Quebec
nevertheless retains its investor migration scheme but this has been capped at
a modest 1750 applicants per year with a maximum of 1200 applications from any
one country.
Citizenship and
Immigration Canada said that the investor queue stood at 65,000 and 70% of the
backlog, as of January was Chinese. These applicants will have their
applications “eliminated” and their fees returned. This, after having waited for a positive
outcome for nearly two years since applications to the Canadian scheme was
frozen in 2012.
So this is an
opportunity for Portugal to solidify their Golden Visa Programme which was
launched last year. The Portuguese Authorities have manifested their support
and as yet less than 1000 residence visas have been issued as the Programme
gets under way.
The Portuguese
Programme is fast establishing itself as the European migration scheme of
choice: the investment component is serious in a country where there is no oversupply
of property and an established rental market – €500,000 or approximately
C$40000 short of the Canadian requirement is all that is needed. The conditions for the granting and renewal
of visas are sensible and not onerous: no criminal record and 7 days’ annual
stay. Nor is the application process
complicated or lengthy. In most cases a visa can be obtained in a period of
three months.
And it should
not be forgotten that the Golden visa remains Gold throughout the Schengen area.
So disappointed would-be Canadian investor migrants would do well to look to
Europe and more precisely to Portugal - the first European country to introduce
an attractive workable migration scheme.
NDR
was involved with the Golden Visa Programme from the outset and with its breath
of experience in dealing with foreign high net worth private clients it is
absolutely no surprise that twelve months on it is the lead firm in this area
of work having represented more successful applicants than any other law firm
in Portugal.Rosemar de Rougemont - Senior Partner
r.derougemont@ndr.pt
