It´s well known that within the Golden Visa World, Portugal has one of the fastest programs from applying to obtain the residency visa up to being able to apply to obtain the Portugal´s citizenship.

In just five years from the moment you apply to obtain the Golden Visa, you will be able to apply for the Portuguese/EU passport.

However, in the last three years, Portugal has also become one the slowest in terms of delivering the first temporary residence card.

Due to the previous Portuguese Socialist Government open doors policy, allowing to freely immigrate to Portugal anyone who has just shown an interest to do so together with the payment of the first social security instalments, AIMA, the new Immigration Agency that has just completed one year of activity, was faced with a total backlog of over 400 thousand pending immigration cases.

To expedite the pending backlog of cases, AIMA has already processed in 2024, over 250 thousand pending applications on residence visas, family reunification or residence permits for investment (ARI/Golden Visa) in one year. For mid-2025, Portugal´s new Government established a framework to resolve all the pending cases AIMA.

To implement the above mentioned initiative, Portugal has extended validity of residence permits and visas relating to stay in national territory, which expired from 22 February 2020, are valid until 30 June 2025 providing one year extension and have added over 300 staff members dedicated to processing the pending cases.

Also, according to a recent AIMA report, revealed a huge rise in U.S. investors of 162.5% and an expected 83% increase in the number of families requesting Portugal Golden Visas. 

Within the above context, AIMA has just revised its online registration and scheduling procedures for Golden Visa applications to fasten older submissions and process concession requests electronically.

The procedure will involve inviting all applicants and legal representatives to complete applications currently marked as ‘AWAIT ANALYSIS’ on the AIMA Portal, which precedes the residence permit granting phase.

Consequently, the status of applications previously marked as ‘UNDER ANALYSIS’ has been updated to “AWAITING APPLICATION SUBMITION” enabling the update of application documents.

Similarly, applications marked as ‘ACCEPT’ have also been changed to ´AWAITING APPLICATION SUBMISSION´.

Once a notification is received, it will be possible to submit new documents, update the validity of previously submitted ones, and correct any formalities.

Although this information is far from clear, it is interpreted that pending applications will now progress fully through the ARI Portal up to the final approval stage.

We are optimistic that this development will significatively expedite pending applications and result in a significant growth of the number of approved Golden Visa applications in the first half of 2025.

Some updates on the professions that are eligible for the new tax resident scheme for the recent residents in Portugal

The new regime for Scientific Research and Innovation (IFICI+) is applicable to taxpayers that were not resident in Portugal for tax purposes over the past five years and have just transferred their tax residency to Portugal.

This new regime is only available for applicants that obtain employment or self-employment income from: Higher education and scientific research jobs, qualified job positions and board roles in investment or technology centres, highly qualified professions in certain industries or export-focused companies, Jobs in entities recognized by government entities for their economic relevance, R&D roles with eligible costs, employment income or member of the board of certified startups or certain positions or activities as a tax resident in the Azores and Madeira, as defined by the respective regional governments.

This new regime is applicable for a ten-year period, requires maintaining tax residency in Portugal and the eligible income being obtained from one of the activities listed above.

Cannot be cumulative with the former NHR Tax regime.

The tax rate will be a flat 20% tax on employment and self-employment obtained from any of the above eligible entities/activities.

Additionally, there will be a Tax exemption on foreign income (dividends, rental income and capital income).

The Portuguese Government has just announced the following eight activities that are eligible for the IFICI+:

• General Manager or Executive Manager.
• Administrative or Commercial Manager.
• Production or Specialized Services Manager.
• Specialists in the physics, math and engineering.
• Industrial products or equipment designer.
• Medical doctor.
• University Professors.
• Specialists in information technology and communication.

The Blue Portugal is a leading immigration company in Portugal and has an enviable track-record and reputation in serving our customers. 

Our strength is finding the appropriate solution according to your need and providing detailed analysis on the different investment options for you to make an informed decision.

Among the Blue Portugal´s preferred partners, are include some of the most relevant firms in Portugal involved in taxation and accountancy.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.