The Portugal Golden Visa – A Changing landscape

We welcomed Susan Yang, Founder and MD of The Golden Portugal, a trusted service provider for the Portugal Golden Visa on our podcast, The Golden Quarter Show.

 Key Takeaways from our conversation include:

1. The latest developments on the changes in Portugal in terms of the Portugal Golden Visa and the termination of the direct real estate investment route
2. What the appetite is like for the newly restructured Portugal Golden Visa
3. Why Portugal still retains its lure as the winning European residence by investment solution
4. The growth and expansion plans of The Golden Portugal in 2024

Susana Yang is a dynamic entrepreneur who has built her career over the decades working for multinational corporations such as Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Banco Nacional Ultramarino (a subsidiary of Portugal’s largest bank, Caixa Geral de Depósitos), Standard Chartered Bank, Hang Seng Bank, and Huawei. Over five years ago she took the entrepreneurial route and launched her investment migration firm – The Golden Portugal. Susana holds a B.A. from the University of Toronto and an MBA from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and has achieved the CFA Level III.

To get in touch with our guest Susana Yang to discuss any investment migration advisory or other Portugal Golden Visa matters you can email info@thegoldenportugal.com.

The Portugal Golden Visa Changes

Lorena Jimenez: Welcome to the Golden Quarter show, Susana. It is a pleasure to have you on.

Susana Yang: Thank you, Lorena. It’s a pleasure to be here.

Lorena Jimenez: Before we start, if you just give us a bird’s eye view of The Golden Portugal.

Susana Yang: Yes, The Golden Portugal has been in the business for about four to five years, and about 95% of our clients are through the Golden Visa program. That is what we do for our clients, and we are the experts in the Portugal Golden Visa. Now we are continuing with the latest changes in the laws and we will help our clients out with the different investment routes.

Lorena Jimenez: What were your thoughts on the developments recently in terms of changes and where the Portuguese government was going with it? What has been your professional insight on that?

Susana Yang: The government has been very firm on the termination of the real estate route, but it took more time than we anticipated. And during those eight months or so, from February to October 2023, a lot of clients that wanted to go through the real estate route already did so.

We have helped a lot of clients go through their applications in a very speedy, fast-track way. But since the real estate route ended, some clients have already been priced out because their budget cannot reach the EUR 500,000 required for the fund investment route.

I think there is still a lot of demand for the Portugal Golden Visa, because when you look at the overall environment and the other European programs, there is a lot of competition regarding the Portugal Golden Visa, especially as all the other programs require you to live in the host country to obtain the citizenship.

Portugal is the only program that does not require you to stay there and it is priced reasonably. Other countries require you to invest over a million euros to obtain citizenship such as Malta, which is why I believe Portugal is still a very attractive program. 

Also, the investment is an actual investment, not a donation.

Plus, there are no other hidden fees that you need to pay for example needing to rent a property here. There are no other fees that are hidden, so it is a pure investment, and you can use that investment to get a permanent residency or citizenship without staying in Portugal.

Route to Portuguese Residence and Citizenship

Lorena Jimenez: In terms of the clients that you have brought in through the Portugal Golden Visa, it normally takes about five years to be eligible to qualify for the citizenship option, have you had any experiences that you would like to share about clients that have gone through the process, obtained their Golden Visa and gone ahead and successfully obtained their Portugal citizenship?

Susana Yang: Yes, a lot of our clients have gone through the whole process, several clients have started at the very beginning, gone through and obtained their citizenship or their permanent residence. It is a known fact that you do not need to live in Portugal to get your citizenship, and we have had many clients who have already gone through the entire process.

Lorena Jimenez: I also saw you highlighted quite a few distinctions in terms of the benefits of investing in a fund versus investing in real estate. Have your clients been quite receptive to the recent legal change? Those that were in your pipeline, your prospective clients, what was their reaction to the fact that the real estate option is no longer viable? Have they found it daunting or too complex?

Susana Yang: I think there are two different types of prospective clients. Some did not have the budget for the EUR 500,000, and others that were quite optimistic about the regulatory changes.

Even before the termination of the real estate option a lot of investors, although not the majority, but still a considerable number, opted for the fund investment route because it proved to be easier. As well as professionally managed and tax-exempt, with all the income and capital gains tax-free, allowing you to diversify.

With the minimum investment of EUR 500,000 it can be diversified into two, three, or maybe even four funds. And while under the real estate route, you could not buy more than one or two real estate properties with the lowest option the EUR 280,000 option. Whether EUR 350,000 or EUR 500,000 by investing this sum, a fund gives investors an advantage over real estate.

Portugal Golden Visa – Funds Route

Lorena Jimenez: I noticed on your website, you have quite a few funds you work with. Are there any specific ones that you recommend to your clients because they must be looking at the fund documents, but seeking your input in terms of which funds they would be more likely to invest in.

Susana Yang: That is quite interesting because with changes in the law, it did not only terminate the real estate route, but they changed the laws of the investment as well. Funds that invest directly in real estate are no longer eligible. 

So right now, we are seeing a lot of new funds coming up and they are not real estate focused because, before when you examined the funds that were eligible for the Portugal Golden Visa, 50% of them were real estate centric.

Now, on the contrary, we see different funds coming up, including agricultural funds and solar energy funds. 

I am not going to point out which funds are the best, as this is up to the clients because each has a different risk profile, their objective on what returns they want to have, and whether they are more conservative or more risk-averse or risk-tolerant.

Which is why I cannot say which fund is the best because every client has a different view. 

But I can see that right now there are a lot of different industries that funds will be investing in and that’s quite interesting.

Lorena Jimenez: I expect a lot of your clients were looking at getting the Portugal Golden Visa and visiting for the minimum required days to be able to keep their residency. 

But was there a segment of your clients that were looking to relocate to Portugal and then capitalizing on the non-habitual residence (NHR) tax incentive? What has been the proportion in terms of your clients that wanted to make the move to Portugal?

Susana Yang: Actually, most of the clients that apply for the Portugal Golden Visa, don’t plan to move to Portugal in the short term. But I do have a few clients that have already moved because their plans changed. 

They wanted to do the Portugal Golden Visa so they had the flexibility of not living in their home countries, but then their circumstances changed and they moved to Portugal.

Percentage-wise, it’s not a lot and I expect a lot of them plan to move here after their retirement. 

Most of our clients have a pretty good job in their own country and need to stay there but many are planning on staying in Portugal for a short period each year, without permanently relocating.

NOTE: Portugal has recently announced more changes to its citizenship and residence by investment regulations. Listeners are advised to avail sound legal and fiscal guidance on any potential residency programs to ensure they are the latest and most accurate available.