"The possibility of obtaining a golden visa for Portugal still exists."."

This is your last chance to get a Portuguese Golden Visa... And this time I'm serious. At the beginning of spring, the Prime Minister of Portugal announced the government's plans to abolish the Golden Visa program for residents. Now it's already mid-September, and the program is still open for new applications. We can thank the Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa for this, who vetoed the bill on August 25 and sent it back to parliament.

Undoubtedly, the parliament will overturn the veto, but there is still an opportunity to apply for a resident Golden Visa. The current system allows applicants who purchase residential real estate worth €280,000 and above to obtain a five-year residence visa. This, in turn, grants the holder the right to move freely within the European Union.

The Golden Visa was so popular that it attracted over €7 billion in investments from foreigners looking to get a piece of Portugal. Half of these visas were issued to citizens of China, followed by Brazilians, Americans, Turks, and South Africans. News that this pathway would be closed led to a surge in applications in the first half of this year - by the end of June, 861 new visas had been issued. Some commentators suggest that the president's veto reflects his desire to keep the option for residency investment open. Unfortunately, this is not the case: his concerns relate to other aspects of the "More Housing" law, which also addresses the acute shortage of affordable housing in Portugal. All of his proposed changes pertain to these aspects of the legislation, rather than to the Golden Visa.

Nevertheless, as the storm of proposals from agencies dealing with Golden Visa applications shows, the program is still open to anyone who wants to apply.

Portugal was a hot topic at our recent Overseas Bootcamp conference in Denver. Experts familiar with the situation informed the audience that applying for the latest resident Golden Visa requires the following:

The application was supposed to be submitted to the Portuguese immigration agency.

This does not mean that all supporting documents had to be submitted. This can continue even after the law is passed if the process was initiated before that.

The real estate deal was supposed to reach the stage where the funds were transferred.

A completed transfer act does not necessarily have to take place if the buyer's funds have been transferred to an escrow or another account of the seller while awaiting the conclusion of the deal.

There is little time left to start everything from scratch. Fortunately, our friends at Real Estate Trend Alert are closely monitoring the state of the Portuguese real estate market and have potential investment properties for those who are serious about pursuing this path to obtaining residency in Portugal. The experts at RETA and International Living are in close contact with Portuguese consultants who can assist with the visa application process.

Of course, the resident golden visa is not the only option for obtaining residency in Portugal. There is still the possibility of obtaining an independent D7 visa based on personal funds or a D8 visa for digital nomads. The income requirements for the D7 visa are just over €1000 per month. The D8 visa requires a minimum monthly income from sources outside Portugal of around €3400. But if obtaining long-term residency along with a beautiful home or investment property in Portugal has been your dream, there is still time to make it happen.

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