After the recent bad news that points to a decrease in the number of Golden Visa Portugal allocated in the months of April and May / 17, the government has just announced that it will create a blue line to speed up the attribution of Visa Gold.
The reason given for the decrease observed in April-17, in the order of 5% compared to 2016 and about 60% compared to the previous month, is the alleged "excessive delay" in the treatment of these processes , by the Foreigners and Borders (SEF).
The delay concerns not only the attribution of new Visa Gold but also the renewal of them, since the Special Residence Authorization for Investment (ARI) have to be renewed after 5 years, which can take almost 1 year. One of the reasons pointed out for this deficient service is the chronic "lack of personnel", which delays the entire SEF workday, not only in this as well as other situations related to the granting of Visas.
As if that were not enough, the SEF revealed this Monday the figures for May / 17, with a further drop in the Residence Permit for the Investment-ARI activity, with the total invested falling to 52.2% of the value recorded in May / 16. In relation to the previous month April / 17, the fall was 41.2% .
According to the government's intention, it is planned to create specialized assistance by the end of 2017 , creating an express service to ensure that foreign investment associated with the granting of visas is not lost.
According to Luís Lima, the president of the Professional Association of Real Estate Mediation Companies of Portugal (APEMIP), this slowness, in addition to the negative impact on the granting of gold visas, is generating a situation of benefit for the neighboring country: Spain. Speaking to Jornal Sol:
Due to the constant bureaucratic blockages they face, not only in the dispatch of new processes, but also in renewal, and this creates a climate of distrust that ends up being reflected in the drop in demand, or even in the diversion of interest to other countries with similar programs. . Spain surpassed Portugal in 2016, with 1.1 billion euros of investments, which exceeded the 873 million raised by Portugal in 2016.
However, the SEF Director, Luísa Maia Gonçalves, says that despite the fall registered in April:
The estimate is that "by the end of this year more processes may be concluded than the sum of the two best years, 2014 and 2016".
The announcement of the blue line for Visa Gold is in line with the Government's renewed commitment to ARI, confirmed by the recent announced measures to expand the criteria for the award of "gold" visas:
Residence permits now include foreigners who invest an amount equal to or greater than 350 thousand euros, in the creation of Portuguese companies or in strengthening the share capital of national companies (provided that five permanent jobs are created or maintained). This figure contrasts with the 500 thousand euros needed for Visa Gold related to the purchase of real estate.
In May / 17, SEF revealed that of the 81 visas granted, only 1 was granted through this new criterion related to the creation of jobs.
The importance of ARI is clear when we look at the figures revealed this week by SEF:
In cumulative terms - since the 'golden visas' started to be granted, on October 8, 2012, until last May - the total investment raised with the ARI reached ARI reached 3.1 Billion Euros . Of this amount, 90.2% were raised through the purchase of real estate and 9.8% through capital transfer. The most prominent countries until May / 16 are: China (3,411 ARI), Brazil (411), South Africa (189), Russia (174) and Lebanon (100).