The executive director of the Portuguese Association of Resorts said today that delays in the Golden Visa application process, apparent since November last year, has led to a loss of foreign investment of €185 million.
"We are very concerned about the delays that have been occurring since about November. From the data that we have seen, up to November there were about 150 Golden Visa being issued each month on average ... and the average in the five months subsequent to November has fallen by half," according to Pedro Fontainhas, director of the association.
According to Fontainhas, this reduction in the allocation of visas has been helping Portugal’s property competitors such as Spain, France and Italy.
The association chief added that "there are a number of private and public institutions that have made a tremendous effort to increase the competitiveness of Portugal to attract foreign investment but this situation has ended up damaging this effort because of the very bad image created.”
Fontainhas was referring to the breakdown in high end property investment coincideing with the arrests of 11 people involved in the Golden Visa scheme for corruption.
The then director general of the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) and the former President of the Institute of Registrars and Notaries plus niine others were arrested last November as a result of Operation Labyrinth, the code name for the police investigation into corruption in the visa allocation process.
The Secretary of State for Communities, José Cesário, admitted that the numbers are down 20% since the corruption case hit the headlines but that high end property sales were being buoyed up by buyers from within Europe who would not qualify or need a Golden Visa.
Over 90% of Golden Visas have been awarded to Chinese investors and at Lisbon airport today, Judicial Police officers found two Chinese Golden Visa beneficiaries with a stash of 1 million in euros and 3.5 million Chinese yuan (about €75,000) in their baggage, all in cash.
The money was wrapped in clingfilm and the police have held on to the stash while they ascertain whether the money is part of some fiscal fiddle.
The couple already were under surveillance and have been made formal suspects while investigations continue.
