
Armand Arton, president of Arton Capital consultancy which helps applicants get Portuguese citizenship or residency, pointed out that the firm saw applications rise about 50% following the announcement.
Nuri Katz, the founder of Apex Capital Partners which offers similar services, pointed out “as soon as you put a deadline on something it gets people rushing” and added, “there’s absolutely nothing as good as a deadline in this business.”
More visas were issued in February
According to Portuguese authorities, the country issued 93 golden visas in January, down about 45% compared to December last year, followed by 130 in February. The visas issued in February went largely to investors from China, the US and Turkey.
The process of issuing visas in exchange for investments can take months so it is not clear whether the rise in February was caused by the announcement, which was initially floated in the final months of last year.
According to Arton and Katz, the government’s decision is aimed at gaining public support.
Katz expressed belief that Costa “is just trying to… show that he’s doing something about the housing prices,” while Arton noted “I have seen a lot of PMs doing this kind of messaging for electoral votes.”
While support for Costa’s Socialist Party is in decline due to the housing crisis and other issues, the next general election is due in October 2026.
Costa previously pointed out that the golden visa scheme is no longer needed because it fulfilled its purpose.
