No. Visas are not required by U.S. citizens for stays of up to 90 days.
Goncalo Roxo, of Portugal-based Your Property Advisor, said he had warned his clients against trying to speed up the process due to the risk from bureaucratic delays. ($1 = 0.9310 euros) (Reporting by Catarina Demony; Additional reporting by Patricia Rua; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Alison Williams)
As part of a package to address the housing crisis as rents also soar, Portugal's premier Antonio Costa announced last month the intention to scrap the scheme. The measure is under public consultation until next Friday.
The scheme, aimed at non-EU nationals ready to invest in Portugal, has attracted 6.8 billion euros ($7. When you loved this post and you would want to receive more information with regards to mercan Grooup kindly visit our own internet site. 30 billion) since its launch in 2012, with the bulk of the money going into real estate. Successful applicants are then given residency rights.
LISBON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Portugal is likely to scrap its "golden visa" program giving wealthy foreigners residence rights, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Wednesday, saying that the 10-year-old scheme had already fulfilled its role.
Costa said Portugal wanted to continue to be attractive, with one example being its recent law, enacted on Monday, that created the so-called digital nomads visa. It gives foreigners with high monthly income from remote work to live and work from Portugal for a year.
In Portugal, it has attracted 6.5 billion euros in investment by foreigners, mainly from China, Brazil and South Africa, with the bulk of the money going into real estate. Rules have changed this year to redirect investments from a red-hot property market in big cities to depopulated areas.
In January, 93 golden visas were issued, a 45% drop compared to December, but the number went up again in February, when 130 were handed out, mainly to Chinese, U.S. and Turkish investors, according to border agency data.
"As soon as you put a deadline on something, it gets people rushing," Nuri Katz from another advisers, Apex Capital Partners, told Reuters. "There's absolutely nothing as good as a deadline in this business."
While the data shows a jump in applications, the process can take months so it is not immediately clear whether the numbers are a reflection of the government's announcement, which was first floated in November.
His office did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Costa has previously said there was no justification to keep the scheme because it had fulfilled the role it had been intended to fulfill, without elaborating.
Britain scrapped golden visas for rich investors in February amid concerns about the inflow of illicit Russian money, just before Russia's invasion of Ukraine that brought on unprecedented Western sanctions against Moscow. (Reporting by Catarina Demony; Additional reporting by Patricia Rua; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Angus MacSwan)
The Authorisation of Residence for Investment Activity for people from non-EU countries, commonly known as the golden visa program, has been heavily criticized at home for sending house prices and rents up, and the European Commission has called for the end of such national schemes.
LISBON, March 14 (Reuters) - Portugal's plan to end its golden visa scheme for investors, yet to be officially approved, has led to a rush in applications according to advisory firms who have criticized the plan as populist.
Goncalo Roxo, of Portugal-based Your Property Advisor, said he had warned his clients against trying to speed up the process due to the risk from bureaucratic delays. ($1 = 0.9310 euros) (Reporting by Catarina Demony; Additional reporting by Patricia Rua; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Alison Williams)As part of a package to address the housing crisis as rents also soar, Portugal's premier Antonio Costa announced last month the intention to scrap the scheme. The measure is under public consultation until next Friday.
The scheme, aimed at non-EU nationals ready to invest in Portugal, has attracted 6.8 billion euros ($7. When you loved this post and you would want to receive more information with regards to mercan Grooup kindly visit our own internet site. 30 billion) since its launch in 2012, with the bulk of the money going into real estate. Successful applicants are then given residency rights.
LISBON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Portugal is likely to scrap its "golden visa" program giving wealthy foreigners residence rights, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Wednesday, saying that the 10-year-old scheme had already fulfilled its role.
Costa said Portugal wanted to continue to be attractive, with one example being its recent law, enacted on Monday, that created the so-called digital nomads visa. It gives foreigners with high monthly income from remote work to live and work from Portugal for a year.
In Portugal, it has attracted 6.5 billion euros in investment by foreigners, mainly from China, Brazil and South Africa, with the bulk of the money going into real estate. Rules have changed this year to redirect investments from a red-hot property market in big cities to depopulated areas.
In January, 93 golden visas were issued, a 45% drop compared to December, but the number went up again in February, when 130 were handed out, mainly to Chinese, U.S. and Turkish investors, according to border agency data.
"As soon as you put a deadline on something, it gets people rushing," Nuri Katz from another advisers, Apex Capital Partners, told Reuters. "There's absolutely nothing as good as a deadline in this business."
While the data shows a jump in applications, the process can take months so it is not immediately clear whether the numbers are a reflection of the government's announcement, which was first floated in November.
His office did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Costa has previously said there was no justification to keep the scheme because it had fulfilled the role it had been intended to fulfill, without elaborating.
Britain scrapped golden visas for rich investors in February amid concerns about the inflow of illicit Russian money, just before Russia's invasion of Ukraine that brought on unprecedented Western sanctions against Moscow. (Reporting by Catarina Demony; Additional reporting by Patricia Rua; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Angus MacSwan)
The Authorisation of Residence for Investment Activity for people from non-EU countries, commonly known as the golden visa program, has been heavily criticized at home for sending house prices and rents up, and the European Commission has called for the end of such national schemes.
LISBON, March 14 (Reuters) - Portugal's plan to end its golden visa scheme for investors, yet to be officially approved, has led to a rush in applications according to advisory firms who have criticized the plan as populist.