No more escape for the wealthy: Portugal Ends it's Golden visa program following Ireland.

One of the most coveted Golden Visa programs in Europe, which allowed non-EU citizens to live in Portugal in exchange for making real estate purchases and other investments there, has been formally discontinued.

Antonio Costa, the prime minister of Portugal, stated on February 16 that he would stop giving “golden visas,” which are residence permits and admission to the EU’s borderless travel area for affluent persons in exchange for investments.

He claimed that in order to “fight against price speculation in real estate,” his government will cease awarding new golden visas.

According to Euronews, wealthy foreigners can “basically ‘buy’ the right to residency – sometimes without even having to live in the country” thanks to the golden visa programs, which are used globally to entice foreign investment and are made available throughout Europe by nations eager to draw capital and boost tourism.

The E.U. tried to limit them as they gained in popularity due to their “risk to security, facilitating money laundering, tax evasion, terrorist financing, corruption, and infiltration by organized crime, that is inconsistent with EU norms” and the debate that accompanied those efforts.

The programs have been criticized as being “objectionable from an ethical, legal, and economic point of view” by the Civil Liberties Committee of the European Parliament.

Governments have also been dealing with internal unrest as housing costs continue to rise, particularly in the most well-liked locations, driving locals from their homes as foreigners purchase homes and apartments to rent out on websites like Airbnb.

According to the Financial Times, Portugal’s decision to discontinue the program was motivated by anxiety over an increase in housing costs that has left many locals unable to find suitable housing, notably in Lisbon and Porto, the country’s two largest cities.

One of a number of actions Portugal is doing to address the housing situation includes ending the golden visa program. New permits for Airbnb and other short-term vacation rentals are also prohibited, with the exception of rural areas.

According to Reuters, Portugal, one of the poorest countries in Western Europe, “rents and home prices have surged.” “Almost 50% of workers earned less than €1,000 per month last year, and rents alone in Lisbon increased 37% in 2022.”

The country, which has benefited from investments totaling €6.8 billion since the program’s debut in 2012, with the majority of the funds going into real estate, is anticipated to lose at least €900 million ($962 million) as a result of the program’s termination.

The decision will be approved, according to the prime minister, next month.

Portugal’s choice comes after Ireland’s decision to end its “Immigrant Investor Programme” or “golden visa scheme,” which granted Irish residence in exchange for a €500,000 investment or three years of an annual €1 million investment in the nation. Ireland made this decision a week earlier.

The program for Russian citizens was previously halted by Ireland as part of its sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine in March 2022.

The scheme has drawn €1.25 billion since it began 11 years ago, with the majority of users being affluent Russian and Chinese businessmen.

A bill to abolish the Golden Visa by Purchase of Property has been introduced to Congress in response to the rising controversy around the Golden Visa in Spain.

Spanish left-wing political group Más Pas seeks to end the nation’s Residency by Investment program for foreigners because it raises housing costs and drives natives out of the market, particularly in major towns and tourist hotspots.

According to SchengenVisaInfo.com, the program, which was launched in Spain in 2013, permits foreigners to receive a Spanish residency visa by investing at least €500,000 in real estate there.

Also Read: Program for affluent investors known as “Ireland Golden visa” terminated