US and UK Investors Expected to Change Portugal’s Investment Landscape

Portugal’s Golden Visa is a residence visa issued to non-EU nationals who have made a qualifying investment in Portugal. It is a fast-track process for obtaining permanent residence and citizenship in an EU country – via the Golden Visa, where applicants and their families can become eligible for Portuguese citizenship.

The real estate residency investment option for the Golden Visa was the most popular, but it’s expected to disappear when extensive restrictions affecting the profitability and eligibility of the most desirable properties go into effect on January 1, 2022. Anticipating this change, investors, especially from the UK and US, are now directing their attention to Portugal investment and venture capital funds. I a nutshell, the legal changes disqualify residential real estate investments in big cities including Lisbon, Porto and Algarve.

A recent article titled, “American and British investors Bullish on Portugal” says,
“It’s no wonder British and American citizens vying for a second passport as a safety net in uncertain times, one that grants them access to the Schengen Area’s 26 European countries, has fast become an increasingly popular option. Whether they are investing in real estate in Europe in the form of a second home, relocating altogether, or investing via funds focused on property that qualify them for citizenship, Portugal is winning over UK and US investors.”

Why Portugal Golden Visa?

Sophisticated Golden Visa investors see Portugal as an attractive destination for entrepreneurs and foreign research and development companies. It has enormous talent (particularly technical) at a relatively low cost. The scarcity of capital has opened many opportunities for international investors, who are also attracted by Portugal’s security, climate, friendliness, infrastructure, languages, and favorable tax structure.

Golden Visa Investment requirement:

Applicants must be non-EU investors who invest at least €350,000 (increasing to €500,000 January 1, 2022) into a qualifying Portuguese Investment Fund or Venture Capital Fund for 5 years. The investment options are regulated by the Portuguese CMVM (Securities Market Commission).

As global companies look to new priorities for future investment, Europe’s ‘rising stars‘, one of which is Lisbon, are increasingly likely to offer a new attraction for much-needed capital, technology, and jobs, says Marc Lhermitte, Partner, EY Consulting, Global Lead – FDI & Attractiveness. “Multinationals and startups are looking for places where they can best innovate, experiment and deploy technology-intensive projects.”

Our managing partner Ahmet Şener, 0, a Residence, and Citizenship by Investment Boutique, “We are seeing an increasing number of investors turning to the capital investment fund option as a new pathway to legal residency. Four years ago, we never would have expected UK and US citizens to seek alternative citizenship. According to the latest data from SEF (Immigration and Border services), investors from the UK and the US make up about 10% of the approved Golden Visas. Since each Golden Visa takes between 6 to 12 months to process, I think we can say these developed western markets can potentially account for 50% of the investment inflow.”

Since picking a Golden Visa fund is a complicated process that requires the investor to understand and evaluate complex financial investments, we recommend going over to our cautionary article evaluating the top 5 mistakes investors make when investing in Venture Capital Funds for the Portuguese Golden Visa

Portugal is a popular tourist relocation destination with a booming tech industry and government policies that foster foreign investment. Whether it’s the 2020 World Travel Awards to Portugal as the overall winner for the 4th year in a row, or award for Europe’s best city-break to the city of Oporto in the North, or Europe’s best beaches award to the Algarve in the south, Portugal is winning the hearts, minds and bank accounts of foreign investors.

About Smart Citizenship

Smart Citizenship is a next-generation Residence and Citizenship by Investment Boutique with a presence in three outbound and ten inbound markets. The pioneering immigration investment boutique is managed by a team of industry veterans to revolutionize the RCBI (Residency and Citizenship by Investment) industry. Keeping both the investor and the product owner at arm’s length, Smart Citizenship focuses on the developing world where people look for cross-border investments plus citizenship connected to their investment. Smart Citizenship uses Smart Choice, an algorithm that grades potential investments and guarantees access to insider data that offers growth opportunities and data-driven strategies. Since its founding, Smart Citizenship’s international team has raised over €55 Million in capital, and successfully helped clients from 24 countries.

About Ahmet Şener

Ahmet Şener is one of the earliest promoters of residency by investment programs in Turkey. In 2018 and 2019 alone he onboarded 160+ investors from 19 different countries to the Turkish CIP and the Portuguese Golden Visa. In 2021 Şener founded Smart Citizenship. As Managing Partner of Smart Citizenship, Şener led the team that created an algorithm-based cross-border investment decision support system. Şener has a diverse professional background in digital marketing, real estate, education technologies, and investment immigration. He is the former Vice President, Marketing at OptylonKrea, a Pan-Mediterranean investment management, and real estate development company,
For more information contact Ahmet Şener at ahmet@smartcitizenship.com, +908503460506

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