Indeed, the legislative amendments to Portugal’s Golden Visa program will come into effect in January 2022, blocking investors from buying properties in high-density areas like Lisbon, Porto, and the Algarve, as well as in coastal areas like Setubal and the Silver Coast. This means real estate investments will only qualify in low-density regions, as well as autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira. Applicants can only buy residential real estate in designated interior areas of Portugal worth at least €500,000 or €350,000 if investing in a rehabilitation project. While stakeholders have vocalized opposition against the changes, they’re not necessarily seen as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Rather, the Portugal Golden Visa changes are designed to drive investment in Portugal’s interior areas, relieving pressure from metropolitan locations and encouraging foreign investment into other areas of the country. The following Golden Visa investment options will not change: starting a company in Portugal and employing at least ten new local employees, and €250,000 contribution in arts. That means an investor would be able to, for example, enter into a partnership with a Portuguese hotelier in Lisbon and be a stakeholder in a project that creates a company and employs at least ten new local employees.
