About 31,000 Unknown Foreigners Have Benefited from Portugal’s Golden Visa Program
The same notes that the number of non-EU foreigners who gained a Portuguese residence permit, taking into account family members as well is about 31,000. The report emphasised that nobody knows who the beneficiaries of these visas are after their identities remain anonymous.
The main beneficiaries of these kinds of visas were nationals from China (45 per cent) as well as those from Brazil (10 per cent), in addition to a large number of beneficiaries from the United States, Turkey as well as South Africa.
Wealthy foreign nationals were eligible to acquire Portugal’s nationality after five years provided they spend 14 days in this country, AtoZSerwisPlus.pt reports.
According to the El Pais report, the most tragic case was carried out by the Chinese businessman Chenglong Li, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for homicide.
Portugal’s Golden Visa Program permitted wealthy foreign investors to acquire residency in this country if they made a financial investment and met specific conditions.
In order to acquire residency, internationals were required to invest €6,852 million, 89 per cent in the purchase of houses which led to a move towards them as one of the main factors that impact real estate prices.
Portugal’s Council of Ministers in February announced the decision to terminate the Golden Visa Program which was part of a wider package of measures introduced in an effort to tackle the housing crisis in this country.
In a press conference, the Council presented all the six measures that were part of the package, while the fourth measure also included the decision to abolish the Residency by Investment Scheme, and at the same time permit “the existing ones to be renewed, if they are real estate investments, only for own and permanent housing or if it is placed on the rental market for a long time.”
In spite of Portugal’s decision, the President of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque, refused the requirement to abolish such a program. In addition, he considered such a decision bad for the economy.
“Nothing justifies Madeira being covered by this set of measures that are fundamentally aimed at Lisbon as well as Porto,” he pointed out.
