If you want to leave South Africa and go to Portugal, now is your chance.
Their Portuguese Golden Visa allows you to apply without leaving South Africa, making the process far less emotional, costly, and stressful.
Director of Passport to Portugal Christopher Garbutt said the most common route to citizenship is through the purchase of a physical property, which can be time consuming and expensive.
"A far more viable option open to South Africans is to invest in a private equity fund. A partnership with the Tower Development Fund (TDF), which was formed in response to the challenges of a post-Covid world, as well as climate change, is helping to streamline the route to the Golden Visa.
“Of the various options, a private equity fund is by far the easiest way to invest in the Golden Visa programme, that doesn’t require having to visit several properties, deal with real estate agents in Portugal, quarantine restrictions, and travel costs. It gets people a Portuguese residency within about ten months where, in just five years, they can apply for full citizenship,” said Garbutt.
Garbutt said Portugal is adjusting their emigration laws, making it about 42% more expensive and more restrictive to take part in Portuguese Golden Visa programmes.
“With the laws about to change, we’re encouraging South Africans who are interested to consider the private equity fund as an option, and to start their process as soon as the end of September. It can take up to 10 weeks to process the relevant documents and if they can do it now, they’ll be saving themselves 150 000 Euros," he said.