Investment picked up by the Golden Visas Program reached €104m in March on the basis of which the country issued 168 residence permits. It was €14m more than was reported in the previous month and capped off a first quarter rise in the investments of 43 percent compared to the first quarter of 2015. Roughly €93m of the total investments came through the acquisition of real estate. “Portugal has an excellent real estate offering, has a historical and cultural heritage unique as well as a network of high quality infrastructure and an incomparable geostrategic position,” says Reis Campos, President of CPCI – Portuguese Confederation of Construction and Real Estate. The president also said that “the €1.7bn this program has captured…since it was created, is an important enabling factor for the whole economy, which goes well beyond the obvious effects in the construction and real estate sectors” Most of the permits were issued to Chinese citizens (112), 17 went to Brazilians, while other came South Africa, Russia and from 30 other countries. In all, in a total of 2,457 permits have been granted since the start of this program.
