Portuguese Citizenship In Exchange for Minimal Real Estate Investment

There’s still time to get in on an affordable real estate deal that also gives you Portuguese citizenship, access to affordable, state of the art healthcare, university education in Europe, and easy access to Europe. Portugal’s Golden Visa program encourages foreign real estate investment in exchange for citizenship, and the minimum investment is just €280,000 which is about $280,000. But the opportunity might not last forever. The Portuguese government is in the process of making a decision on whether to end the program but anyone already signed up will be grandfathered in!     Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. If you like our podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review.     Portugal’s Golden Visa Program     Portugal’s Golden Visa program has been around since 2012. It was created to help Portugal recover from the worldwide economic downturn during the Great Recession. It encourages foreign investment and because the Euro is currently on par with the dollar, U.S. investors are getting a big discount from prices that are much lower over there.     Because the program has attracted heavy investment into residential properties in the most popular areas, the government is now limiting the program to commercial properties in those areas. But these properties consist of rooms, suites, and even apartments in luxury hotels and resorts that provide passive income, and a place that investors can use when they are in Portugal.     I went to Portugal this year to find out more about the Golden Visa program, and met with a team of experts, including attorneys, CPA's and developers who have properties that meet the Golden Visa requirements. You can find out more about the teams we met with at www.gatewayportugal.com. (1)     What You Can Buy With Gateway Portugal     Some qualifying properties offer apartments in luxurious resorts with old world surroundings and five-star service. They range in price, returns, and the amount of time that owners get to use them. Some of the properties offer buybacks after five years. Investors will get five years of passive income, a set amount of time to use and enjoy the property, and the big prize – Portuguese citizenship. The Golden Visa program does come with a few additional fees, but the returns that the investor makes will easily cover those fees.   One of the least expensive investments being offered by Gateway Portugal is a hotel suite for €220,000. It’s located along the beach in the very popular town of Lagos. Investors would earn a 7 to 10% return per year depending on occupancy levels. The owner would get to use the suite for two weeks every two years. However, to qualify for the Golden Visa, a minimum of $280,000 would have to be invested in Portugal, which means investors would need to buy two of these suites to qualify.     Minimum Investment Only About $280,000     One thing to keep in mind is the amount of the investment that qualifies you for the Golden Visa program. There are three tiers with minimum investment amounts of €280,000, €350,000, and €500,000. Those correspond to the locations and types of investments that qualify. The first bracket of 280k to 350k investments get you a renovation project in a less densely populated area. The buildings that qualify as renovation projects must be a building that is at least 30 years old. 350k to 500k gets you a renovation project in a more densely populated area such as Lisbon, Porto, or the Algarve.  500k and up gets you a new build in a more densely populated area.      Once you invest, you get immediate residency. To maintain your residency, you will have to spend some amount of time in Portugal, but that requirement is minimal. The first year, you have to spend at least a week in Portugal. After that, you can spend two weeks every two years. When you hit the five year mark, you are eligible for citizenship, so long as you have kept your investment during that time.     Immediate family members are also eligible for citizenship if they were included on the application. Children must be younger than 18 at the time of the application or attending school with the support of their parents. Grandparents are also eligible.     Beautiful Country, Low Cost of Living, High Quality Lifestyle     What a great way to experience Europe, as a citizen in a beautiful country with a low cost of living and a high quality of life! Portugal’s health care system is considered world class.  In 2019, the World Health Organization published an extensive ranking of healthcare systems around the world. Portugal ranked 12th on the list. That’s way ahead of the U.S. which was 37th on that same list.     Health care isn’t totally free but it’s free for kids under 18 and adults over 65 and is extremely affordable for the rest. For example, hip replacement surgery might cost about $40,000 in the U.S. but will only set you back with a minimal co-pay in Portugal.     Housing is also a lot cheaper in Portugal. The globalcitizensolutions.com website says it’s about 50% less expensive in Portugal than it is in the U.S. And you’ll save a bundle on property taxes. They are typically less than 1% of the property value. So a $300,000 home might cost you around $300 a year in property taxes. (2)     The website lists several other ways you’ll save money, for things like groceries, restaurants, transportation, education, and utilities. And you can put your worries to rest about Russian energy dependence in Portugal. The portugal.com website claims that only 5% of Portugal’s non-renewable energy comes from Russia. (3)     You’ll also feel safer in terms of crime. According to nationmaster.com, there are about twice as many police officers in Portugal than there are in the U.S. and about half as much overall crime. The Global Peace Index ranked Portugal as the 6th safest country in the world. In comparison, the US ranked 129th out of 163 countries. (4)     Portugal Tops Most Lists for Expats & Retirees     In a Forbes article about Portugal’s Golden Visa program, it says: “Portugal appears at the top of most of the lists of places recommended for expats and retired people to enjoy a good life and its Golden Visa program is one of the most popular in the world. The number of Americans living in Portugal rose 45% in 2021 from the previous year, according to government data.” (5)     But the program may not be around forever. It’s not clear when the government will make a decision on whether to keep it going and it probably won’t end overnight, but it could end soon.      You can find out more at GatewayPortugal.com. Krista and Alec recently joined me on the Real Wealth Show to talk about what they are doing with the program. If you’d like to hear that, go here.     If you’re interested in other kinds of real estate investing, please check out the RealWealth website at newsforinvestors.com. It’s free to join. And please remember to subscribe to our podcast and leave a review!     Thank you! And thanks for listening. I'm Kathy Fettke.     Links:   1 - https://gatewayportugal.com/   2 - https://www.globalcitizensolutions.com/comparing-living-costs-portugal-vs-usa/   3 - https://www.portugal.com/science/energy-in-portugal-where-does-portugal-get-its-energy-from/   4 - https://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/compare/Portugal/United-States/Crime   5 - https://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2022/09/20/americans-moving-to-europe-portugal-still-top-place-for-expats-despite-restrictions/?sh=3c74c35d60f1