Q. Has the Golden Visa program been cancelled?
Actually no. But it has changed quite a bit.
We were lucky enough to get into the Golden Visa program when the required investment was lower AND one could invest in actual property. Today, I think your options are more limited and that you must invest in funds that invest in real estate.
Here is a resource that may help:
Also check out Nomad gate and Reddit.
We chose the Golden Visa because we were not in a position to live in Portugal for 183 days which is required of the retirement visa which requires you show a certain amount of passive income AND that you stop working (I think.) You may be in a different position and the retirement visa and/or the digital nomad visa if you are still working are a much different process. Google D7 or D8 visa portugal for more information.
Q. Did we work with an investment advisor? Is this different than an immigration lawyer?
Yes and yes. We ended up hiring an investment advisor who helped us sort through the funds available for investment purposes that were aligned with the Golden Visa; he recommended the lawyer. (Resources are at the very end of this email.)
The investment advisor was more of a broker … his fee got paid by the investment funds.
The lawyers we worked with are Dixcart which is a medium-sized international firm. They were essential to getting us a) appointments with AIMA for our biometrics; without their help we would have been SOL; and b) eventually they told us we could sue to get the AIMA to get us our residency cards and it worked! Some of our friends still have not gotten their biometrics appointments which is a necessary step to getting your (first) temporary residency card.
Here is some information on suing AIMA that is not current - the law has changed making it more difficult to sue this agency. Why you might want to sue is a long story but suffice it to say there is a huge backlog of applicants for visas, including the golden visa, golden visa applicants don’t get any kind of preferential treatment (not that I’m complaining - this is good social policy!), and the process - until recently - was not automated in any meaningful way.
https://www.theportugalnews.com/news/2024-05-06/over-50-complaints-per-day-against-aima/88565
The good news is that automation is coming and the backlog is being worked on, or so I’m told.
The lawyer we liked; the broker was good at explaining the tax benefits of investing in a VC Fund versus buying property, which was an issue for us and may not be an issue for you.
Q. Where did you look at to live and how did you make that decision?
We looked at 3 places to live ONLY.
Lisbon
Porto
Cascais
We did 2 scouting trips which were very abbreviated and did not involve looking at real estate.
Our criteria was a cosmopolitan city, good air connections to Europe and the U.S., warm weather year round, some flat areas for walking, not a totally car-oriented culture implying good public transit, large concentration of expats/immigrants, many parks/walking routes, relatively calm streets (one of our dogs is reactive), lots of English spoken.
Of the three cities, we chose Cascais because it is close to Lisbon (40 minutes on the train to downtown, 20 minutes to the outskirts of Lisbon … a neighborhood called Belem … which is very rich in cultural sites (museums, statues, etc.)). Cascais is a town of around 250,000 people and turned out to be a little more car oriented than we would like as the city itself is spread out: the area is full of beautiful beaches and mountains to explore and that requires a car. We are told that one can buy a used car relatively inexpensively1. It is prohibitively expensive to import a car from the U.S. Tourists come in every day via bus or train and in organized tours - but can be avoided by staying away from “centro” i.e. the downtown area.
We did not like Porto to live although it is a very fun city to visit due to its historic old town. Porto is farther North and because of this the weather is very similar to Portland, Oregon. (Too cold, too much rain!) Also it is very hilly. The first day there my Apple Watch showed that I had walked the equivalent of 47 flights of stairs! Be aware that the tiles they use on all the streets are very beautiful but slippery as hell. We are on the older side these days and worry about taking a fall.
Cascais has a large expat/immigrant community and is expensive as a result. It is a lovely town full of beaches with an extensive boardwalk called the “Marginal”. People liken it to La Jolla.
Here is a resource for finding neighborhoods that will work for you if you decide Lisbon is for you:
I also visited Madeira and Rich visited the Algarve. Both are farther South - we went there separately to get our biometrics done through the AIMA.
Appointments in the major cities are impossible to get. Madeira was very cute but it’s an Island and cut off from cultural activities as a result. The Algarve is reputed to be very crowded and hot - too hot for my taste but in truth I have yet to visit.
Q. Did we use a real estate agent?
Yes.
At first we thought we were going to AirBnb it and change neighborhoods/towns every 3 months for a year to test the waters. But an AirBnb didn’t fit the tax status we were going for: NHR 1.0. NHR 2.0 is out and may be of interest.
We started looking for a rental property and for this we used an agent who was recommended by a work colleague of Rich’s for a fee.
Three year leases are the norm there - but you can get out of your 3 year lease at 16 months. Be aware that landlords here DO NOT GENERALLY give you back your deposit at the end of the lease. Rent increases are limited by law to around 2-3% per year. We decided to rent and not to buy … at least for now. Mortgages are available at 2-3% there but may require a bigger down payment depending on your specific situation. Most banks here expect any mortgage to be repaid in full when you hit the age of 75 or 80.
I would highly recommend working with Filipa if you decide you want to look for real estate in Lisbon or Cascais and/or in between, either to rent or to buy2.
There is no MLS (multiple listing service) in Portugal so an agent can access properties that may not be all that visible to the public.
Many but not all properties are listed on idealista.pt - you can search there and get English results back.
Properties are listed as T0 (studio), T1 (one bedroom), etc. Walk in closets are not the norm. In fact, most properties don’t have closets per se but built in wardrobes. I think air conditioning is a requirement, you may not. Be aware that mini splits also serve as heating units in the winter; it is highly unlikely you will find a place with central heat or air.
Properties here are generally smaller than in the U.S. (by 40-50%) and most are primed for indoor/outdoor living. Over 100 square meters with air conditioning signals that you are an immigrant/expat and is likely to be priced accordingly. Check if the unit you are renting has a lift. In smaller buildings, I am told that lifts can break down frequently and landlords are not all that quick to get them fixed.
Q. What else do I need to know?
The Portuguese people are very nice, Lisbon feels like an elegant and calm version of New York City. It resembles Barcelona a lot with a lot of beaux arts architecture; Barcelona is a city I love but has changed a lot due to being over touristed.
The lack of gun violence calms my soul. Lisbon has many parks and museums but they are not at the level of Paris or Madrid; that said, I like the fact that we can fly to Paris or Madrid when we want to …
Portugal is not very anti-immigrant (yet) but is becoming more so for … reasons. One root cause is the lack of affordable housing … as a result it is considering outlawing AirBnbs in Lisbon and perhaps country wide. AirBnbs are limited to 3 months.
If you do rent, be aware that your landlord must register your lease with the local authorities. An unregistered lease will not satisfy immigration requirements3.
If you are looking at real estate, be aware that if a deal seems too good to be true, it is likely to be a fraudulent listing. If you don’t work with an agent, you need to confirm that the landlord is the real owner of the property before giving them any money. Google how to do that. Expect the landlord to ask for proof of financial stability. Filipa (see below) knows what the law is and helped us push back on the landlord when she asked for something unreasonable (pay the rent every 6 months in advance which would tie up a lot of cash).
Dogs are considered part of the family in Portugal. One usually doesn’t disclose you have pets until AFTER you move in at which point the landlord cannot do anything.
It’s important to realize that if you don’t like Portugal but go through the process of getting a Golden Visa (GV) you can live anywhere in the Schengen Zone which is 31++ countries; the only places you cannot live with a temporary residence card are France and Germany. The only residency requirement for Portugal itself in conjunction with the GV is 7 days per year which means 7 days and nights. You will have to pass a language test.
That said, IMHO you should come to Portugal because you want to live here, not as a jumping off point to live elsewhere in Europe.
Rules for residency/citizenship are changing and it entirely possible that the process will take you longer than initially promised and will involve jumping over more barriers than you expect. Expect the unexpected, remain resilient and flexible in the face of the bureaucracy you encounter, and you will be fine.
Resources we recommend
Investment broker:
Werner Gruner
Get Golden Visa
Lisbon Office: Avenida da Liberdade, 1101269-046 Lisbon / Portugal
werner.gruner@getgoldenvisa.com
getgoldenvisa.com
Immigration lawyer:
Sara Freitas
sara.freitas@dixcart.com
Dixcart Portugal
Lda Rua Serpa Pinto 14A 1º andar, 1200-445 Lisboa, Portugal
+351 210 506320
www.dixcart.com
Real estate broker/agent:
Filipa Santos
+351 966 958 280
ftsantos@kwportugal.pt
1 This turned out to be true. We ended up buying a used car in Germany and having someone drive it to Portugal for us for a fee. But that is a story for another day!
2 I don’t profit from affiliate links on this substack. These are just my opinions. Take them as you will.
3 To the best of my knowledge.