Portugal to End Golden Visa Program
If you had plans to retire to the queer capital of Lisbon or laid back Porto as an expat, you might want to reconsider. Portugal has announced that it plans to end its “Golden Visa” program.
The massively popular program, which allowed non-Europeans to claim Portuguese residency in exchange for buying real estate or making significant investment in the country’s economy is ending in an effort to “fight against price speculation in real estate”, according to Prime Minister Antonio Costa.
As reported by Forbes, ending the scheme will cost Portugal about €900 million (or $962 million), after having enjoyed an estimated €6.8 billion ($7.26 billion) in investment since the program began back in 2012.
The end of the golden visa program is just one of several measures being taken by the government to help remedy a growing housing crisis in Portugal, one of the poorest countries in Western Europe. In 2022 monthly wages for more than half or Portuguese workers was less than €1000 ($1100), while rent in Lisbon alone surged a staggering 37%. All of this on top of an 8.3% inflation rate already challenging the populace.
Along with the end of the golden visa, officials have also announced that they will ban new licenses for Airbnb and short-term holiday rentals, except for in far flung locations.
Portugal is not the only country in the European Union to eliminate such programs. Their announcement comes on the heels of a similar one from Ireland which eliminated the Emerald Isle’s so-called “Immigrant Investment Programme” last week which also exchanged foreign residency for investment. Ireland is similarly in the throes of a housing crisis which is spilling over into other sectors of daily life over there. Spain is also reportedly in the process of debating taking such measures as Spanish nationals are continually being pushed out of the local housing market on account of wealthy investment from abroad.
While the course of action that the rest of the European Union might take with respect to foreign investment is unclear, Portugal is resolute on getting rid of their golden visa program. According to the prime minister it is certain that the proposal to eliminate it will be approved next month.
