June W

I am a UK national (but not resident nor tax resident) and was going to take the plunge of relocating to Portugal before brexit/covid when my choice was quite clear ..... just relocate and apply for NHR.

Now the UK is in its post Brexit period, I was wondering if the Golden Visa and then applying for NHR would offer me any advantages over the D7 and NHR? My relocation would involve buying house above the 500k GolVisa requirement anyway as well as staying in the country more than 6 months a year.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

MrBife

From what I have learned and read about this subject and bearing in mind your intention to re locate it looks to me as if your original intention to apply for D7 and NHR is still favourite. To my mind the Gold Visa is more for those who prefer to live outside Portugal but still have the advantages of a permanent visa.

Red Eric

Agree with MrBife.

Also there are now (or will shortly be - not sure of the exact state of play right now) significant restrictions on location of property qualifying for Golden Visa applications, whereas you'd have a completely clear field with regard to where you could buy on a D7 visa.

Lou71

From what I can make out, the main advantage of the golden visa scheme is complete freedom of movement and not having to be tax resident in the country concerned. This is particularly attractive in Spain because of the dreaded 720 asset declaration but less so in Portugal because of NHR and the newly imposed restrictions on location.

This link is quite helpful:

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/eu-...l-golden-visa/

TonyJ1

If you intend to stay more than 6 months a year, this is not the most cost effective route. The GV is more intended as an escape valve so to speak

captainflack

My wife is an immigration lawyer, I would agree with what others said above. The investment required, and the costs (fees to government, and lawyer costs) are more for the GV, so it is only worthwhile if you do not intend to spend the required time in Portugal to keep residency through a D7.

In both cases, you would have a path to citizenship after 5 years.

June W

Many thanks everyone!

campos

Interesting piece on this visa's changes in today's Financial Times. Unfortunately paywall unless buy paper.

Red Eric

You get a limited number of free reads of FT articles if they turn up in search results, as opposed to following a posted link which activates the paywall.

A search by headline does the trick - in this case it's "Sun sets on Portugal's golden visa scheme".

campos

Good to know. Thanks for the tip