Preliminary Proposal – to amend the Immigration Law and the Golden Visa Regime

Following the recent media coverage regarding the Meeting of the Council of Ministries, scheduled for today February 16th, 2023, Mercan Properties would like to inform its investors that the Government has presented the general terms of a preliminary proposal of housing reforms, which included among other an amended to the Immigration Law, known as ENTRY, STAY, DEPARTURE AND REMOVAL OF FOREIGNERS FROM THE NATIONAL TERRITORY (Law 23/2007, from 04 of July).

In his speech PM António Costa, has announced that it is the Government’s intention to review the regime of the residency by Investment in Portugal, known as Golden Visa, namely, it what regards real estate investment options. Even if this is a preliminary proposal, the next step will be a public discussion in which all relevant stakeholders will be invited to give their feedback. The discussion will take place during the next month. Following the discussion, a new Meeting of the Council of Ministries will take place, where it is expected that a final proposal will be drafted to be presented to the Parliament.

Once the final draft is ready, the proposal will be sent to the Parliament, where it will be voted in the general session of the Parliament. After that, and if approved, the proposal will be discussed by a separate commission, which will purpose the final draft. The final version will then come back to the Parliament for general approval.

The final step of the proposal, and if approved by the Parliament, will be sent to the President of the Republic. After the reception of the petition one of three realities can happen:

1. direct ratification and in this case, the proposal will become into force set forth in the proposal. Regarding this topic, it is possible that a transition period may be agreed.
2. the President of the Republic does not accept the proposal as it is, and returns it to the Parliament for alteration or
3. the President of the Republic accepts the document but requests the evaluation of the Constitution Court.

Nevertheless, it is important to understand, that the potential changes will be applicable to new submissions, and should not affect golden Visa Investors already submitted to the program.

We plan to be active in the public hearing during the month of march alongside with the municipalities to portray the benefits of enacting a transition period for several months, or eventually until the end of the year.

Mercan Properties will continue to follow this matter closely and will provide full support and information on the current discussion and decisions.