Reforms in the Golden Visa programme

On 16 February 2023, the Government presented the general conditions of the proposed housing reforms, which include, inter alia, amendments to the Immigration Act, known as the Act on the Entry, Stay, Departure and Removal of Foreigners from the National Territory (Law 23/2007, of 4 July).

In a speech, Prime Minister António Costa announced that the government intends to review the regime of Portugal's residence-for-investment programme, known as the Golden Visa, which includes property investment options.

This is a preliminary proposal, which will be followed by a public discussion in which all interested parties will be invited to give their opinion. The discussion will take place within the next month. The discussion will be followed by a new meeting of the Council of Ministers, where a final proposal is expected to be developed for submission to Parliament.

Once the final draft has been prepared, the draft will be submitted to Parliament for a vote. Thereafter, and if approved, the proposal will be discussed by a separate commission that will deal with the final draft. The final version will then be returned to Parliament for general approval.

Once approved by Parliament, the draft will be sent to the President of the Republic. After that, three scenarios are possible:

• Ratification of the proposed changes, in which case the project will enter into force. The project may have a transitional period.
• The President of the Republic will not accept the draft as proposed and will return it to Parliament for revision, or
• The President of the Republic accepts the document, but will require evaluation by the Constitutional Court.

Whatever decision is made, it is important to understand that the possible changes will only affect new applications and should not affect gold visa investors who applied for the programme before the reforms were approved.

We plan to actively participate in public hearings during March with the municipalities to push for a transition period of at least a few months or until the end of the year.

Finbek will continue to monitor the situation closely and keep you informed of decisions made.