The Portugal Golden Visa eclipse

Most South Africans have heard of and are familiar with the Portugal Golden Visa as a second residency-by-investment solution. Introduced in 2012, the programme enables qualifying investors to secure Portuguese temporary residency which can be retained with very minimal stay days in country. After five years of temporary residency, eligible applicants can apply for Portuguese citizenship which affords an open door to live, work, study and retire across all EU member states.

The programme has shape-shifted over the years in terms of the qualifying investment paths, with the original €500,000 real estate investment class diversified into multiple real estate investment categories with more affordable price brackets, and with a later introduction of a Private Equity and Equity Fund option.

Changes to the Portugal Golden Visa

In more recent times the programme has been dogged by negative publicity and controversy surrounding the elongated processing times and inefficiencies of the Portuguese immigration services to adjudicate and approve applications. Thankfully, in June of this year, it was announced that a new Mission Structure, consisting of 300 more people, has been employed by the authorities to clear the backlog of pending cases under analysis.

Furthermore, a spontaneous and unprecedented announcement by the Portuguese Prime Minister of the intended closure of the programme in February 2023 sparked chaos and uncertainty in the market. After many months in limbo, the programme closure was scrapped and, in October of 2023, the Portuguese Government shackled their Golden Visa legislation to the “Mais Habitação” Bill, removing all real estate and property investment categories, but allowing investors the opportunity to pursue the Golden Visa through a qualifying investment into an approved investment fund.

Interestingly, in 2012 the original programme requirement was an investment of €500,000, albeit into property, and today, more than 12 years later, the required investment sum remains the same at €500,000.

Death of the NHR

Separate to the above, the Portuguese Non-Habitual Tax Regime (NHR) was a compelling reason for many when weighing up the benefits of Portugal as a destination. Offering a 10-year tax break on qualifying income, it made huge financial sense for those looking to physically relocate to Portugal. This scheme was formally discontinued by the Portuguese authorities as of 1 January 2024.

Despite these vast changes in the Portugal Golden Visa programme and NHR, the popularity of the programme remains relatively untouched. The changes have done absolutely nothing to deter individuals from pursuing this journey to Portuguese residency and eventual citizenship. When compared to other European residency-by-investment offerings, the fundamentals of this programme still stack up and no other European programme comes close to offering a route to residency and citizenship through absence quite like this, and within this price bracket. Simply put, the Portugal Golden Visa outshines and eclipses all other EU options.

Portugal Golden Visa proving popular with South Africans, Brits and Americans

South Africans have traditionally been one of the top nationalities of investors in the Portugal Golden Visa, and they remain strong investors into the programme. At Sable International, we have directly assisted just under 70% of these South African families. In more recent years the programme has garnered attention and become popular with wealthy US and British nationals who are all also keen to secure a foot in the door to Europe.

We have also seen an uptake in South African investors residing in Dubai and the Persian Gulf. This expat market, who has already made their move from South Africa, is now ready to explore and to plan for life after the Gulf. The Portugal Golden Visa is a superb European residency solution to have ticking in the background, ensuring a direct route to citizenship and creating unparallelled optionality for the future.

To learn more about the Portugal Golden Visa and the current qualifying investment fund options, you can contact Sarah Young and the Sable International Offshore Real Estate and Investment Migration team at goldenvisa@sableinternational.com or at +27 21 657 1584.