Obtain Portugal Residence Permit

The investment may be completed by the investor as an individual or through a Portuguese Limited Liability Company incorporated by the investor in Portugal.

No,any siblings of the main applicant must file their own separate application under the terms of the program.

Yes, however the Portuguese immigration authorities will require documented proof of the nature and duration of this relationship.

At the same time as applying with your own application, you may apply for the Golden Visa for the following family members:

• The applicant’s spouse or legal partner
• Children of the applicant under 18 years of age
• Dependent children of the applicant under 26 that are unmarried and enrolled as full-time students at the time of the application
• Parents of the applicant or their spouse if over the age of 66 (or 55 and dependent on the main applicant)
• Siblings of the applicant’s spouse or partner under the age of 18 if legally responsible

While this is not necessary for the visa itself, basic knowledge of Portuguese is necessary for applicants wishing to eventually apply for settlement and Portuguese citizenship at the end of 5 years or residence. 

 Under the Portuguese Nationality Law the current required period of residency before you will be eligible to apply for citizenship is 5 years. After the fifth year of holding your qualifying investment and residence permit, you may apply for permanent residency or citizenship. If you do not want to apply for a residence permit or a Portuguese passport, you must renew your residence permit in year six in order to continue being able to reside in Portugal as before.

Hiring a local Portuguese lawyer will greatly simplify the process of applying for a Portugal Golden Visa, shorten the processing time and protect you from entering into overpriced transactions. Portuguese tax law also requires the appointment of a Portuguese tax representative. BEYOND has partnered with local lawyers in Portugal in order to provide a structured solution to clients.

Documents take a minimum of 3 months to file with the Portuguese immigration authorities and a further 1 -2 months to process. The average waiting period is therefore from 4-5 months.

Yes, but if borrowing from a Portuguese financial institution, the borrowed funds must exceed the minimum amount for a Golden Visa (for example, for an investment of €700,000, you can take out a loan of €200,000 from a Portuguese bank). If the funds are borrowed from an overseas financial institution you can use them for the minimum investment of €500,000.

If the property has not yet completed construction you are still eligible for a residence permit as long as the value of the investment was a minimum of €500,000. 

Yes. However, the investment needs to have been made no earlier than October 2012 (as this is when the Golden Visa Program officially came into force).

The investor (or any family member) will be refused the Golden Visa, or its renewal, if:

a) the investor has not maintained the investment for the minimum period of 5 (years)

b) the investor has not complied with the minimum periods of stay in Portugal

c) the investor has been convicted of a crime

d) the investor in a period where he/she has been banned entry into Portuguese territory following a removal measure of the country

The Golden Visa may be also refused on the grounds of public order, public security or public health.

Yes, the investor is free to sell the property / investment if he/she no longer wishes to continue with the Golden Visa programme. However to qualify fully, investor must hold the investment during Portugal Golden Visa’s validity period – 5 years.

There is no obligation for the investor to live in the property bought for the Portugal Golden Visa Residence Permit. It can be rented if the investor wishes. It must be noted that rental income will be taxed at a rate of 28 percent.

The investor is also free to sell this property and purchase another (within 2 months) but under the Golden Visa residence permit via property investment, the minimum investment of EUR 500,000 must be maintained for the full 5 year period.

For the Portugal Golden Visa Residence Permit via property investment, an investor must also consider the following taxes and costs:

a) Payable when the property is purchased :
• “IMT” or Property Transfer Tax”, is the tax on transfer of ownership of property and varies with price of the property (It is sliding scale based on the purchase price – a guideline figure is circa 5-6 percent)
• Stamp Duty – normally 0.8 percent of the property price

b) Payable on an annual basis:
• “IMI” or Council Tax, which is the annual municipal property tax; it is levied between 0.3 percent and 0.5 percent on the property’s tax value

c) Payable on an annual basis:
• Rental income will be taxed at a rate of 28 percent.

The application for the Portugal Golden Visa Residence Permit requires submission of the following documentation:

• Proof of Investment
• Passport & Valid Schengen Visa
• Portuguese Fiscal number
• Clean Criminal Record statement from country of residency
• Clean Portuguese Criminal Record
• Declaration from the Portuguese Tax Department proving the absence of debts to the Portuguese Tax Authorities
• Declaration from Portuguese Social Security proving the absence of debts to Portuguese Social Security Authorities
• Declaration from the investor confirming compliance with the investment requirements
• Health Insurance valid in Portugal
It should be noted that:
• Any document that is not in the Portuguese or English languages needs to be translated to Portuguese and the translation must be certified.
• Document issued by foreign authorities need to be legalized before being submitted in Portugal. This legalization means obtaining the Appostille of the Hague Convention (when applicable) or legalization by the Portuguese Consular services.

Under the laws of Portugal, any person that has held a valid Portuguese temporary residency card (Portugal Golden Visa Residence Permit) for a minimum period of 5 years will be entitled to obtain Permanent Residency in Portugal.

• The investor and family members will have to meet the following criteria in order to be able to apply for Permanent Residency in Portugal:
• Absence of conviction of crime during the last 5 (five years)
• Proof of income / financial independence
• Proof of accommodation in Portugal
• Basic knowledge of Portuguese

The Portuguese legislation also sets out that any person who has been validly resident in Portugal for at least 6 (years (either under a temporary or permanent residency title), is eligible for obtaining Portuguese Citizenship.

In order to be able to obtain Portuguese Citizenship, the investor and family members will also have to comply with the following requirements:

• Be at least 18 years old (or at least 16 but married or legally responsible)
• Absence of conviction of any crime
• Pass a simple Portuguese language test, which will serve to show sufficient knowledge of the language

The Portugal Golden Visa Residence Permit Programme will be valid for an initial period of 1 (one) year and then will be renewed for subsequent periods of 2 years.

The Portugal Golden Visa Residence Permit Programme allows considerable freedom in each type of investment

(a) Property investment:
• Minimum investment of EUR 500,000
• Purchase of one or multiple properties
• All property types qualify
• Possibility of co-ownership;
• Freedom to use, rent or lease

(b) Transfer of Funds
• Minimum investment of EUR 1 million
• Funds transferred from abroad to a bank in Portugal
• Total freedom to invest the funds
• Possibility of using the funds to invest in shares of companies

(c) Job Creation
• Creation of a minimum of 10 jobs
• No minimum investment value
• No limitation on areas/activities
• Compliance with Social Security obligations

The Portugal Golden Visa Residence Permit Programme requires investor to comply with the following general requirements across all types of qualifying investments:

• Maintain the investment for a minimum period of 5 years
• Ensure funds for the investment come from abroad
• Entry into Portugal should be with a valid Schengen visa
• There must be no breaches or reference in the Portuguese Immigration and the Schengen services
• Absence of conviction of crime both in Portugal and in home country
• Minimum stay in Portugal: 7 (seven) days during the first year and 14 (fourteen) days during each subsequent period of two years

Three types of investment qualify for the Portugal Golden Visa Residence Permit:

• Acquisition of property in the amount of or greater than € 500,000
• Transfer of funds above EUR 1,000,000
• Creation of at least 10 (ten) jobs in Portugal
Please note, only investments made after October 8 2012 are eligible for the Portugal Golden Visa Residence Permit programme.

The holders of a Portuguese Golden Visa Residence Permit have many advantages:

• They do not need a visa to enter Portugal or travel through Europe (Schengen Area).
• They can live and work in Portugal, even with residency in a different country.
• Portuguese residency can be extended to family members.
• Portugal has low minimum stay periods compared to other residency/citizenship programmes.
• Holders can attain permanent residency after five years.
• Holders can attain citizenship after six years.

The Portugal Golden Visa Residence Permit Programme is a fast track residency by investment programme for foreign investors from non-EU countries to obtain a fully valid residency permit in Portugal (otherwise known as a ‘Golden Visa’).

It was launched by Portuguese authorities in October 2012. Under the Portugal Golden Visa programme, non-EU citizens can through investment activities in Portugal (acquire real estate, transfer capital or to create jobs) can qualify for a residency permit in Portugal. This permit allows the investor to enter and/or live in Portugal, and to travel freely within the vast majority of European countries (Schengen Area).

The Portugal Golden Visa Residence Permit Programme is a straightforward, flexible programme, aimed at attracting foreign investment into Portugal. It is considered one of the most attractive residency programmes in the world, since investors do not need to live in Portugal and can include both dependent children and dependent parents.