Digital nomads have been flocking to Portugal for their residence-by-investment program, also known as golden visa, but that is set to end. The news is developing, but the Portuguese government announced it would end this program.
This is a big blow to the digital nomad community – which offers some of the lowest costs of living in Western Europe – as Portugal has been a top destination for nomads. Due to the ending of the program, digital nomads are looking to Dubai, Turkey, Singapore, Germany as well as Hong Kong to work and live.
The Portugal Golden Visa is a residence visa issued to non-EU nationals, a fast-track process for obtaining permanent residence and citizenship. According to SchengenVisaInfo.com, some of the eligibility requirements to formerly obtain a Golden Visa in Portugal include:
- Be over the age of 18 and commit to maintaining the investment for at least another five years
- Purchase a property worth at least €500,000
- Invest €350,000 in a property in a Portuguese urban regeneration area.
- Make a capital transfer of at least €1 million in a Portuguese bank account.
- Create at least ten jobs for Portuguese nationals.
Over the past 10 years, Foreigners and Border Service (SEF) revealed that there was an influx of additional €5.87 billion in real estate investment and a total of 11,189 golden visas were granted to foreign nationals.
The main nationalities to benefit from the golden visa were Chinese (50%) followed by Brazilians, South Africans, Turks and Americans.
The program was adopted initially to attract applicants, but this wealthy group is now leaving the country and taking a significant amount of money with them.
Obtaining the visa allowed foreign nationals to get the full benefits of EU nationality along with access to all Portugal’s national services, such as healthcare and education.