The numbers in May 2019 stemming from SEF, the Portuguese Borders and Immigration services, displayed a harsh dip in further interest in Portugal’s visa program in comparison to this time last year. Now the visa and investment approvals are down 32%.

In April, interest was higher than May where there was a swift decline. 82 applications were approved by the SEF in May compared to 92 in April. Overall, 50.6 million euros were raised. 35 applications were Chinese, Turkey and South Africa had 5 each, 18 were Brazils, and Russia had two.

It’s been confirmed that the Portuguese investment program has raised 299 million Euros from just 503 main applicants and 931 of their family members. In comparison to previous years, the Portuguese Visa is said to be causing uncertainty about its viability in terms of the route it offers for citizenship, especially in the interest of investors who are not yet official citizens of the country.

A less obvious correlation has been noticed however; the interest in visas from Spain, Greece and Malta. However, the demand for a Portuguese visa remains higher, though there has been stiff competition recently from Spain’s Visa program which made more than a billion euros last year.

By Idman Omar

Astons is a leading global immigration advisory firm with offices in London, Moscow, Dubai, Cyprus and China and offers residency & citizenship investment solutions in the UK,  EU & the Caribbean.

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