Portugal’s government has declared that any applications submitted after February 16 will not be considered for the country’s highly coveted Golden Visa programme.
Since wealthy foreigners exploited the Golden Visa programme as a rapid way to settle in the nation, the deadline sent shockwaves across the investment community.
Portuguese Association of Residental Tourism and Resorts (APR) commented on the suspension of the visa programme and stated that the action could result in the suspension of investments totaling more than €600 million.
Although there were rumours about the visa programme, the Portuguese Ministry of Housing also declared that petitions received after February 16 would not be accepted.
Despite the fact that Portugal saw a total increase in investments through this programme of 41.9% last year, Portugal is the second country after Ireland to abandon the Golden Visa programme.
Since its introduction in 2012, the Golden Visa programme has attracted investments totaling 6.8 billion euros, but the local market appears to have swayed decision-makers’ opinions.
