President happy with Golden Visas

Madeira will continue to entice wealthy residents

The Diario reports on the Regional President speaking openly about the continued use of Golden Visas on the island. “There is no incompatibility between Golden Visas, what is intended for real estate and what is intended for families in Madeira”, assured the Regional President Miguel Albuquerque yesterday at the opening of the new premises of the Prediclub real estate, at Quinta Lido Sol in São Martinho.

At the same time, he re-affirmed the potential of the North American market and flirted with the Eastern market. Miguel Albuquerque thus underlined that it is the intention of the Regional Government to continue attracting high-level residents and that this has been reflected in the demand from the foreign market.

The official once again insisted on housing at controlled costs and on housing cooperatives in order to respond to the needs of the regional market at the bottom end of the housing market.

Portuguese Golden Visa changing this year

The Portuguese Golden Visa allows people to apply for permanent residency and citizenship after five years through investing principally in real estate (there are other options) without having to reside in the country at any point. It is viewed as an attractive option due to its relaxed regulations, as the applicant and their family only have to visit for two weeks every two years to renew the Visa.

This means that citizenship can be granted without actually living in the country, which is different to many other countries worldwide. Once you have a second passport by being a citizen of Portugal, you can live, work and study anywhere in the EU, also making it a very attractive proposition.

Requirements

In order to obtain Portugal’s Golden Visa, there are basic requirements that must be met to ensure a successful application. These include:

• No previous convictions on a criminal record.
• Be at least 18 years old.
• A non-EU or non-Swiss citizen.
• Invest a minimum of €350,000 (€500,000 in real estate)

However, the rules are changing this year, with several high-profile areas – including Lisbon, Porto and much of the coastal regions in the Algarve – being impacted from January 1st, 2022. The proposed changes will see investment being channelled to the interior, low-density areas of Portugal, notably inland areas of the Algarve.

There are no changes in Madeira which for the time being at least, continues to entice high net-worth individuals to the Region, taking a more relaxed view to the tightening restrictions on the mainland.

COVID-19 in Madeira: updates can be found in an earlier post

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