The Chinese have obtained the most Golden Visas, followed by Brazilians and Russians, according to the Association of Professionals and Real Estate Companies of Portugal.
In February, 103 Chinese citizens bough real estate in Portugal under the programme taking the total awarded to 1,777 Chinese spending €500,000 or more on property since 2012.
The Brazilians are in second place but way behind with a total of just 74, followed by the Russians where 70 have qualified since the scheme was launched by deputy Prime Minister Paulo Portas.
Of the 2,203 visas allocated since 2012, 2,088 have been through the acquisition of property, 113 through the transfer of capital and just three have qualified by setting up a business employing at least 10 people.
The association's president, Luís Lima, did admit there had been an impact on the scheme due to the Golden Visa scam which saw the arrest of 11 people involved in administering the scheme, but said that the affects had not been dramatic.
A minister resigned over the affair and the National Director of the Aliens and Borders Service (SEF) Manuel Jarmela Palos, was arrested on corruption charges. His current nick-name is 'Mr 10%' which, according to Correio da Manhã, was the commission level for visa applications that he fast-tracked.
"It is natural that there has been a decrease in applications, as the media coverage of this scandal was brutal, but without the dramatic decline they mentioned," said Lima, referring to Operation Labyrinth which dismantled a network of corruption by civil servants.
Lima predicts that the Brazilians will be on the increase this year and reported that since its inception, the Golden Visa scheme had brought €1.3 billion of investment to Portugal, with the acquisition of €1.2 billion of property.
The Golden Visa fraud investigation started in June 2014 and focused on two areas; the officials involved in handing out the visas, and complicit real estate agencies in the top-end areas in Lisbon, Cascais and the Algarve.
No estate agency staff have been arrested as part of Operation Labyrinth and Luís Lima's assertion that none of his members were involved may yet prove to be true, despite well documented cases of agents duping Chinese buyers into purchasing properties at well over market prices.
