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LISBON, Nov 2 – Portugal is likely to scrap its “golden visa” programme giving wealthy foreigners residence rights, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Wednesday, saying that the 10-year-old scheme had already fulfilled its role.

The Authorisation of Residence for Investment Activity for people from non-EU countries, commonly known as the golden visa programme, has been heavily criticised at home for sending house prices and rents up, and the European Commission has called for the end of such national schemes.

In Portugal, it has attracted 6.5 billion euros in investment by foreigners, mainly from China, Brazil and South Africa, with the bulk of the money going into real estate. Rules have changed this year to redirect investments from a red-hot property market in big cities to depopulated areas.

Speaking at Lisbon’s Web Summit, Europe’s largest tech event, Costa said several visa schemes offered by Portugal were currently being re-evaluated and the golden visa was one of them.

“(It) probably has already fulfilled the role it had to fulfil and, at this moment, is no longer justified to keep it”, Costa told reporters.

An official decision would be announced when the evaluation is completed, he said.

Costa said Portugal wanted to continue to be attractive, with one example being its recent law, enacted on Monday, that created the so-called digital nomads visa. It gives foreigners with high monthly income from remote work to live and work from Portugal for a year.

The European Commission has called on EU governments to end national programmes to sell citizenship to investors, which the bloc has long considered a security risk.

(Reuters)

Canada’s unemployment rate was at 4.9% again in July, according to Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey.

Canada’s unemployment rate held steady at 4.9% in July, matching the record low from the month before.

The total number of unemployed people held steady at one million in July. In addition, 426,000 people wanted a job but did not look for one, and therefore did not meet the definition of unemployed. This was little changed for the sixth consecutive month. The adjusted unemployment rate—which accounts for this source of potential labour supply—remained at 6.8%, the lowest rate since comparable data first became available in 1997.

In addition, employment in Canada decreased by 31,000 jobs, which according to Statistics Canada does not represent a significant change. Canada lost about 74,000 jobs from May to July, but from May 2021 to May 2022, employment had increased by more than one million.

That being said, July marks the second consecutive month of decreased employment in Canada. Plus, the record-low unemployment coupled with more than one million job vacancies means Canada is still facing a tight labour market.

“Two consecutive months of lower employment indicates that the Canadian labour market is running up against capacity constraints, with little room for upside movement,” writes RBC economist Carrie Freestone in an economic update. “Demand for workers is still very high with job postings still 65% above pre-pandemic levels (though the number of job postings continues to fall), and there are few unemployed Canadians available to fill these vacant positions.”

Employment among public sector employees fell by 51,000 (1.2%) in July, the first decline in the sector in 12 months. The decrease was largely concentrated in Ontario and Quebec. Despite the month-over-month decline, public sector employment was up 5.3% (+215,000) compared to July 2021.

The number of self-employed workers increased by 34,000 (+1.3%) in July after falling by 59,000 (-2.2%) in June. Despite this increase, self-employment remained flat on a year-over-year basis and was 214,000 (-7.4%) below its pre-pandemic February 2020 level.

Employment fell by 53,000 (-0.3%) in the services-producing sector in July. Wholesale and retail trade contributed the most to losses in this sector. The number of people working in wholesale and retail trade fell by 27,000 (-0.9%) in July, the second consecutive monthly decline. The majority of the net decrease took place in Ontario and Quebec.

“Job losses were strangely concentrated in the services sector, including wholesale and retail, education and health,” Andrew Grantham, CIBC told Reuters. “With some of those sectors reporting high vacancy rates; labour supply rather than demand appears to be the main issue. That said, the major difference between today’s report and last month’s is that wage growth unexpectedly decelerated.”

The Administrative Court of the Lisbon Circle has ruled in favor of a golden visa applicant who sued the SEF over excessive wait times for his biometrics appointment, the final step necessary before the visa is issued, and has ordered the agency to grant the applicant his biometrics appointment within ten days.

Between January 1st, 2022, the date on which the Portuguese golden visa’s new regulations took effect, and June 13th, investors were unable to submit new applications through the SEF’s online portal. While that matter has since been resolved, the waiting time between an application’s approval and the applicant’s in-person appointment at the SEF’s premises to provide final documents and biometric data so that their visa may be issued has become unacceptably long.

The Portugal golden visa application procedure follows three general steps:

■ Submit the application through the SEF’s online portal (this possibility was closed to practically all applicants in the first six and a half months of this year);

■ Await the SEF’s approval or rejection of the application (this procedure is meant to take no more than three months but can now take as much as eight);

■ If the application is approved, receive an email from the SEF inviting the scheduling of a physical meeting, and attend the appointment to deliver biometric data and final documents.

It was only last month that the SEF resumed biometrics appointment bookings, and even then, only for new golden visa applications, not for those at the renewal stage.

Even now, the first dates available for scheduling the appointment with the SEF (for those who can even get such an invitation) are as many as six months after the application has been approved.

In December last year (days before the suspension of new applications via the online portal), an English national applied for the Portuguese golden visa on the basis of a EUR 350,000 investment in a qualifying fund. The investor was “prepared to wait eight months until he had his residence permit issued and moved to Portugal with his family,” the investor’s lawyer Bettino Zanini, of Lexidy Law, told. The lawyer points out that a procedure that, prior to the pandemic, had taken six to eight months. By spring of 2022, however, the process, from initial application to the final biometrics appointment, was taking some investors upwards of 18 months.

Five months after submitting his application online, the English investor was still awaiting a response to his application from SEF. After consultation with his attorney, he decided to file a suit against the SEF in the Administrative Court of the Lisbon Circle on April 11th, 2022.

In July, the court issued its verdict: The SEF, said the judge, would have to consider the investor’s application and – if finding it to meet all the criteria – make available a biometrics appointment within ten days.

“Like us, the client was very satisfied with the decision,” Zanini told.

Questioned as to whether the decision could have implications for the thousands of other applicants suffering under similarly unreasonable delays, Zanini noted that while the ruling applied directly only to this particular case, it could be “an important precedent that can be used as a paradigm to guide the judgment of similar cases.” He also indicated the verdict would serve as a warning to the authorities to take the delays seriously and pointed out that such treatment of applicants “is very harmful to the program that aims to attract foreign investment in Portugal and boost the economy of the country.”

The new law extends the EB-5 Regional Center program through September 30, 2027, with changes that will impact existing and future investors. First, the minimum EB-5 investment amount will increase to $800,000 from the current $500,000 for TEA and $1.05M from the current $1M for Non-TEA for both regional center and direct EB-5 investments.

For Investors currently already filed, I-526 petitions, adjustment of status applications, and consular procedures will resume.

 Going forward, for future investors:

• For targeted employment areas (TEAs) or “infrastructure projects,” the needed investment amount will increase to $800,000. The investment amount will be $1,050,000 if this is not the case.
• Gifts are still allowed, and the funds will not be restricted to family members.
• Capital investments, administrative fees, and any fees “connected” with the investment are also subject to source of funds restrictions.
• If a regional center or new commercial enterprise (NCE) closes, there is a process in place to switch projects.
• If the EB-5 program lapses in the future, grandfathering laws require USCIS to continue processing EB-5 petitions as long as they are filed by September 30, 2026.
• The bill allocates 20% of total EB-5 visa numbers to investments in rural areas, 10% to investments in high-unemployment areas, and 2% to infrastructure projects.  So there will be less visa numbers for most of the popular large TEA projects and green card quota backlogs are more likely.
• In some instances, protection for dependent children who have reached the age of majority.

This year witnessed a turning point for the Portugal Golden Visa program as the long-awaited changes took effect. As of January 1st, the real estate acquisition route has been limited to certain areas, while the minimum investment amounts for most other routes, such as capital transfer and fund investment, have increased. Investor demand had already increased when the announcement was first made in early 2021. But in November and December, as applicants rushed to complete their applications, the applications skyrocketed. Still, some investors will need to make it under the new regulations.

Current Portugal Golden Visa prospects are only able to buy a residential property in designated interior areas as a result of the changes. As the residential property option in Lisbon, Porto, and the majority of the Algarve is now taken out of the equation, the investors who want to buy a house in the country turned their attention to interior areas. Aljezur and Monchique are two popular spots where most investors have already started their search. The beautiful Douro Valley is in the spotlight too.

Commercial Property Investment Rises Although buying residential property in Lisbon, Porto, and most parts of the Algarve region will not qualify investors for a Portugal Golden Visa, buying commercial property in these same locations is still an option. Those who don’t want to compromise from these hot spots lead to an increase in their quest for commercial properties. Considering the growing popularity of Lisbon as a digital hub for both companies, top talent, and digital nomads, a commercial property investment might turn out to be a profitable investment, along with Portugal Golden Visa benefits.

Investment Funds Are Here to Stay The fund subscription investment amount increased to €500,000 from €350,000 with the new regulation. This may appear to be a significant increase, but when compared to other residency by investment programs in Europe, it is still a reasonable amount. Portugal Golden Visa funds were already popular in 2021. But, some investors did not want to rush their application under the old rules so that they could analyze the funds, vet the fund managers, and assess the risks and returns more carefully. As investors become more confident with this route and the fund market grows. We’re waiting for new funds to be introduced to the market through CMVM, which will make the market more competitive.

Less Popular Investment Options Might Come Forward The most common methods to a Portugal Golden Visa are real estate investment and fund subscription. Other, less popular investment options, on the other hand, may become utilized once the changes are fully digested. One of these methods is a €250,000 donation to the preservation of national heritage in Portugal. It may be appealing because the investment amount lower than other routes. Still, I don’t think it can substitute a real estate investment or a fund subscription because it’s a “donation” that doesn’t guarantee a financial return.

Increased Mobility Will Attract New Investors Most investors who completed their Portugal Golden Visa in 2021, were already familiar with Portugal. Once – and hopefully – the pandemic slows down this summer, Portugal will welcome visitors from all around the world, who will set foot in the country for the first time. As global mobility increases, the investors’ appetite for Portugal will see a rise too. This is especially going to be the case for Americans, Australians, and Canadians who have not been able to travel and do proper research or house hunting.

The Bottom Line As I’ve explained, Portugal Golden Visa is still a favorable method for those who are looking for a solid Plan B in an EU country. The changes may have an effect “for a short while”, but the program is still almost unmatched, thanks to its low stay requirement only 14 days on average per two years, and its direction towards citizenship – only after five years.

(By Charles Taylor Harris)

(Photo by Richard Hewat)

The Residency Malta Agency, which governs the country’s Permanent Residence Program (the MPRP, known in its pre-2021 guise as the MRVP) has shared, for the first time, statistics on its residence by investment programs, going all the way back to 2016. The figures show that a grand total of 2,273 main applicants, as well as 5,303 of their family members, have received residence permits in Malta through either the MPRP or the MRVP since the start in 2016. Of those, nearly nine in ten have been Chinese nationals. At a distant second, Vietnamese applicants accounted for 2.9% of the total, followed by Russians (2.6%), South Africans (1%), and Turks (1%).

The Agency reveals it has rejected some 10% of all applications to date, while about 3% of applicants voluntarily withdrew their applications during the due diligence process “as a result of questions posed to the applicants by the agency”.

Approval volume grew steadily from the outset, peaking in 2020 at 988, making the MRVP (the current MPRP’s precursor program) the second-biggest EU golden visa during that year. 2021 volumes landed at roughly half that level, with 500 main applicant approvals, which still makes it one of Europe’s most applied-to golden visas in that year. The drop from the previous year is in large part explained by the transition from the old MRVP to the new MPRP. “Though it may not have looked strategic to have launched a new program during COVID, for us it was the culmination of a thorough analysis of propositions, markets, and competition,” Charles Mizzi, CEO of the Residency Malta Agency, tells.

He indicates enough time has now elapsed since the program launch in March last year to enable analysis of the market’s reaction to the MPRP. Interest, he says, has been high all along and grew substantially in the second half of 2021. He expects application numbers to reach new heights in the near future

During the early years, the Agency labored under a significant backlog of unprocessed applications, which caused significant delays in processing. The Agency explains that, in essence, the popularity of the program had grown faster than the bureau’s own capacity to handle applications. The Agency’s response to the bottleneck caused by too many applications for a relatively small staff to handle was to expand its recruitment drive, devote more resources to staff training and development, invest in software-based processing solutions, and streamline procedures.

New Startup Residence Program in the works In June, Residency Malta launched the Nomad Residence Permit, a one-year permit for digital nomads and entrepreneurs who are location- independent and who would like to work from Malta for the short or medium term. Mizzi describes the program as a response to “increased global movements spurred by Covid as remote working became the norm” and a solution for digital “nomads from third countries wishing to try a remote working stint from Malta.” The permit is suitable primarily for those who wish to live and work in Malta on a temporary basis, as it is issued for a one-year renewable term.

Now, however, the Agency is preparing a program for third-country nationals who wish to start a business in Malta and reside there on a more permanent basis. The Startup Residence Program, the Agency explains, will aim to attract “entrepreneurs wishing to use Malta as a base to launch their new business and reach new markets [..] This new permit will be another step in the direction of enticing third country entrepreneurs to consider Malta and strengthen the country’s innovative industries.”

(By Christian Henrik Nesheim – IMI daily)

(Photo by Nick Fewings)