A senior Portuguese minister, Mr. Eurico Dias, Portugal’s secretary of state for internationalisation in an interview to the National, said that the Portuguese golden visa scheme has generated wider interest in China, Middle East and has no plans to end it.
The scheme has generated about €4 billion in investment for Portugal since it was set up in 2012. The vast majority of the 6,000-plus applicants granted visas so far are Chinese with those from the Middle East taking visas numbering in the hundreds.
“We have people living in the UAE but also in Pakistan and India and other countries in this region interested,” Mr Dias said. “China and the Middle East in particular.”
He revealed that most applicants from the region come from Pakistan, followed by India and Egypt, including some living in the UAE
Portugal, grant residency which can lead to citizenship. In Portugal’s case, foreign nationals are granted permanent residency if they invest €500,000 in property, €1m in the economy, or create a business that employs 10 or more.
“Our scheme is transparent,” said Mr Dias. “All money related to laundering or that could have come from a criminal source – that money is not welcome in Portugal.”
He also rejected the idea that scheme is not creating jobs and Lisbon could develop a host of ghost houses – owned primarily by wealthy overseas who don’t live there.
“To have an empty house is not rational. I don’t know many cases like that. The large majority [of investors] are making second and third investments.”
He said there are no plans to end the scheme.
