Since 2018, the number of applications for residence permits for work in Portugal has increased enormously. In four years, the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) approved nearly 115,000 requests by foreign citizens to live in the country on the basis of exercising professional activities in Portuguese lands. This volume of residence grants represents more than 80% of the approximately 140,000 cases filed between 2012 and 2021 for work-related reasons.
Data from SEF shows that 35,886 temporary residence permits (ART) for work were validated in 2021 alone (last year’s have not yet closed), twice as many as in 2018.
In these ten years, only 20% of the nearly 705,000 approved residence permits have the purpose of exercising a professional activity, but in 2021 this is the reason that rises to the top of the list of the most important reasons for granting an ARV.
In the year under review, there was also a large flow of residence applications from EU citizens and their family members – until 2017 it even formed the main basis for granting residence. According to information made available to Dinheiro Vivo by SEF, there were almost 129 thousand requests for certificates and residence cards issued by these citizens. Most of the requests to live in Portugal are of course based on the reason of family grouping, totaling more than 170 thousand processes between 2012 and 2021. For reasons of study, there are 69,580 requests to register.
ART is granted for a period of two years, renewable, and after five years it is possible to apply for a permanent permit to live in the national territory.
More than 818 thousand entries
Since 2012 and already for 2022, the SEF has approved 818,067 residence permits, both permanent and temporary – a number that includes citizens who have obtained a golden visa and, upon request, permission for their family members. It should be noted that from October 2012 to January this year, 11,628 golden visas and 18,962 AR visas were granted under this regime due to family grouping, amounting to a total of 30,590 visas. Growing every year, the number of residence permits reached 129,000 entries in 2019 and has remained around 100,000 ever since.
During this period, Brazilians led the allocation of ARs all years, totaling 257,414. At the top of the list of approved authorizations are Italians (40,496 authorisations), British (39,483) and French (35,587). The Chinese number of nearly 15 thousand AR.
Of the PALOP, 33,382 homes are attributed to citizens of Cape Verde, 29,799 to Angola and 17,819 to Guinea-Bissau.
In these eleven years, SEF has issued a total of 183,079 permanent residence permits to foreign citizens. Residents of Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, China and Ukraine are consecutively among the top ten applicants during this period. These citizens can, if they wish, apply for Portuguese citizenship.
Golden visa still pending
Last week, Prime Minister António Costa announced at the presentation of the housing package that the golden visa would come to an end. But it is not yet certain whether the regime will continue to exist, for example, only for residence permits subject to investments such as capital transfer, transfer to investment funds, investment of capital in scientific and cultural activities or job creation. It is certain that obtaining these visas will no longer be possible through the acquisition of real estate, the criterion that attracted the most foreign capital.
The working group set up to evaluate the programme, which includes the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, the Interior and Economic Affairs, is still finalizing the proposals. According to a government source, Dinheiro told Vivo, “the whole picture of this latest work is not yet available”. Soon “more conclusions should be known”.
With the argument to curb real estate speculation, the government announced that the legal regime of investment residence permits will be revoked throughout the national territory. The renewal of the golden visa is also subject to the assignment of the acquired property to the owner’s own and permanent residence or descendants, or if it is the subject of a housing lease. But the executive retains the ability to grant visas for special purposes, such as cultural protection, without clarifying these criteria.
Since its inception, in October 2012, until January this year, the golden visa regime has generated an investment of €6,797 million. The large part (6,078 million) was invested in real estate and enabled the granting of 10,668 visas, the transfer of capital resulted in an investment of 718.7 million and provided 938 residence permits. Finally, there are 22 job creation approvals.
Sónia Santos Pereira is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo
Source: DN
