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Of the Five Thousand Golden Visas Granted, Only Eight Created Jobs

 

7 September 2017

Foreign nationals can obtain golden visas through one of three different routes: through the purchase of property worth half a million euros or more, the transfer of more than one million euros to an account in Portugal, or by setting up a company and creating jobs. This last option has only been used eight times in the years since 2012.

Since its beginning in 2012, Portugal granted more than 5,000 golden visas through the program, but only eight visas were requested using the job creation option, the Jornal de Notícias reported today.

To receive a permanent residence permit by means of the golden visa program, the law allows investors to buy properties worth over half a million euros, transfer more than one million euros to bank accounts based in Portugal, or create a company employing at least five workers (a number which declined this year) or increase the capital of an existing Portuguese company.

Of the 5,223 golden visas granted to date, which raised 3.223 billion euros, the majority (4945) were through property acquisitions. 290 investors opted to transfer capital.

The Portuguese government granted the first golden visas for creating businesses in 2014. In that year, the government ceded a total of three visas for this purpose, two in the country’s central zone and one in the north, JN reported.

A year later, two more companies appeared in the Algarve and the north. 2016 saw the creation of another company. This year two were created so far, in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley area and the Alentejo.

“Between generating employment and buying a property with half a million euros, the most attractive route is the second, which discourages job creation,” José Alves da Silva, former president of the PME Portugal Association, told the same newspaper. “The solution is to oblige every visa applicant to generate employment, regardless of the type of visa they choose, such as for buying a home,” he argued.

Original Story: Revista de Imprensa JE

Translation: Richard Turner