Portugal Golden Visas Are Suspended Until July
/SEF announced that all offices will be closed until July 1. Such measures were taken due to an outbreak of coronavirus. This means that appointments for gold visas will be suspended and reappointed in chronological order from July 1.
This is not the first time that a country has suspended the issuance of gold visas. In July 2015, there was a scandal involving corruption at the government level. However, the closure of the program due to the virus occurs in the country for the first time.
A state of emergency was officially declared in Portugal on March 18.
As for visas and documents related to the stay of foreign nationals in the territory of Portugal, if their validity expired after February 24, they are valid until June 30. These documents, as well as the citizen’s card, driver’s license, criminal record, and certificates, must be accepted by state bodies for all legal purposes.
The appointment management will be such as to guarantee equal rights to all foreign nationals with SEF within the framework of the coronavirus.
SEF will continue to provide personal assistance, but only to those with urgent requests. For example, citizens who need to make an urgent trip, who need to leave the country (with strong evidence), as well as citizens who have been stolen, stolen or lost documents. That is, SEF will accept requests, but only for very urgent passport services.
The Golden Visa program is very attractive for investors, despite various changes in it. Perhaps Portugal should take a closer look at the experience of other countries offering Citizenship by Investment programs that during COVID-19 switched to working online: Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Dominica.
