On January 1st 2022 the Portuguese Golden Visa program will undergo some substantial changes. As one of the most popular Golden Visa programs in the world, this initiative has seen thousands of entrepreneurs and investors gain European Union residence and citizenship through a friendly and relaxed investment regime. After going largely unchanged for a decade, these new changes are important to pay attention to.
Golden Visa 2022 changes
Changes to the Golden Visa Investment Fund option
The Portuguese Golden Visa investment fund option is one of the easiest ways for applicants to secure their Golden Visa. Under the new rules, the minimum level of investment to qualify for this route will rise from €350,000 to €500,000. Fortunately, this is the only change to affect the investment fund option. It’s still structured to offer the quickest way to complete a visa application, the easiest way to capitalise at the end, and remains tax efficient and better regulated than other options.
Related article: Golden Visa Portugal Fund: What is it
Changes to Real Estate option
The other popular route to obtain a golden visa is through a real estate purchase. As of January 1st 2022 however, you will no longer qualify for a Portuguese Golden Visa by purchasing residential property in places like Lisbon, Porto and the coast. Instead, the only qualifying areas will be low population density areas in the interior or off-shore in the autonomous zones of Azores and Madeira. This represents bad news for people looking to generate rental income from their investments, as these regions tend to receive less demand from locals and tourists.
Changes to other options
The investment fund and real estate options, while the most popular, are not the only routes to obtaining a Portuguese Golden Visa. The capital transfer option will also see an increase in the minimum qualifying amount, rising from €1M to €1.5M. Similarly, the R&D option will increase from €350,000 to €500,000. Entrepreneurs wishing to create a company will be happy that the amount of full-time positions to be created remains the same at 5. They will need to increase the incorporation amount from €350,000 to €500,000 however.
What does this mean?
As of next year, the procedure to apply for your Portuguese Golden Visa will become more expensive owing to the higher amounts of money required to invest in whichever scheme you choose. However, although the rules have been announced now, they will not come into force until 2022 and will not be applied retroactively.
This means it’s essential to start your application process now, since you’ll need to get your pre-approval from the Portuguese Border and Immigration Service (SEF) before the 31st of December. As mentioned, the Investment Fund option has the quickest processing time as the time needed to select a fund, invest in it and then obtain the documents of proof is significantly shorter than with any other route available.
Related article: Golden Visa Portugal: 7 Reasons to Invest in a Fund
Lince Capital
With over 40 years of experience in the Portuguese market, Lince Capital Team can help Golden Visa Portugal applicants to invest in the right qualified investment funds to secure all the benefits associated with the program.
As experts in securing Portugal Golden Visas through the Investment Fund option, we can carefully navigate you through the process. Depending on your investor profile, Lince has two standout funds to consider which are still open to subscription.
Lince Innovation Fund
The Lince Innovation Fund is focused on research and development projects across a wide range of sectors such as health, IT and industrial. The minimum investment in this fund is €100,000 and the term lasts for 8 years.
Navigator II
Navigator II is exclusively focused on real estate development projects in the high-value central Lisbon area. The minimum investment for this fund is €100,000 and the term lasts for 7 years.
If you would like more information about Golden Visas or would like to explore how to invest in Portugal, please feel free to contact us.
