Portuguese left-wing party Bloco de Esquerda (BE) will request a parliamentary appraisal of the Government’s decree which will change the golden visa regime, for considering the diploma has drawbacks and does not change what needs to be changed. The party insisted on the need to definitively revoke the golden visa program.
This law changed the legal regime which oversees the issuing of ARIs (Residence Permit for Investment Activity) which will no longer be attributed wthin Portugal’s coastal regions, such as Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve.
Maria Manuel Rola, BE’s member of parliament, explained to Lusa the reasons which led the party to submit this demand for parliamentary approval of the 12th of February diploma, defending that this regime «brings more problems, than those it fixes». BE requires «the appreciation of this decree maintaining our position concerning the regime and we will propose the end of the golden visa, especially at a time when we are entering a new problematic cycle, with a social and economic crisis, where the housing crisis is at its peak and we need to slow down real estate speculation in Portugal».
On the changes to the law announced in February, Maria Manuel Rola pointed out «a drawback in terms of the date since instead of coming into force this year, it will only come into force in January 2022. It is a long time with the possibility of everything remaining the same», quoted Público.
She also criticised the fact that «only housing or piped buildings» were left out of the regime. «What does this mean? That in fact there is no end to the golden visas not even in the metropolitan or coastal areas», she defended.