In the early years of the Golden Visa program, Chinese investors ranked first in terms of the number of visas received. Further, their number began to decline, but in 2021 they regain their primacy.
“Between the program’s opening in 2012 and the end of 2016, Chinese applicants accounted for an absolute majority of golden visas in Portugal, reaching a peak of 81% of the total in 2014 and dropping every year since then. In 2020, only one in four investors came from China. The first quarter of this year, however, has witnessed a significant rebound; 44% of approved applicants so far in 2021 were from China.” – write imidaily.
As for the countries, the breakdown for March is as follows:
- China – 31
- Brazil – 6
- UAE – 6
- Turkey – 5
- Russia – 4
Find out more about the Portugal Golden Visa program here
When it comes to investment options, the Portuguese venture/investment fund is the most popular.
The reason it is so under-represented is that it only gained popularity in 2019 when the minimum investment requirement fell from € 500,000 to € 350,000. From January 1, 2022, the amount will increase to € 500,000.
By type of investment, March looks like this:
72 applicants purchased real estate
- 47 for € 500,000 + real estate
- 25 € 350,000 renovated property
8 applicants achieved capital transfer
- 6 for investment funds of Portugal
- 2 to transfer capital to the bank
