Portugal Golden Visa program – Update On Final Vote Of Housing Bill 19th Jul 2023

  • 20 July, 23

Following the announcement on July 19, 2023, after the voting that took place at the Parliament, the Parliament has approved the final version of the “More Housing” law.

What changes to the Portugal Golden Visa program were approved by Parliament?

The Portugal Golden Visa program was not terminated, as several outlets had been announcing over the past months. Moreover, the bill’s final version does not contemplate the continuity of the ARI regime under the investment – related categories of real estate for residential purposes and rehabilitation, as well as bank deposits.

Will these changes impact applications submitted under the current regime?

Despite of the program for these categories, it is made clear in the final version that all applications submitted until the entering into force of the new law will be fully processed according to the existing rules and regulations, and renewal rights will be fully assured for investors and family members.

What are the next steps following the approval in Parliament?

The next step in this process to send the proposed bill to the President of the Republic.

There is no way to determine how the President of the Republic will respond to the legislation, but one of the three scenarios will take place:

  1. Direct ratification: in this case, the proposal will come into force on the day after the publication;
  2. The President of the Republic does not accept the proposal as it is and returns it to the Parliament for revision; or
  3. The President of the Republic does not issue an opinion on the document but requests its evaluation by the Constitutional Court.

What is the expected timeline for the next steps?

It might be reasonable to expect that, even if option 1) takes place – direct ratification, the law comes into force in the beginning of September. Based on our experience, we could have around 1 month from now until the day the law takes effect for all investors to rush in for their SEF application

Should option 2 or 3 apply, the timing will be extended exponentially.

Is it possible to continue to invest in the Portugal Golden Visa program under the current regime?

We advices to the investors to move forward as soon as possible with their investments. The current timelines will allow investors to start and submit their process before the potential end of the Golden Visa program.

Please contact Mercan Asia via email hello@mercan.com so that our team can update exactly the process and timeline of current Portugal Golden Visa Program.

Cre: imidaily

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