The new rules on golden visas came into force on the first day of 2022. The granting of Residence Permits for Investment (ARI) came to an end on the coast and in the metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto, in an attempt to channel investment to the interior of the country.

According to idealista/news, the arrival of the law did not immediately have an effect on real estate investment, but in the balance of the first quarter, the scenario is different: real estate investment via golden visas fell by 12.5% ​​compared to the same period last year and 10 fewer residence permits were granted.

Good start

Real estate investment via golden visas did not badly: they raised 38.7 million euros in exchange for the granting of 75 golden visas, representing a jump compared to January 2021 (+21%) and last December (+9 %), reveal the Foreigners and Borders Services (SEF). But January had not yet seen the changes to the law reflected, as these were previous processes that dragged on until the beginning of the year.

Over the course of the first quarter of 2022, several changes are already visible: the investment allocated to the acquisition of properties has been falling month after month and reached 25.5 million in March (-22% than in February), when they were granted 51 gold visas (-18 compared to the previous month). And in the total balance of the first three months of the year, it can be seen that 13.9 million euros less were raised for real estate via golden visas (-12.5%) and 10 fewer residence permits were granted compared to the same period last year.