Recent numbers have been released regarding the
Golden Visa programme (“ARI”). According to the official data made available by
the Immigration Services, since the beginning of the
program, which was launched in October 2012, the total investment exceeds € 2.2
bn.
The year of 2016 has been marked by very
significant changes in the time frames for processing and approving applications,
as well in the tackling of the difficulties of 2015. This is now a very clear reality and the signs of improvements keep increasing.
Looking into the official numbers, it is easy
to ascertain that just in the first half of year 821 applications for investors
and 1212 applications for family members had been approved until the end of
June. It should be noted that those numbers are already higher than the total
amount of approvals granted in the whole year of 2015.
According to recent statements made by the
Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Augusto Santos Silva “the values of the processed applications and
of the permits granted are currently the highest in the existence of the
programme”, also confirming the improvements in the processing of
applications.
The Minister also disclosed that the total investment during the
first half of 2016 exceeds € 500 million, “in
most cases associated with property investments”.
