Golden Visa Portugal - Law Amendment
The Government submitted to the Parliament, on April 14th 2023, the effective proposal draft of Law no. 71/XV/1., which will proceed with the revocation of the Residence Permit for Investment Activity (Golden Visa) programme for new concessions and will change the formalities regarding its renewals.
We hereby highlight the following changes contained in this new law proposal:
1) No new applications for Golden Visa will be accepted as from the date of entry into force of draft Law no. 71/XV/1st, but the possibility of renewal of ongoing processes is safeguarded, both for the main applicants and their family members;
2) The possibility of accessing the Permanent Residence Permit and Portuguese citizenship through the Golden Visa is also safeguarded, under the terms currently in force;
3) The renewal of Golden Visa processes will be converted into a Residence Permit for entrepreneurial immigrants, called D2, but their holders will only have to comply with the minimum period of stay of 7 days, consecutive or interpolated, in the 1st year and of 14 days, consecutive or interpolated, in the subsequent two-year periods;
4) In relation to pending Golden Visa processes, the requests for concessions and renewals already submitted and awaiting a decision from SEF on the date of entry into force of draft Law no. 71/XV/1st, will also be converted into a Residence Permit for entrepreneurial immigrants, called D2, remain valid, but their holders will only have to comply with the minimum period of stay of 7 days, consecutive or interpolated, in the first year and 14 days, consecutive or interpolated, in the interpolated, in the subsequent two-year periods.
Notwithstanding the above, some clarifications are still to be made regarding the conversion of the Golden Visa into a D2, as these regimes are substantially different.
It should also be noted that there is still a legislative process to comply with, as the aforementioned law draft still needs to be discussed in the Parliament and then approved by the President of the Republic, who may refer the document to the Constitutional Court.
In other words, the date of entry into force and respective production of effects is still very uncertain, as we foresee a legislative process that may take a while to be completed. Until then the current Golden Visa law remains valid and in force, being possible to make new investments and to submit new processes.
