The Last Chance to Obtain Residency in Portugal via the Golden Visa

The Portuguese government has recently published the final version of the "More Housing" bill. Although the bill will still be discussed in parliament in the coming weeks, it is clear from the published text that the Golden Visa program will be practically phased out.

The Portuguese government is willing to listen to interested parties.

The proposed version of the bill is much "softer" than the previous version from March 30th and takes into account the wishes of industry associations, developers, constitutional law experts, regional governors, public petitions, and a wide range of other interested parties.

Not all is hopeless

Although the new version of the bill does not provide for a complete abandonment of the program in its previous form, its wording is no longer so radical.

Therefore, there are positive developments:

1. There is no retroactive effect.

Initially, the government proposed to set the program's limitation date as February 16. If this condition had remained, all applications submitted after this date would have been canceled, and there are quite a few such applications. Instead, the program will be open to new applications until new changes to the legislative framework are published. This allows anyone who wishes to take advantage of the program to submit their applications according to the existing golden visa rules before the new law is published (if, of course, the bill is adopted).

2. Conversion to D2 visas - but without the requirement for mandatory 183-day stay.

Initial Golden visas that have not yet been issued, as well as those currently in the renewal process, will be converted to D2 visas (Entrepreneur visas) after their approval or renewal. It is quite obvious that owners of Golden/D2 visas will not be subject to the requirement of staying in the country for 183 days per year, which is usually applied to the D2 visa category. Instead, the government, having made a critically important concession, now proposes to maintain a regime of seven-day stay in the country per year for owners of such visas.

3. Investor visas will still be available for cultural investments.

Another positive development is the proposal to allow the issuance of residency permits based on investments for individuals investing in the "production and restoration of cultural heritage or preservation". Such investments must be approved by one or several competent authorities that will confirm the adequacy of the investment. These authorities include:

• Portuguese Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade;
• Development Bank;
• Competitiveness and Innovation Agency;
• National Innovation Agency;
• Office for Strategy, Planning, and Evaluation of Cultural Affairs;
• Other authorities deemed relevant, depending on the subject of the investment.

What should potential investors do?

Therefore, it can be argued that applicants for a Golden Visa should hurry with submitting their applications. The final text of the draft law provides that the Golden Visa program will end on the day the law takes effect. Taking into account information about the parliamentary schedule, this date is likely to fall at the beginning of June of this year.

The draft law does not provide for a transitional period, although certain relief may still be introduced during parliamentary discussions. Nonetheless, we advise potential investors who wish to take advantage of all the benefits of the Golden Visa program and obtain a residence permit in Portugal for themselves and their families to start the procedure as soon as possible, as some initial stages take time, leaving less time for reflection.