Until when can foreign investors apply under current Portugal golden visa rules?

The golden visa will continue in January 2022. The only thing finishing this year is the investment of 500,000 euros and 350,000 euros in real estate investment in Lisbon and Porto. Other options of investment still remain valid.

The eligible requirements for investments in Portugal aimed at obtaining a residence permit were changed in order to incorporate the Golden Visas in the policies outlined for territorial cohesion and for the most vulnerable territories. Thus, from January 2022 onwards, the regime of residence permit for investment will be directed preferentially to interior territories, to investment in job creation and to urban and cultural heritage re-qualification. The decree-law and the amendments will come into force on Jan. 1, 2022. The new rules will apply to all applications for an investment residence permit requested after that date.

The ARI/Golden Visa application is divided in two stages: an online first stage, where all basic documents are uploaded to SEF’s platform and, once approved, a second stage, where the main applicant (and family members, should this apply) personally go to SEF facilities and have their biometric data collected, also to deliver all necessary documents. Regarding your question, and the Dec. 31 deadline, what matters here is the moment when your online application was executed, not interesting if such application has been decided. If you applied under the former legal framework, your rights cannot be jeopardized due to a new set of rules that go against them. As such, if by Dec. 31, 2021, your application (at least online) has been executed but hasn’t been decided yet, there won’t be a problem. Dec. 31 is the final deadline regarding this matter, and nothing is foreseen regarding a deadline by the end of September.

We consider the Golden Visa Program a legitimate and reputable program. The changes the government has introduced so far on the program have been in way to reduce the investment amounts, or to create new investment opportunities. Although regarding property acquisition, the Annual Budget Law for 2021 was granted power to the government to review this specific scheme in order to increase the investment amounts for the property acquisition; and restrict this investment activity to sparsely-populated regions and to Madeira and Azores Islands. Meaning that big cities, such as Lisbon or Oporto, will no longer be eligible for the Golden Visa Program. Nevertheless, for applicants who apply during 2021, the possibility of renewing residence permits issued under the current regime is guaranteed and also the possibility of granting or renewing residence permits for family reunification, when the authorization for investment residence has been granted, also, under the current regime.