The Golden Visa Portugal 2024 is one of the best ways to obtain the coveted Portuguese nationality. With a wide range of investment options, the program offers the possibility of acquiring Portuguese nationality in just 5 years and a residence permit with free movement throughout the EU member countries.
Created in 2012, this form of access to the Portuguese passport has undergone several changes over the years, the most significant being in January 2024.
In this article, you’ll find out what the Golden Visa Portugal is, how it works in 2024, what the investment alternatives are and much more. check it out!
What is the Golden Visa Portugal 2024 program?
The Golden Visa is one of the forms of residence authorization available in Portugal.
Officially known as Residence Permit for Investment Activity (ARI), this visa category grants residence permits to non-European foreigners who can prove that they have made certain types of investments in the country, as determined by the government.
This visa allows individuals to obtain citizenship without the need to work, study or reside permanently in Portugal.
However, to initiate the dual citizenship process it is important to meet certain requirements, such as investing continuously for five years in a company or activity in Portugal.
An interesting aspect of this type of visa is that it is not necessary to live in Portugal to obtain it. Thus, it is possible to live in Brazil during those 5 years and move to the Portuguese country after that period.
However, the law requires the investor to spend at least 7 days a year in Portugal. Therefore, he can plan to spend vacations with his family every year.
What is the law governing the Golden Visa Portugal program?
The law governing the Golden Visa Portugal program is Law 29/2012 of August 9, 2012. Thus, according to Article 3 of the law, it defines Golden Visa as:
“‘Investment activity’ any activity carried out personally or through a company that leads, as a general rule, to the realization of at least one of the following situations in national territory and for a minimum period of five years: i) Transfer of capital for an amount equal to or greater than €1 million; ii) Creation of at least 30 jobs; iii) Acquisition of real estate with a value equal to or greater than €500 thousand.”
It is worth remembering that all the sections of this article have been recently modified, such as those referring to the acquisition of real estate, the transfer of capital and the creation of jobs. We will discuss this in more detail in the next section.
What has changed in the Golden Visa Portugal law?
Since its creation in 2012, Law 29/2012 has undergone significant changes. As we have seen, the legislation was created with the aim of launching the Golden Visa and thus attracting foreign investments to Portugal, offering in exchange the right of residence in the country.
However, three years after its enactment, the law underwent its first change with the aim of simplifying and making the process more transparent. In 2017, there was an expansion of the investment modality, including options with venture capital investment and the creation of at least 30 jobs.
Between 2012 and 2020, the area that received the most investments in Portugal was the real estate sector. In 2013, for example, investment in this area accounted for 94% of the Residence Permits granted. However, investment was concentrated in large urban areas such as Lisbon and Porto. To encourage growth in the interior of the country, the Portuguese government decided to direct the program towards less populated regions, such as the Azores, Madeira and the interior of the mainland.
However, it was in 2020 that Portugal announced the big change in legislation: from 2022, real estate investments in the Lisbon, Porto and Algarve areas were restricted and the minimum investment amount for capital transfers, investment funds, job creation and research or scientific activities was increased.
Finally, in 2023, Portugal’s Golden Visa program underwent even more significant changes, marking the end of real estate investment and capital transfers as options for applying for the program.
The reason for the change was to combat real estate speculation, which has significantly increased real estate prices in the country, especially in cities such as Lisbon.
Thus, as of October 7, 2023, this new law, which reflects these changes, came into effect. These changes do not affect previous Golden Visa applicants; those who have started and completed their investments can keep their Golden Visa on the same terms on which they initially applied for it.
What rules apply to the Golden Visa Portugal 2024?
Obtaining the Golden Visa Portugal 2024 is one of the easiest ways to obtain Portuguese nationality. After all, all you need to do is inject capital into Portuguese companies and projects, or generate employment. However, with the end of the options for investing in property and transferring capital to obtain the Golden Visa Portugal, some interesting and lucrative investment options remain.
Here are the main ones:
- Creation of at least 10 jobs;
- Investment of at least 500,000 euros in scientific research activities;
- Contribution of €250,000 to artistic production or maintenance of national heritage;
- Capital transfer of 500,000 euros to subscribe shares in movable investment funds;
- Investing 500,000 euros to create a local company, or investing in an existing company, with the creation or maintenance of 5 jobs for a minimum period of 3 years.
With the end of real estate investment, what is the best option for the Golden Visa?
Until 2024, investing in real estate was one of the best options to obtain the Golden Visa. However, after the change in the law, there are only a few investment alternatives left, as we saw in the previous topic.
But, after all, which of them is the best option? Certainly, among the proposals available, the most popular today is the investment fund. And the fact is that investing in Portuguese companies in certain sectors such as technology, energy or tourism is more profitable, faster and less bureaucratic than setting up a company and creating 10 jobs, for example.
A good example of this type of investment is Fundo Vida.
The management is working to raise 50 million euros of investment by modernizing assets in need of works and improvements to convert them into luxury accommodation in famous tourist regions such as Porto and the Algarve. In fact, one of the reasons this fund is in such high demand is that the luxury tourism and hospitality sector has experienced significant growth in recent years in Portugal.
The country is among the top 10 in the world in luxury tourism, chosen by wealthy holidaymakers as one of the best places in the world to spend the summer.
This is the result of the Condé Nast Johansens study on the “vacation habits of the luxury traveler,” to which 63,000 people responded. The Life Fund also assists with the entire legal and bureaucratic process of acquiring the Golden Visa.
What do you foresee for the future of Golden Visa Portugal after 2024?
Recent changes to Golden Visa Portugal have left many Brazilians, eager to obtain Portuguese citizenship, concerned and with various doubts about the program. Despite these changes, the outlook for the future of the Golden Visa is very positive. This is because it is one of Portugal’s main ways of attracting foreign capital in a wide variety of sectors.
So, if you want to obtain Portuguese nationality quickly and easily, consider investing in the country to acquire your Golden Visa. Therefore, whether it is to open a business, create jobs or inject capital into Portuguese companies, investing in the country can be very profitable, in addition to opening up the possibility of obtaining residency and European citizenship.
Remember that Portugal is one of the safest destinations in the world, with an excellent quality of life and a constant economic growth, which makes it an excellent place to live and prosper.