Why You Should Get a Golden Visa in Portugal in 2024

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Kathleen Peddicord recently penned Why You Shouldn’t Get a Golden Visa. Peddicord’s focus is on dismissing the Greek Golden Visa, although she also derides the Portuguese Golden Visa. However, if you look a little deeper, Peddicord’s article actually provides ample reasons to get a golden visa in Portugal.

Is the Tide Turning Against Golden Visas?

For the purposes of our interpretation of Peddicord’s piece, we’re going to define a golden visa as a strictly European Residency by Investment. Here’s why: “The tide is turning among Europe’s golden visa programs.” That’s the very first line of this op-ed.

Latitude provides second residency solutions in 10 countries. 3 of these are European Golden visas; we also help clients acquire a Spanish Golden Visa. You do the math: 3/10ths of our programme offerings are golden visas (as in 30%). That 30% also represents our most popular programmes, with well over 50% of our clients actively interested in securing one of those 3 residencies.

Peddicord continues: “A wave of more restrictive policies, more expensive minimum thresholds, and outright elimination of programs has swept across the continent in recent months.”

Residency by Investment programmes evolve in Europe as they do elsewhere. However, we cannot deny the rising costs. But the reference to outright elimination in recent months is way off the mark as there has been no eradication of programmes in the last year.

Analyzing the “Changes in Visa Programs Across Europe”

Next, Peddicord reveals that “Ireland eliminated its Immigrant Investor Program in 2023.” That much is true. However, we’re going back to Thursday, February 15, 2024. To repeat ourselves a little, is 17 months (as in nearly a year and a half ago) really recent?

Peddicord shifts her gaze in a diagonal southwest fashion, to the Iberian Peninsula. She informs readers: “Portugal made the real estate investment option of its golden visa program — previously Europe’s most popular — more restrictive and expensive before eventually abolishing it (also in 2023).”

No argument here. Monday, October 7, 2023 brought the end of the Portuguese Golden Visa’s real-estate option. Yet this Residency by Investment is alive and kicking, a theme we’ll return to later.

Portugal done, Peddicord moves eastwards. She notes that “Greece is one of the latest countries to follow suit. After weeks of vague statements and speculation about changes to its highly coveted golden visa program, Greece’s Ministry of Finance confirmed the new policies on March 21.”

Again, Peddicord is spot-on with her timeline. Yet Peddicord neglects to mention the transition period the Greek government set up here.  A transition period that allows for you to qualify for a Greek Golden Visa with a minimum €250,000 investment until the end of August 2024.

“Key Takeaways from Policy Changes”

As the emphasis of this article relates to reasons to get a golden visa in Portugal, we’re going to skip over much of Peddicord’s next section. She does now mention the transition period though. However, Peddicord quotes from an erroneous Investment Migration Insider news story that reports that this period extends for a month longer than it actually does.

We’re also going to pull her up on the following conclusion about investing during the transition period: “Does this mean that you should rush over to Greece and put down a deposit on a home in the next six months if you’re interested in living there? Not in my opinion.”

Golden visas are like gold dust. They won’t always be around. So the wiser investor commits before rather than after the gold rush.

“Considerations for Greece’s Golden Visa”

Despite the title, this section is as relevant to someone wanting to invest in a golden visa in Portugal and Spain as it is in Greece. Peddicord claims that “a Greek golden visa investment only makes sense in a handful of specific cases (if you’re from a country that does not enjoy visa-free travel to the EU…”

Now, all European golden visas are only open to third-country nationals. What’s a third-country national? A non-European citizen.

Investors who do not “enjoy visa-free travel to the EU” number considerably more than a handful. Everybody who invests in a golden visa in Portugal and elsewhere does so to combat Schengen Visa rejection. ETIAS and EES are further considerations.

“What If You’re Interested in Gaining Citizenship…?”

Peddicord correctly shares that “Greece, like many European countries, grants citizenship through naturalization to those who have lived there with legal residency for a certain number of years. The number of years varies from country to country. In Greece’s case, it’s seven years.”

Well, guess what? In Portugal, this naturalization takes even less. It’s a mere 5 years before you become a Portuguese citizen, and, by default, a European national, as in a citizen of the European Union.

“The Reality of Greece’s Golden Visa Program”

Much of this section makes a lot of sense. You can qualify for a Greek Golden Visa with minimum physical residency. However, to be eligible for citizenship, you’re going to need to spend more than 183 days a year for 7 consecutive years plus pass a Greek language test.

This only serves to make a golden visa in Portugal even more alluring. Sure, there’s a Portuguese A2 language test to navigate. But if you pass that, you only need to have spent a total of 7 days a year for 5 years on Portuguese soil.

Peddicord’s “Bottom Line”

We’re going to quote her in full here. This concluding section is not really contentious in any way. The only issue we have with it is that Peddicord contradicts her earlier steadfast refusal to advise investors to resist taking advantage of the transition period.

This is peak Peddicord: “Despite the fact that I think the program only makes sense in a small number of cases, the changes highlight an important point that I make often: You should act quickly if you’re interested in a particular opportunity overseas.”

“Things like golden visas, citizenship by investment, and tax programs are subject to rapid change in today’s world.”

Yes, good, old carpe diem. You never quite know when a government might curtail an investment migration programme. So seize the day, seize the moment and enjoy the benefits while you can (although even when a residency or citizenship programme disappears, you don’t cease to be a resident or citizen of that country).

The Green Perspective on Getting a Golden Visa in Portugal

Jon Green is our Portuguese Residency by Investment expert. He has remained sanguine since the loss of the real-estate option when applying for a golden visa in Portugal. “With the Portuguese Golden Visa, everything has changed and nothing has changed,” reasons Green.

“Sure, you can’t purchase property to claim Portuguese residency any more but investors have flocked to the venture capital option.” “The Portuguese Golden Visa still offers a clear path to European citizenship. That means it has retained its value.”

How to Secure Portuguese Residency by Investment in 2024

If you’re even more convinced that you want to get a golden visa in Portugal after reading this article, there’s only one next step to take. And that’s to consult a Portuguese Residency by Investment specialist like Latitude Group. So, don’t delay and contact us today.