The Golden Portugal

The Partner on Your Journey in Portugal

2023 New Regulations on Portugal Golden Visa

Last week there was an announcement about the government planning to end the Portugal Golden Visa to tackle the housing problems that Portugal is current facing.

The direct translation of the Prime Minister words are as follows: “Two particularly important measures to combat real estate speculation – the first, the elimination of golden visas, or rather, the elimination of the granting of new golden visas. As for the golden visas already granted, their renewal, in the case of exclusively real estate investments, will only be renewed if they are the owner’s own or permanent home or of his descendant or if the property is placed, on a permanent basis, on the rental market.”

We would like to reinstate that this is a political intention of the Government, but it is not yet the law.    

It is expected that now there will be one month of public hearing, followed by the sending of the final proposal to Parliament for discussion on March 16th, where it should take at least 15 to 20 days for approval of the general law and the specific applicable regulations. After this, the proposal must be sent to the President of the Republic who may react as follows:

  • Direct ratification and in this case, the proposal will be published in the official journal, subject to a transitional period not yet disclosed;
  • The President does not accept the proposal as it is, and returns it to the Parliament for amendment or;
  • The President accepts the document but requests the evaluation of the Constitution Court to confirm if any fundamental rights or principles are being jeopardize by the new legislation.

Based on the above, at this stage it is expected that in the next, at least, 45 days, the current law remains in force.

As of now, we are still not clear if

  • All investment routes will be affect
  • The effective date for any changes, namely if there is or not the usual transition period for changes in the Golden Visa law.

With these uncertainties, these are our recommendations for clients in different scenarios: 

Those who already have their bank account opened, or nearly opened, get everything done and have the applications submitted within 45 days

  1. Quickly make the investment decision, and have your lawyer to review all the documents and arrange for the investment to be made (eg. signing of POA)
  2. Transfer the money to the bank account in Portugal
  3. Arrange the payment of the invesetment with the bank and the lawyer
  4. Get your personal documents as soon as possible, and get them apostilled
    • no criminal record (3-months validity period)
    • marriage certificate for spouse (6-months validity period)
    • birth certificate for kids (12-months validity period)

Those who are yet to begin the process, get everything prepared and wait for the decision in March 16 to decide if you should go ahead with the application or not.  

  1. Hire a lawyer
  2. Get your tax ID (NIF)
  3. Open your bank account
  4. Make your investment decision and have your lawyer to review all the necessary documents
  5. Prepare your investment purchase/ subscription
    • For fund – fill in fund subscription form and go thru the KYC 
    • For property – have the POA for the property signed and send back to your lawyer
  6. Get your personal documents as soon as possible, and get them apostilled
    • no criminal record (3-months validity period)
    • marriage certificate for spouse (6-months validity period)
    • birth certificate for kids (12-months validity period)
  7. Wait for March 16 for the new laws, and see if it gives you ample time to make your investment and submit the application.  The final step in the investment process takes only 1-2 weeks.  So if you have all the above ready, and if the new laws only comes into effect in one month or later, you should have time to complete your application.  Always talk to your lawyer on this. 

With this planning, you won’t have much to loose – maybe the initial lawyer’s fee, and some documentation fees, which should be no more than a few thousands euro.  But this would give you an option to have everything ready but not make the investment yet until you are sure about the new laws, and give you a head start if you choose to go for the Golden Visa application eventually.  

We will keep you posted on this very important matters.  We will have a new post very soon on the documents you should prepare for the whole process, from bank account opening to the submission of the Golden Visa application.

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