Portugal: Golden Visa Changes and New Rules for 2022

Portugal has become European Mecca for digital nomads with its open approach to remote workers and favourable laws that make their lives easier. But 2022 is bringing new rules and changes to the golden visa, one of the favourite ways for business owners and retirees to enter the country. So what are the changes and what to look forward to? We compiled the most critical pieces of info here.

This visa has been in use since 2012, and it makes it possible for non-European Union citizens to gain admission to Portugal without employment or studies in the country. This is possible through direct investment in Portuguese property, commercial or private, under certain conditions. Over ten thousand people have used this opportunity, many of whom have started businesses or stayed for longer than just the duration of their visa. In this way, Portugal can open its doors to a whole new financial opportunity that has brought over four billion euros over the past couple of years into the economy. It is one of the rare win-win situations.

You need to be a non-EU citizen with a clean criminal record, and you need to be eighteen years of age. But otherwise, the main requirement for the visa is an investment. The available amount of money you need to invest depends mainly on the area you wish to invest in, and this is precisely the part of the visa which has received some changes. However, if the investment is successful, you will be given admission to Portugal, which can be extended if you have any family connections in the country. In many ways, it is one of the more straightforward ways to get a visa in Portugal.

The most significant change to the visa is the amount of money one must invest. The base amount is €500 000 for the residential or commercial estate. This amount also applies to the islands, namely Madeira and the Azores, with no applicable discounts. However, if you invest in residential or commercial rehabilitative projects, the minimum money invested is lowered to €350 000. This is even true for investments in the islands. But the new rules brought with them new classifications: interior and low-density areas. Interior areas are those areas where you can apply for a golden visa by purchasing a residential property.

Interior areas tend to be situated inside the country, leaving spaces such as Lisbon, Porto, and a large portion of the Western coastline. If you want to purchase a commercial property, there is no restriction regarding location when applying for the golden visa. Similarly, low-density areas are those areas that are deemed less populated, often overlapping with interior areas. Investing in low-density areas will give you a further discount of 20%. If an area is both interior and high-density, no discounts apply. This means that you can further save money on getting a golden visa in Portugal, opening up new ways to enjoy the country’s offerings.