According to a Business Standard report, since January 2021 more than 50 ultra-high net worth Indians had invested a whopping 350,000 to 600,000 euros in apartments in Portugal’s capital of Lisbon and other cities to obtain the so-called golden visa
A recent Forbes report, quoted by wionews.com, stated that among the top applicants for Portugal’s ‘golden visa’ are rich Indians, American and Chinese nationals. Wealthy American applicants were all set to surpass the Chinese. It pointed out that the rich were from Brazil, South Africa and India.
According to a Business Standard report, since January 2021 more than 50 ultra-high net worth Indians had invested a whopping 350,000 to 600,000 euros in apartments in Portugal’s capital of Lisbon and other cities to obtain the so-called golden visa.
In July 2022, as per the Portuguese Foreigners and Border Service (SEF) investments from the programme increased from USD 3.7 million to USD 8.2 million recorded during the same month of 2021. In total, the programme has raised an investment of $6.8 billion from foreigners.
The fastrack visa for non-European Union nationals mandates a minimum investment of €500,000 (4.35 crore INR or 527,222 USD) in real estate, making a capital investment or creating employment opportunities
The wionews.com story said that Portugal’s cash-for-visa or “golden visa” that had lured many wealthy foreigners like Madonna could end soon. A recent announcement about the policy getting scrapped attracted a lot of interest. Investments in November jumped by 40 per cent according to data from SEF.
Recently, Portugal’s Prime Minister, Antonio Costa said that the country was considering scrapping its popular yet criticised Residency by Investment Program (RIP). He said that the programme had probably already “fulfilled the function it had to fulfil”, and that “it is no longer justified to maintain”.
The fastrack visa for non-European Union nationals mandates a minimum investment of €500,000 (4.35 crore INR or 527,222 USD) in real estate, making a capital investment or creating employment opportunities.
The scheme was deemed as a money-laundering risk by the European Union.
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