If I want to invest in hotels to gain residency in Portugal, how do I start that process? How can I find out which hotels in Portugal are looking for investment or are under construction? Do they need to be approved by the golden visa program?
Some under construction hotels are allowing people to invest and from that investment they can become eligible to obtain the golden visa. If your intention is that, you would need to find hotels allowing this and invest the amount needed in accordance with the golden visa program.
The Portuguese residence program for investment purposes, also known as the Golden Visa, does not foresee any kind of investment in hotels, at least directly. What it does integrate are several different types of investments that qualify for an application and indirectly pursue that goal. Among those, you can find: the purchase of real estate property with a value equal to or above 500,000 euros; the purchase of real estate property, with construction dating back more than 30 years or located in urban regeneration areas, for refurbishing, for a total value equal to or above 350,000 euros. These investment amounts reduce by 20% if the investment is made in a low density territory. A specific list with all the territories that qualify for this “discount” does not exist. Therefore, before investing, the chosen area must be analyzed in order to understand if it qualifies under one of those requirements. Unlike the residential real estate type investments, where the investment itself is achieved by simply purchasing real estate (minimum investment of 500,000 euros – or 400,000 euros with the 20% discount), the investment in real estate for refurbishing/rehabilitation purposes demands that you not only buy the real estate, but also pay for the rehabilitation works that it must undergo (minimum investment of 350,000 euros – or 280,000 euros with the 20% discount). Your goal is to perform an investment which ultimately will regard accommodation services (local hosting, hotel services, among others). As per the latest changes to the Golden Visa program, from January 1, 2022 onwards, this investment goal will be the only one acceptable in Lisbon and Porto territories; investment in real estate for rehabilitation purposes with the purpose of accommodation services (local hosting, hotel services, among others) since the real estate investment for self-residence purposes will be prohibited. Any of the above mentioned investments can be performed individually or in co-ownership with other investors, provided the minimum investment amounts are granted by each of them. Regarding this last option, there are a number of promoters and developers in Portugal whose projects are financed this way, and also take care of all the legal procedures before the Portuguese authorities towards your residence permit issuance. I would advise this last option as being the best and most efficient way to have a Portuguese residence permit granted to you by means of the Golden Visa program.
There is no specific investment modality directly aimed at hotels, but there are 3 modalities that can be used for this purpose: Firstly, you could invest 1 million euros (1.5 million euros from January 1, 2022), through international transfer of capital to buy a share of a company that owns hotels; Or, you could directly invest 500,000 euros in a property, which may be intended for services and tourism management; Or 350,000 euros, if the property is more than 30 years old, or if it is in an area of urban regeneration and for refurbishment. The minimum investment in this modality can be lowered to 400,000 euros and 280,000 euros respectively if it is in a low density area. The real estate property can be held in co-ownership as long as the investor keeps up with the minimum individual investment required by law. These amounts will be implemented in all Portuguese territory, even after the entry of the new Golden Visa regime, on January 1, 2022, as long as the investment is not for housing purposes. Thirdly, there is a more indirect way if you invest 350,000 euros (500,000 euros from January 1, 2022) in investment funds that own vehicle companies that, in turn, own hotels and are dedicated to the hotel business. There are many companies and investment funds in the market with solutions designed for the Golden Visa program; they offer packages already practically assembled, with all the administrative and legal procedures solved, on an investor-friendly perspective.
There is no list of approved hotels for golden visa purposes. Investors may look to purchase hotel units or alternatively, a share of the building itself. Investment in Venture Capital Funds that are capitalizing on hotels related companies are also a possibility.
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