The success of the Golden Visa program has afforded Portugal the opportunity to reinvest into the community, culture, and economy. This, in itself, has proved to provide many benefits to Golden Visa holders.
Portugal Golden Visa benefits and key advantages include:
In addition, families and businesspersons receive significant Portugal Golden Visa advantages including giving the holder and his family members the right to live, work, travel and study in Portugal.
The Portugal Golden Visa is one of the most affordable and appealing visa programs across the globe. Why is the Golden Visa program top-rated? From the short stay requirement, the quick path to citizenship, and realistic investment options, the Portugal Golden Visa is an advisable and worthwhile venture.
Among the best of Portugal Golden Visa benefits is that the program makes it seem as if your investment is residing in Portugal on your behalf for five years.
The residency rules are incomparable to other European countries. For the Portugal Golden Visa, the stay requirement is an average of seven days a year. When looking into other countries’ stay requirements, they can be anywhere from four months to a full 10 years to be able to get citizenship and second passport.
Portugal Golden Visa investment options begin at €250,000 EUR. This is a significantly low amount when compared to surrounding countries’ requirements. In Malta, the lowest amount to qualify is €690,000 EUR, while in Austria, you’ll be required to invest a massive €2,000,000 EUR if you want to take advantage of Austrian citizenship by investment program.
Also, the opportunity for investing in real estate is not common among other visa programs. Purchasing a property and renting it for 5+ years has the potential to earn investors a profit, essentially making the Golden Visa investment free. Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, and the Netherlands do not offer the property investment option.
There are several ways of immigrating to Portugal. However, the Golden Visa program is the fastest and most popular way to acquire the Portuguese permanent residence permit or citizenship.
The GV only requires a five-year wait to apply for full residency or citizenship. Many other countries, such as Italy and Spain, require ten years.
After maintaining your investment in Portugal for five years, you can fulfil some simple legal formalities and become a permanent resident or citizen in Portugal.
With the Golden Visa program, you can secure dual citizenship. In Portugal, this is allowed and there are no additional requirements for this. However, check that dual citizenship is allowed for your country of origin.
One of the most appealing Portugal Golden Visa family benefits is that your dependent family members are eligible for permanent residence or citizenship after 5 years.
The following is a list of the family members that are allowed to receive the benefits.
Each additional family member must complete an application within the primary applicant’s submission. All applicants will need to follow the procedure for acceptance alongside the primary applicant and reap the same benefits in return.
There are a few Portugal Golden Visa business benefits that are very appealing to anyone looking to conduct business in or around Portugal.
One of the luxuries of living in Portugal is the proximity of many prominent surrounding countries. Business travel is simple when working with any European country compared to living on another continent or across oceans.
The country has a constantly growing economy and is open to technological innovations - perfect conditions for startup companies. One of the investment options includes the creation of ten full-time jobs. This option provides an amazing opportunity for entrepreneurs. It is a lower-cost alternative to the other investment options and provides a new outlet in a developing economy with immense support from the government.
Another investment option is the purchase of real estate. As a highly sought-after country for its location, landscape, and affordable properties, this is a popular investment choice. Portugal is known for its beauty, but the safety ranking enhances all benefits for tourists, investors, and new residents. This real estate investment does have specific requirements, but the house can be utilized as rental property.
As investing in property in Portugal has been a popular option, developers are continually looking for ways to attract them. Many Portuguese developers offer guaranteed rental yield between 4-5% for the first 3-5 years. You’ll be making money while you are waiting to receive your Golden Visa permit.
Currently, the real estate sector is doing very well; more than 50% of houses on the market sell within half a year, with 20% even finding a buyer within just 90 days.
One of the Portugal Golden Visa key benefits lies within the free-flowing travel within the Schengen region for 90 days every 180 days.
Since you can also add your spouse and other dependent family members when applying for the Portuguese residence permit, you and your spouse can work freely and across the Schengen region with no travel restrictions.
This set of countries have eradicated any border control and allows for free movement between each country. There is no need to obtain additional visas when traveling to the various countries of this region.
After obtaining citizenship/permanent residency, the visa holders will receive a Portuguese passport and have access to travel to over 100 countries including USA and Canada without the need for a visa. The Portugal passport is ranked 4th most powerful passport across the globe for mobility.
Golden Visa Portugal tax benefits through the Non-Habitual Residency Program are an attractive incentive for anyone interested in the visa. Introduced in 2009 to attract more investors and increase competitiveness, the Non-Habitual Residency program provides great tax advantages to those moving to Portugal.
The key tax advantages included in the program are:
* There is no minimum stay requirement to reap the benefits of this program.
Qualifying types of tax-free income include:
There was a slight change to the pension tax in 2020. As of March 31, 2020, foreign pension income is being taxed at 10%.
The Portugal Golden visa tax benefits are hard to beat. In general, capital gains are subject to a flat rate of 28%. Even if you are a non-resident, you pay only 28% (a rate better than most European countries) of the income generated in the country. Moreover, you will get enormous allowances for depreciation and costs. An annual property tax ranges between 0.3% - 0.8% of the value of your property.
An extension of the Portugal Golden Visa family benefits is the educational advantages. With the Portuguese residence certificate, the primary holder and family members are qualified to live, work and study in Portugal. This poses as a benefit to those that wish to spend much of their time in Portugal.
Public and local schools are available and free to enroll. However, the primary language spoken within these schools is Portuguese. Although this may seem a challenge at first, there are myriad opportunities for learning the language quickly. This also provides an opportunity for children to dive into the Portuguese culture and create friendships with the locals.
Private international schooling is another option for education. This option does require payment, but as with any private school, there are advantages. These benefits include classes taught in English, smaller class sizes, additional extracurricular activities, and more modern facilities and training.
Many Golden Visa holders choose the private schooling route as it provides a more seamless entry into the education system in Portugal. These schools promote a world-class quality education, which will prepare students for top-tier universities.
Whichever option you choose the education system in Portugal is well developed and offers to families a variety of schools and universities to make children grow as competitive individuals with endless opportunities for realization around the world.
Among the Portuguese citizenship benefits is access to Portugal’s healthcare system. While holding a Portuguese residence permit and spending more than 183 days per year in the country, the holder and family members will qualify for coverage through the country’s healthcare system.
After five years and obtaining permanent residency/citizenship, one will automatically qualify for access to free healthcare in Portugal. This Portuguese citizenship benefit is a significant allurement for many.
As a Portugal Golden Visa holder residing in the country for less than half of the year, permit holders are considered temporary residents. Therefore, not yet qualifying for the resident/citizen insurance. The primary holder and family members will be required to take out private insurance for the five years prior to receiving citizenship/permanent residency. Fortunately, the cost is quite nominal at €400 EUR to €1,000 EUR per year.
Portugal lies opportunely in an impeccable geographic position in western Europe with close proximity to, United States, South America, UK, Africa, Middle East countries, and Canada. The country has superb sea routes and flight connections linking west and east of the planet.
Portugal can be your best second home destination offering great living conditions, specifically if you want to enjoy beautiful beaches, blue waters, sun, football, and wine.
The country is known for its favorable year-round climate, which makes it a suitable place to buy property for investment or residence.
What stands out about Portugal is that the country presents itself as one of the most stable nations in Europe politically, socially, and economically.
The Portugal investor immigration program has the backing of political stakeholders. Although the conservative government introduced the program in 2012, the socialist coalition has expanded on the project further after seizing power in 2015.
The real estate market is Portugal is strong, mature and increasing in value. The market in Portugal has been rising and getting stronger for years, even during the world wide pandemic in 2020. Property prices have on the rise for years and will continue to rise for years to come, making your investment stronger.
Whether applying singularly or as a family unit, one of the main Portugal Golden Visa advantages is its safety ranking. Portugal has ranked in the top five most peaceful countries across the globe since 2016 and records some of the lowest crime statistics in the EU region.
According to the 2020 Global Peace Index, Portugal was ranked third safest country in the world, only falling to Iceland and New Zealand. This ranking is calculated based on factors such as political stability, the impact of violence, militarization, and ecological threats. This is a tremendous victory for Portugal as some of the world’s most prominent countries ranked significantly lower. For instance, the United Kingdom ranked 42nd, and the United States is 121st.
When considering a visa program, the safety and peacefulness of a country is a large factor. The Portugal Golden Visa key benefits coupled with the remarkable safety ranking create an unmatched program and country.
The Portuguese are welcoming, polite, and friendly to any visitor, irrespective of their race, country of origin, and religion.
The Portugal residency by investment benefits are the rationale for the popularity of the Golden Visa program. The importance of the benefits will vary by person. However, the tax regimen, the short stay requirement, ability to include family members on the application, and travel flexibility are among the most sought-after advantages.
The Portugal Golden Visa will be a great option in 2021 and beyond. The advantages of the Portugal Golden Visa program alone are a great reason to start your application today. The program provides you (and your family) the ability to travel, live, work, study and gain residency in another country. After a period of complacency and isolation due to the global pandemic, there has never been a better time to explore another country.
The top 5 advantages of the Portugal Golden Visa are: