Golden immigrants from Portugal

Chinese's investment in Golden Visas fell by 60%

According to the Portuguese Agency for Foreigners and Border Services (SEF), investment in golden visas in the first quarter of this year fell by 60% compared with the same period in 2021 Chinese, and the United States became the country with the largest investment in the project.

In the first quarter of last year, China ranked first in the Golden Residence Permit Program by nationality, with an investment amount of 51.7 million euros and 100 golden visas issued to Chinese.

In the first quarter of this year, the United States led China, with China taking second place in investment in the Golden Residency Program, with cumulative investments of €20.7 million at the end of March, down more than half (59.9%) from the same period in 2021. Only 43 Golden Visas were issued to Chinese in the first quarter of this year.

Investment from the United States more than tripled in the first quarter of this year to 25.1 million euros compared to the same period in 2021, and they received 52 golden visas. A year ago, U.S. investment attracted through the Golden Visa was €6.8 million (13).

India ranked third in the first quarter with an investment of more than €8 million and 18 Golden Visas. Last year, the country did not make it into the top five in the first quarter.

It was followed by Brazil, whose investments rose 1.7 percent year-on-year to €11.4 million in the first quarter of this year, corresponding to 17 Golden Visas. In the first quarter of 2021, golden visa investments from Brazil amounted to 11.2 million euros, and a total of 18 golden visas were issued to them.

In fifth place this year is South Africa, with a cumulative investment of more than €7.6 million as of March, with a total of 15 Golden Visas.

In the first quarter of last year, the top five were also Russia (investing 5.2 million euros and obtaining 10 visas) and Pakistan (investing 4.6 million euros and obtaining 10 golden visas).

According to the SEF, in the first three months of the year, only 7 Golden Visas were granted to Russian citizens, "all in January", and two were Ukrainian citizens. On 26 February, Portugal suspended the issuance of A Gold residence permits to Russian citizens.

Golden Visa investments were defrauded of millions

Having invested almost a million euros in two properties, he wanted to live in Portugal with his family and get a Golden Visa, only to find himself caught up in an endless scam. Although one of the houses had a mortgage, it lost the right to obtain a residence permit. The case, which is being brought before the courts, is not the only case in the country: there are many investors who are facing the same problem.

Kuljeet Prithipal Chadda Singh, originally from Kenya, wanted to invest in Portugal, live in Lisbon with his family and apply for a Golden Visa. To this end, he bought two properties in 2018, one in the Algarve and the other in Lisbon. The latter had a mortgage that the seller hid from him, and when he made the deed, he automatically took on this mortgage. As a result of this debt, he lost the right to obtain a golden visa and may even lose his house.

However, this is not an isolated case, and there are some other foreign investors who wish to apply for a Golden Visa, and have been "deceived" as a result.

João Massano is a lawyer and President of the Lisbon Regional Council of the Portuguese Bar Association. Some of his clients, who are golden visa applicants, said the problems Faced by Kuljeet Prithipal Chadda Singh were not unique. In some cases, it is the state itself that does not meet expectations, in other cases, it is the companies that take advantage of these people's ignorance of the market.

Although the situation cannot be changed now, there are still many issues that need to be solved in terms of the ARI (Golden Visa) of the Residence for Investment Permit. On the issue of the Golden Visa, the state is acting in bad faith: "This is not sincerity. It tells people to invest here, but doesn't give them the means to get what it promises. It doesn't give them an answer, nor does it fulfill the expectations it creates and gives people. "

"We all want to make money, but you don't have to cheat on others"

Cases similar to those of Kuljeet Prithipal Chadda Singh are no strangers to the lawyer: "We've all heard of agencies looking for homes and then showing them and charging for a fee. Even institutions abroad, which have partnerships with portuguese institutions, or there are secondary institutions here. "

Many investors also buy a house without seeing it, or just look at it online, and there are a lot of problems in between. The price charged for those who want to obtain a Golden Visa tends to be higher. "I've had several customers who, after purchasing, find that their neighbors pay a much lower price. Some properties are sold at a very high value, not even worth 2/3 of the amount paid.

João Massano believes that many problems could be avoided if there was more oversight, and bad professionals would be punished. While he acknowledges that most realtors are honest, he warns: "Realtors have to understand that we all want to make money, obviously, but we can't cheat clients".

In his experience, most applicants only want to invest in Portugal, but there are also some who want to live in the country. The location, the weather, the people, and even the education persuaded many to stay: "Here is the opportunity to get a European education." I have clients who live here, husband and wife are separated and have their children study in Portugal. "

It is not possible to apply for a Golden Visa now

Kuljeet Prithipal Chadda Singh thought she had acquired a property that was not burdened and charged, but in reality, without delivering the seizures and unsealing, she not only paid 650,000 euros for the house, but also "took on" a debt of 520,000 euros for a banking institution.

As a result, she is no longer able to apply for a Golden Visa. Because to apply for a Golden Visa, in addition to an investment of at least 500,000 euros, there must also be no debt.

"The government is also guilty because when they invite investors to Portugal, they have to guarantee that the judicial system supports them. It's one thing for someone to do something wrong, it's another thing when the system is disappointing us in every way. "

The Golden Visa has earned Portugal more than $6 billion in revenue

They are called Residence permits for investment – ARI, also known as golden visas. The programme was launched in November 2012 to secure foreign investment. According to the Aliens and Border Services (SEF), the country raised more than 6 billion euros in 9 years from the end of 2021 – 6,057,663,503.19 euros to be precise.

China, Brazil, Turkey, South Africa and Russia are the top five countries that receive investment through the Golden Visa Program. In recent years alone, they have received more than 40 million euros in funding.

Of the more than 6 billion euros of funds, most of it is used to buy real estate, and a small part is used for urban renewal of 350,507,722.90 euros. The investment resulting from capital transfers was €586,089,554.59.

Since its creation, the program has issued 10,170 Golden Visas. Of these, 9,514 were for the purchase of property.