Considering real estate investment in Portugal? Is it worth the money? Browse through for all the details.
In order to acquire potential citizenship, the golden visa program of Portugal enables you to invest in real estate. Portugal's citizenship ensures European citizenship. It was launched by the Portuguese government in 2012 to encourage investment into Portugal and has resulted in several billion Euros in real estate investment and over 2,000 family applications each year.
A brief on the Portugal golden visa program
Approved applicants receive temporary residence for five years, after which the investor can apply for permanent residence. After completing six years of living, an application for permanent residency can be placed. Portugal golden visa through real estate investment ensures that the investor can travel to the USA without a visa. Movement across the entire Europe is also allowed.
There are various ways of obtaining the Portugal golden visa. Some of them are:
- By research
- By capital transfer
- By real estate
- By job creation
- By artistic way
Out of all these, real estate is considered one of the best as it ensures both citizenship and residency.
Primary perks of the Portugal Golden Visa Program
The benefits of using the Portugal golden visa through real estate investment are as follows:
Ease of living and working
Applicants who choose to settle down in Portugal will need some medical insurance. Regardless, families will be able to avail all public services. A few basic ones include state medical care and schooling. State schooling follows the Portuguese curriculum, but there are many English international schools also.
It also ensures children’s education. Applicants can also take up jobs in Portugal and launch a startup as well. Thus, they can establish a complete living.
Ease of travel
It’s become an enormous issue for people to travel to the Schengen zone and Europe. Visitor visas are not being given easily to countries in Asia and the Middle East. Moreover, a Schengen visa is tough to obtain. If you’ve got a Schengen visa, the Portuguese residence permit enables you to travel freely to the EU Schengen zone. You’ll have to keep renewing the golden visa to avail such perks.
Tax-free
After approval, there is no tax on foreign income for the non-domiciled. Applicants won’t be charged any taxes on their revenue for ten years. For people who aren’t residents, 28% tax will be charged on their income that’s made in Portugal. However, you can lower this tax with rental income expenditure.
Allowances are offered for depreciation along with 28% capital gains tax. There is no inheritance tax in Portugal. Annual property taxes usually vary between 0.3% to 0.8%, considering several exceptions.
Citizenship
Once you have invested in real estate, you are eligible to apply for Portuguese citizenship after five years. When it comes to applying for citizenship, applicants will have to pass a simple language test. They will also be required to demonstrate their links and connections with Portugal.
Once applicants have permanent residency or citizenship, they are free to dispose of their investment as further golden visa renewals are not necessary.
Eligibility necessities
Besides investing in real estate, applicants require a clear criminal record along with medical insurance for citizenship. If you wish to renew your residency visa, you need to maintain your investment expenditure in the following manner. During your first year, you should maintain your one-week investment expenditure.
Following this, you can spend your investment for two weeks every two years. Moreover, documents proving a lack of debt are to be shown to the Portuguese authorities.
Investment program application procedure
- You are required to invest in real estate before applying for the residency visa.
- After completing the property purchase, the application is filled. Submit an application to the SEF along with application fees. It takes around 60-90 days.
- After processing the application, a confirmation message is sent to the applicant.
- The SEF approves the application. After this, the applicant is required to visit Portugal to have their biometrics taken. The residence permit is only provided for one year and needs to be renewed for every two-year permit.
Essential details to keep in mind
- Investment amount: 500,00-400,000 EUR
- Application fees: 517.40 EUR
- Residence permit fees: 5274.40 EUR for adults and 2637.20 EUR for minors
Conclusion
One of the most popular programs in EU countries is the Portuguese Golden Visa program. This program offers real estate investment conditions in a core European country that is part of the Schengen zone. Through this, you will be able to avail citizenship after six years with no residency requirement.
