According to the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), investment by Brazilian nationals under the same scheme was up by almost 42 percent.


Funds applied in Portugal by Chinese nationals under the Residence for Investment Activity (ARI) scheme, as it is officially known, totalled €163.7 million in the first eight months of 2019, against €194.4 million in the same period of 2018, according to the SEF data. From January to August 296 permits were assigned to Chinese citizens, down from 348 in the same period of 2018.


As for Brazilian investors, they applied €122.8 million in the first eight months of the year. A total of 164 ARI permits were assigned to Brazilians in the period, up from 108 visas a year earlier, when €86.7 million was invested.


Turkish nationals invested €36.7 million this year, down 47 percent from a year earlier, while investment by South African nationals was down 15.7 percent to €19.2 million.


This year, investment from Russian nationals replaced that by Vietnamese nationals in the list of the five main nationalities seeking this kind of residence permit. Russia, with 36 ARI permits assigned in the period, accounted for €23.8 million.