It's the end of the road for Golden Visa, but have you heard of the D7 Visa?

The Portugal Golden Visa Program is a residency by investment scheme addressed to non-EU citizens.

Launched in October 2012 this program's main goal was to attract international capital into the country, following the economic crisis, and has been an enormous success raising €5,5 billion in a little over eight years.

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end… 

From January 2022, Golden Visa investors will no longer be able to buy properties in high-density areas like Lisbon, Porto, and the coastal region of the Algarve – however, they can still buy in inland areas of the Algarve. These looming changes to the Golden Visa policy, which grants Portuguese residency and eventually citizenship to those who purchase property over €500.000, are one of the main reasons encouraging people to bring forward their plans to buy property in Portugal.

Fear not though as this story has a happy ending ! Here at Lago Real we have a little secret to share with you…

Have you heard of the D7 Visa?

This is an alternative option for those that want to live here full time and become Portuguese tax residents. This visa allows foreign citizens to obtain a residence permit, provided that they can prove they have sufficient income to support themselves. The D7 Visa is sometimes referred to as the ‘passive income visa’ because in order to qualify, you must demonstrate that you receive a regular, sustainable income sufficient to support yourself (and your family if applicable) as a resident in Portugal.

What are the benefits of a D7 Visa & how does this differ from the Golden Visa scheme?

• The key benefit of the D7 visa is that there is no initial investment required, unlike under the Golden Visa scheme, therefore it can be a much more flexible gateway to Portuguese residence.
• The D7 visa allows the same route to Portuguese citizenship as the Golden Visa and also provides eligibility into the tax incentivised Non-Habitual Residence scheme (NHR) - little or no tax for 10 years on most foreign-source incomes, applicable to pension income, dividends, interests, royalties and real estate income.
• The greatest difference between these Visas is the tax and lifestyle consequence because, unlike the Golden Visa, the D7 Visa requires you to spend at least 183 days in Portugal which means you will become Portuguese tax resident - which may actually be beneficial, particularly in light of the NHR scheme.

If you would like to know more, please do not hesitate to contact us, we can put you in touch with our local experts that are able to help you further in this analysis.