Portugal Golden Visa See's Surge from USA Applicants
Demand from US applicants interested in RCBI programmes has surged across the board in recent years and Portugal’s latest Golden Visa statistics very much confirm this.
In the early years of Portugal’s Golden Visa programme, Chinese applicants made up the largest proportion of global investors obtaining Portuguese residency through investment. In 2012 -2014, Chinese applicants accounted for 80% of the market. As demand has grown from other nations, the ratio of Chinese applicants vs other nationalities has consistently reduced each year and in 2021, Chinese investors made up just 31% of approved applicants. Although the balance has levelled out, Chinese applicants have always sustained their position as the highest number of applicants each year.
It is a very different story for the US market, which back in 2019 made up just 5.2% of Portugal’s Golden Visa applicants. This figure has grown each year and already in 2022, the amount of US investors has increased to almost 20%. In Q1 of 2022, 53 USA applicants were approved for Golden Visas in comparison to just 42 Chinese applicants. Interestingly, this is the first time in the programme’s history that Chinese nationals have not counted as the highest number of applicants.
These figures certainly ring true with La Vida’s personal data too, as we have seen a staggering demand from the US market in recent years, not only for Portugal’s Golden visa programme but for several of the world’s top CBI programmes too.
When analysing Portugal’s recent Golden Visa statistics it was also compelling to learn that despite the introduction of many new investment funds over the last few years, in 2021 approximately 87% of investors still decided to make a real estate investment as opposed to choosing the capital transfer or fund investment route. It is likely that demand for fund investments will fall in 2022, due to this year’s legislation changes which now make the fund investment route more expensive.
To find out more about Portugal’s Golden Visa programme, please contact our expert advisors for a free consultation.
