By Muhannad Samara | January 18, 2019
For ACIC Inc.
On the 17th of January 2019, the Portuguese Authorization for Residence by Investment activity, the “ARI” programme, a more commonly known programme as the “Golden Visa”, has survived defeat at a parliamentary vote, when the Left Bloc party argued that this programme was aimed at merely selling Portuguese Citizenships.
Left Bloc José Manuel Pureza said during the debate that a “country which takes itself seriously does not sell citizen’s rights.”
According to the MP, of the almost 7,000 “Golden Visas” issued since its introduction in 2012, only 13 were associated with investments resulting in job creation.
Prior to the vote, Transparency International Portugal (TI Portugal) called on the Ministry of Home Affairs to immediately release information on its ‘Golden Visa’ programme.
“The Government has committed to review the Golden Visa programme but has not yet begun to do so.”
Moreover, they have not released the information crucial to assess the risks and merits of the scheme,” said TI Portugal’s President João Paulo Batalha.
It is our view that the Portuguese ARI programme will continue to do good to the republic of Portugal and therefore will be around for a while longer. The question is, how adversely will the parliamentary criticism of this programme affect the programme on the long run, and, what will happen if today’s Naysayers take control of Parliament?
