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Can a partner of a business obtain Portuguese residency through a business investment Golden Visa?

I am one of five partners with a 20 percent share of a Vietnamese company. We wish to expand into Europe through Portugal. If we invest at least the minimum and create local jobs, can I come to Portugal to run the business on a Golden Visa? Am I eligible to do this as a co-owner?


Answers
  • Martínez-Echevarría & Ferreira, Sociedade de Advogados
    January 10, 2019

    In order to apply for Golden Visa the company needs to be created by a single person (the investor directly). For Golden Visa purposes, it is not possible, but you can invest in Portugal using your company to create a Portuguese company. With regards to Golden Visa, you can personally start a company with 10 jobs or buy a property to renovate with a total investment between purchasing and works of 350,000 euros.

  • NEXT/Gali Macedo & Associados
    January 15, 2019

    According to the applicable law, it is not possible to obtain a Golden Visa in the terms you have explained. It is, in fact, possible to make an investment to incorporate a company in a Portuguese national territory and/or an investment to create jobs in order to obtain a Golden Visa. However, it is only possible if the company created is a sole shareholder limited liability company of which the applicant is the shareholder, and that shareholder limited liability company has to be created under the terms and according to the Portuguese law. In this sense, an option would be for the applicant to establish a sole shareholder limited liability company, which you can then turn into a branch of the already existing company in Vietnam and proceed with the creation of at least 10 jobs. This scenario is suitable for the Investor to submit a Golden Visa request. The applicant must present supporting evidence in which he has made the investment of the minimum amount required (350,000 euros) individually or through a shareholder limited liability company of which the applicant is the shareholder. The following documents must be submitted: declaration of a credit institution authorized or registered in the national territory within Bank of Portugal, attesting the effective transfer of the amount equal to or above the legally required; individual contracts of employment between the employer and the employees; extract from the register of companies, in the case where the investment is made through a shareholder limited liability company, of which the applicant is the shareholder. For investment by means of the creation of, at least, 10 jobs, this requirement may be reduced in 20 percent (eight jobs) when in a low density territory (NUTS III level with less than 100 inhabitants per square kilometer or PIB per capita less than 75 percent of the national average). Another option to obtain the Golden Visa is through the transfer capital of at least 350,000 euros, to incorporate a company with a headquarters in a Portuguese national territory, together with the creation of five permanent jobs, for a period of three years. The documents related to the investment are: presenting supporting evidence in which the applicant has made the investment of the minimum amount required, individually or through a shareholder limited liability company of which the applicant is the shareholder. The following documents must be submitted: declaration of a credit institution authorized or registered in the national territory within Bank of Portugal, attesting the effective transfer of the amount equal to or above the legally required; supporting document of the constitution of a commercial company with share capital equal to or above the legally required and associated updated extract from the register of companies; extract from the register of companies, in the case where the investment is made through a shareholder limited liability company, of which the applicant is the shareholder.