The Golden Visa Program was completed in Portugal, Next to Ireland and Before Spain

One of Europe's most sought-after Golden Visa programs, which granted non-residents of the EU Portuguese residency in exchange for the purchase of real estate and other investments in the country, has officially been discontinued. The decision to end the Golden Visa in exchange for investment, which grants wealthy individuals residency permits and access to the European Union's borderless travel zone, was announced by Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa on February 16.

The government intends to stop issuing new golden visas to "fight against speculation in the real estate market". Golden visas, used around the world to attract foreign investment and offered by various European countries looking to attract capital and boost tourism, allow wealthy foreigners to effectively "buy" the right to stay - sometimes without even necessarily having to live in the country, as Euronews explained. Counter-versions have grown along with their popularity, and the EU has made efforts to restrict them because of the "security risk of allowing money laundering, tax evasion, terrorist financing, corruption and infiltration of organized crime, which is incompatible with EU norms." The European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties condemned the programs as "ethically, legally and economically unacceptable."

Governments are also facing domestic protests as real estate prices, especially in the most popular destinations, continue to rise, pushing locals out while foreigners buy houses and apartments to rent through services like Airbnb. "Portugal's decision to end the program comes amid alarm over soaring house prices that have left many locals struggling to find suitable accommodation, especially in Lisbon and Porto, the biggest cities," the Financial Times reports.

The termination of Portugal's golden visa program is one of the measures aimed at easing the housing crisis and includes a ban on issuing new licenses for Airbnb and other short-term rentals, except in remote locations.

Ending the program is expected to cost the country at least 900 million euros ($962 million) that have been invested in the country since its launch in 2012, mostly in real estate. The prime minister said the decision would be approved next month.

Portugal's decision follows Ireland's decision a week earlier to cancel its golden visa program or "Immigrant Investor Program," which offered Irish residency in exchange for a 500,000-euro investment or a three-year annual investment of 1 million euros in the country. Ireland had already suspended the program for Russian citizens in March 2022 as part of sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine. Since its launch 11 years ago, the program, which has been used mainly by wealthy Russian and Chinese investors, has attracted 1.25 billion euros.