Portugal will stop issuing golden visas to foreigners. Prime Minister António Costa announced the closure of the Golden Visa Portugal visa program, and then a residence permit (residence permit) in exchange for investment in real estate or the economy, noting that the decision was made as part of the fight against real estate speculation. He is quoted by Publico.
Over time, a foreign citizen who received a "golden visa" could apply for a Portuguese passport.
According to the prime minister, the issued visas will be extended only if buyers from other countries permanently live in the purchased property or rent it out for a long time. Since October 2012, when the program was launched, Portugal has issued more than 11,000 residence permits and attracted more than €6 billion in investments, Publico notes. In total, 5,258 Chinese citizens, 1,178 Brazilian citizens and 558 Americans received golden visas during this time. The Russians were denied such visas after the start of the war in Ukraine. The minimum investment required to participate in the program must be €280,000. To maintain a residence permit, you need to stay in the country for at least seven days a year, and after five years of holding a “golden visa”, you can try to obtain citizenship.
In the fall of 2022, against the backdrop of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU supported a complete halt to the visa facilitation agreement for Russians. Individual EU countries may review decisions made on already issued visas. Some EU countries stopped issuing tourist visas and residence permits to Russian citizens because of the war. Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were among the first countries to call for a halt to issuing visas to Russians. In August, the Saeima of Latvia declared Russia a sponsor of terrorism, and the authorities also tightened checks on Russians who live in the country on a permanent or temporary basis.
