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How can I use my transferred money during the 5-years temporary residency under the Portuguese Golden Visa program?

Two years ago, I made a deposit of 1 million euros into a Portuguese bank and obtained my temporary resident status under the Portuguese Golden Visa program. Recently, I was approached by a former business partner who is planning to build a hotel in Lisbon. He is asking me to join the partnership and start a new enterprise with him. The opportunity is very attractive but I will have to withdraw a half-million euros from the bank to invest in the new enterprise. Am I allowed to do so? I heard that as long as I use the money “productively in Portugal,” I will be fine. Is it true?


Answers
  • Martínez-Echevarría & Ferreira, Sociedade de Advogados
    September 27, 2018

    Once the investment for Golden Visa is made you can’t move the deposit until the end of the five-year period. If you do so, you will lose your Golden Visa process. In order to pursue this investment, you will need to use another source of equity.

  • October 10, 2018

    The immigration law suffered recent amendments that will enter into force on Oct 1. As such, according to the new regulation, the Golden Visa applicant who started the investment under the financial option (a 1-million euro deposit) may also prove maintenance of the investment by proving that any of the investment options of Law No 23/2007 of 4 July (Article 3, Paragraph D) in its current version, provided that they reach a value equal to or greater than 1 million euros. Such options of investing pertains to companies' investment, job creation, real estate acquisition, culture and heritage recovery, and technologic and scientific research.

  • April 04, 2019

    You need to maintain the minimum amount of the investment untouched during the five years, which means if you deposit one million euros you cannot have a record in the bank lower than that amount. Another thing is if you deposit an additional amount over 1 million, this over amount can be used freely.