So keen is the current government to continue it generous tax give-away to already wealthy foreigners, the woman with the most boring job title in politics has announced new Golden Visa regulations to make it cheaper for non-Europeans to get a foothold in the Shengen area, but at a greater risk.
The Minister for Internal Administration, Constança Urbano de Sousa, unveiled the new application routes for 'Golden Visas' applicants, including a new category that invites investors to put their money into companies that have gone bust but successfully applied to the courts under Portugal's 'revitilisation' laws.
The minister firstly referred to "the need to inject capital and foster investment in small and medium-sized companies. These are not large investments but they could be decisive for the economic recovery of small and medium-sized companies and keep them going,” all sounding good so far.
The minister added that a new category has been created for foreigners who chip in €350,000 to set up a company or to inject capital into a Portuguese company, "as long as they create or maintain permanent jobs." How 'maintaining permanent jobs' will be monitored remains to be explained.
Next, there is the new and lower threshold of €200,000 that can be invested in Portuguese companies that already are in a revitalisation process i.e. they already have gone bust and their creditors are being paid off over long periods, sometimes decades.
This may not be seen as a rock solid investment for a foreigner coming to Portugal and hoping not to be ripped off. Many Golden Visa applicants already have been scammed by agents in China and in Portugal, although this died down after the high-profile arrests in Operation Labyrinth and may be wary of investing significant sums in shaky local companies.
Urbano de Sousa said the government is aware that most of the Golden Visas have been handed out to people buying '€500,000 plus' property but has come up with some amendments none-the less.