Hereās another voice echoing our concerns as āgolden visaā investors in Portugalās economy.
The author, Patricia Casaburi, is Managing Director at Global Citizen Solutions which is a golden visa consultancy so she definitely has a stake in this as well.
End of Golden Visas Halts 34 Million Projects in Culture
Relates to the cancellation of a GV-funded film project involving US/Canadian/ME investors:
An important article in Expresso: translation is below.
Brake on Golden Visas Risks Ending up in Court
If the end of visas retroactive to 16th February continues, jurists expect an increase in lawsuits. There are 10 thousand in the renovation phase
The end of golden visas announced by the Government retroactively to February 16, 2023 may be unconstitutional. Jurists and property developers contacted by Expresso warn that, if what was announced by the Prime Minister in relation to Residence Permits for Investment (ARI) is maintained, there will be an increase of litigation.
There is already an association preparing a collective action if the Executiveās proposal advances, based on an opinion by Jorge Bacelar Gouveia, who, like other constitutionalists, such as Jorge Miranda, SĆ©rvulo Correia, Rui Medeiros and GonƧalo Bargado, think that the measure is unconstitutional.
āWe are already working towards preparing a collective lawsuit, representing a wide range of investors whose rights may be harmed by a law that is unconstitutionalā, says Sara Rebolo, president of the Portuguese Association of Immigration, Investment and Relocation (PAIIR), which brings together actors from the sector of attracting foreign capital via immigration. At stake are basic principles of law, such as non-retroactivity, legal certainty, proportionality and non-discrimination, says the head of PAIIR, who launched a public petition last weekend, which already exceeded 2 thousand signatures this Monday.
The end of the ARI calls into question āthe principle of the protection of trust, because changes to legislation should not be applied retroactively, jeopardizing rights, freedoms, and guarantees, such as the right to private economic initiative. Additionally, such changes should not be unjustified to the extent that they frustrate the legitimate expectations of investors.ā, reads the opinion of Bacelar Gouveia requested by PAIIR. The jurist also points out that the Governmentās proposal also calls into question the principle of equality and of protection of private property.
To verify whether these matters are unconstitutional "at the procedural level it is possible to appeal to the administrative courts, requesting the annulment or nullity of administrative acts, with appeal to the Constitutional Courtā. In terms of sanctions, the possibility of claiming compensation is open.
Sara Rebolo also points out that the ARI are not exclusive to the real estate sector āThere are processes that have been pending for more than two years, which do not count in the statistics as they have not yet been approved, mostly investment in funds aimed at the capitalization of Portuguese companiesā, she says, recalling that this was the most requested investment option during the period of the co covid and post-covid.
Joaquim Pinheiro da Silva, real estate partner at CMS Portugal, highlights the āerrorā in the relationship that is being suggested between foreign investment and rising house prices. The end of the ARI on the coast and in the Metropolitan Areas of Lisbon and Porto in 2022 āaimed to suppress the increase in the price of real estate. Well, more than a year later, it became clear that such a measure did not fulfill the legislatorās intentions, since the price of real estate in Portugal increased by 9.7% in 2022ā. Remember that in Lisbon the ARI represented about 2% and in Porto 0.9%. Pinheiro da Silva adds that given the āwrong signalā for foreign investors āit is foreseeable that there will be significant litigationā in relation to the legal regime that the Government intends to adopt.
āThe external credibility of Portugal is called into question, giving international investors the idea that Portugal is a country where the rules change mid-game,ā says Hugo Santos Ferreira. The president of the Portuguese Association of Promoters and Investors ImobiliĆ”rios (APPII) points out that ā10,000 ongoing reviews are at stake, which, if the acquired rights are defrauded, will generate a huge litigation problem. We run the risk of serious diplomatic problems, as these are foreign investorsā. Since 2012 there have been 10,755 ARIs, resulting in a total investment of ā¬6.1 billion.
With all this chaos and uncertainty, we still had 163 ARIās approved in March 2023
Thatās great for those people but tells us nothing about the future.
Thank you for sharing; I have a question and I am not sure who can advise on it : when SEF issues the monthly report for approval, are they referring to the final SEF approval after biometrics or to the SEF pre approval phase?
I donāt think so. It should be final approvals.
Iām wondering if there is value in peeling this conversation off into different areas. Folks may want to debate the fine points of the constitution at length. Even among pure legal circles, that debate could be vibrant, let alone a community of mostly lay people. We will not be able to reach a 100% conclusion on that. But it probably doesnāt impact our actions. In my view, if there MAY be a constitutional angle, then it should be pursued, until fully struck down.
So perhaps one thread for that discussion, and maintain this one to keep sharing the latest news, and ensuring we are all aware of other related threads, eg. also one for this keen to participate in potential class action. We should have sticky post connecting them.
We risk noise from fine point debates drowning out the big stuff, and polluting the otherwise good productive atmosphere we have festered here.
Iām open to this. I think that I may have moderation privileges [correction: nope], and probably some others do, but Iād want to get input from @tkrunning or @hanna before getting too assertive.
The natural tendency is for threads to wander down rabbit-holes of off-topicality, nonsense and irrelevance (egged on by trolls), unless someone takes charges and keeps things on topic.
The reports are definitely for final approvals.
Off topic like mr vogel posting the petition in every single thread regardless of thread topic, while said petition is already stickied? 
I believe the plan was to create email notifications for everyone in each thread, which seemed in poor taste to me, but itās important I suppose. Not my place to complain
It was done to alert people in each thread who are skipping past the sticky at the top or not willing to take the time to read it. We are still trying to get to 7,500 otherwise we have no group that we know is aligned with our goals. I understood it was annoying and I was purposefully playing the village idiot to get people involved. Amazing, at least 40 people responded to me thanking me, but also citing problems with translation or input of information. I got 40 more people, how many more did you get?
As I look at all the articles, I notice a pattern. They are all focused on ending the golden visa immediately. They want to allow more time for people to sign up. They are not concerned about the residency requirements.
This looks like a concern for the many companies that are benefiting from new applications. I think we have to form an organisation to represent ourselves and just not depend on other folks with different interests.
We can setup one in US, collect membership dues, hire attorneys and defend our rights. I would be in.
I would agree with breaking the thread. The constitutional arguments could go on for a while and most people are understandably not going to track.
I have thoughts but Iāll wait for the thread to break.
Agreed, and I think people who havent even started the process yet need to be the least of our concerns. If they change the terms retroactively, it doesnt matter if people can apply until the end of the year (or whenever they might choose).
Not strictly related to GVs but entertaining, regarding the drama and intrigue in the Portuguese govt:
https://www.portugalresident.com/marcelo-refuses-to-visit-any-more-rrp-works-with-pm/