Sanctions on Russia: Impact on short-term and Golden visas

Last updated: 10 March 2022

The invasion of Ukraine has significantly worsened the relations between the European Union and Russia. From economic, financial, technological or mobility sanctions, there have been several restrictive measures taken by both sides following the conflict. These sanctions have had an impact on the Russian economy but also on different sectors of the European economy and, more specifically, on the Portuguese .

Regarding the golden visa regime, which has been, since its creation in 2012, an important source of revenue for the Portuguese State, and despite the fact that no orientation from the European Union in this sense is known, it was announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in an interview for CNN Portugal, that the assessment of applications from Russian citizens had been suspended as a precautionary measure.

In February, no golden visas were issued to Russian citizens. It is important to note that Russia is one of the main investors in this type of residence permits and that, since the launch of its regime, 431 were granted to Russian citizens, corresponding to an investment of 277.9 million euros. In January 2022, seven gold visas were also granted to Russian citizens.

This precautionary suspension may mean a drop of more than 20 million euros in annual investment in Portugal, which will have the greatest impact on the real estate sector.