Photo by Oleksandr Pidvalnyi: https://www.pexels.com/photo/scenic-sea-coastline-15871305/
The future of Portugal’s popular Golden Visa investment programme was thrown into doubt in November when Prime Minister António Costa said the programme was being re-evaluated, but Portugal’s parliament subsequently voted against a proposal to terminate the programme. Given this recent vote in Parliament, it is highly unlikely to be closed in 2023, and still has widespread support within the Portuguese government. Story continues below AdvertisementThis development comes in the wake of the European Parliament formally voting in favour of a legislative report requesting that the European Commission take action to end citizenship-by-investment in both Europe and third country states.The proposed changes to the EU’s citizenship-by-investment programmes are important for those looking to invest. The changes proposed are focused on preventing people that are involved in money laundering, tax evasion, and other crimes, from benefiting from such visas.There is a clear distinction between residency-by-investment programmes and citizenship-by-investment programmes. The Golden Visa Programme, which focuses on residency-by-investment, was introduced in 2012 to help the Portuguese economy recover from the 2007 financial crisis. It encouraged foreign investment by offering residency in exchange for a large capital investment.