Golden Visa shambles exposed

Paul 18 October 2015

LISBONPROPERTY Such is the efficiency of the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) that 7,000 Golden Visas are waiting to be processed.

An estimated €3.5 billion in real estate sales are held up by bureaucracy, a testament to Portugal’s failure to run a scheme with knock-on benefits to the economy and rich pickings for top-end estate agencies.

This estimate assumes that the vast majority of Golden Visa applicants are keen to buy property of €500,000 or more, which has been the pattern so far.

The average number of Golden Visa has mysteriously tailed off and now we know why, it is not a drop in demand, it is because the applications are held up 'in the system.'

The number processed each month dropped from 127 in 2014, to 50 during the months of 2015. The SEF blames the problems caused by Operation Labyrinth which led to the arrest of 11 people in government and the civil service on allegations of bribery and corruption. Among the arrested was the head of the SEF.

An enhanced scheme promoted by Deputy Prime Minister Paulo Portas and instigated by lame duck minister Anabela Rodrigues has failed dismally to cope with the backlog due to lack of staff and complexity.

The collapse in processing Golden Visas is infecting other processes such as residence permits and renewals, with appointments in Lisbon only available after a minimum six month wait.

The SEF management blames a lack of staff and the requirement for more bureaucratic procedures when checking applicants.

The director of the SEF recognises "a pressing need for personnel reinforcement that is not yet resolved,” and blames the hold up for Golden Visa applicants on the failure by applicants to correctly complete the overly complicated paperwork requirements leading to each taking "several months.”

Comments

+1 #7 George 2016-04-17 11:11

@Paul, yes, couldn't agree more. On hindsight I wish I had chosen Spain or some other country. Delay I can live with but what I cannot fathom is complete lack of information. It is not even a new application that needs scruitiny. It is renewal and I applied in last May. When I did my investment I was told by lawyer that this has highest priority from the government and approvals are quick and I can get permanent residency in 5 years. I have no hopes now. I never thought a government of advanced country, EU member nation will go back on its promise.

+2 #6 Paul T 2016-04-17 08:21

Quoting George:

I am one among 1000.....It was mutual agreement of which I fulfilled my part but I am awaiting for more than a year now to get my visa renewed. So, I invested money while I continue to stay in my home country. And if you look at the numbers total number of Golden visas issued so far are less than 3000 with 1.8 billion money coming in. Compare this with millions of refugees coming into Europe, with no qualifications, no money and solely dependent on Government for their survival.

if the government had said that processing would take a year or two, few would have applied. Welcome to Portugal...and a taste of the insane level of bureaucracy you have yet to encounter. This Golden Visa scheme is a good example of the Portuguese system at work. Great promises and a zero ability to follow through.

+3 #5 George 2016-04-17 08:11

I am one among 1000+ who paid 500,000 euros of my hard earned money for my family's safety and so my daughter gets to have a brighter future than she can ever have in my home country. I am not a gangster, not a criminal. It is my hard earned money from employment and it is significant portion of my life savings. I decided to invest because, I read portugal is safe and i dont have to worry about my daughter getting raped or someone robbing my house. While it is true that I have a need, it is also true that Portugal needed that money to come out of deflationary cycle that it is in. It was mutual agreement of which I fulfilled my part but I am awaiting for more than a year now to get my visa renewed. So, I invested money while I continue to stay in my home country. And if you look at the numbers total number of Golden visas issued so far are less than 3000 with 1.8 billion money coming in. Compare this with millions of refugees coming into Europe, with no qualifications, no money and solely dependent on Government for their survival.

+5 #4 Mildred 2015-10-20 12:07

Does anyone stop to think what if Portugal had been running the EU for the last 30 years ?

The total stagnation on market entry, regulation, economic growth. A lack of all sorts of rights - citizens, consumers and animals for a start. Zero growth. The list of non development is endless.

And yet the whole EU over run, long before these current refugees, with Chinese and their 'investment' that, as R.Visas confirms - is dodgy money. Thankfully the EU has in it much more developed states who have stopped what would have been a 'Portuguese Moussaka' shambles.

+5 #3 Mike Towl 2015-10-20 07:31

Just how many Chinese shops do we need?

+5 #2 rusty visas 2015-10-19 14:07

Maxwell you´re tool. By north europeans you probably mean the dutch who just started a golden visa programme. Or the brits already having this residency scheme for years. Also they won´t be showing any shiny portuguese passport. Since they only get a residency permit and not nationality. Only after living 6 years will they get portuguese nationality. The auditing conducted by portuguese internal affaires. didn´t caught any wrong application Get your facts straight. Truth it´s not worth it for a SEF officer to deal with this cases. They receive exactly the same amount in the end of the month if they deal with a golden visa or a student visa. In fact three SEF officers who were assigned to golden visas resigned because they didn´t want the burden. SEF officers should be diferentiated and given a higher pay. About macau gangsters they don´t need golden visas to enter Europe since Macao was a former portuguese colony. The major problem is chinese money. But if we go down that route all chinese investments have money origin problems. Either we accept the money or we don´t. All chinese investments made in Europe. Not only golden visas ones

+7 #1 Maxwell 2015-10-19 08:47

blames .... the requirement for more bureaucratic procedures when checking applicants.

This was always the stumbling block. Bringing in Macao gangsters without any checks just wound up the north Europeans when these guys - with their shiny new Portuguese passports - hot footed it into their countries. Presumably the restrictions on Portuguese Police having open access to Interpol data doesn't help.

But the dodgy can still be giving a fake ID and fake references. So how much does China, Brazil, Angola etc charge for each report on each applicant to Portugal ? With under the table bungs it all starts to mount up.

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