The end of resident permits in exchange for investment, known as golden visas, was one of the proposals contained in the More Housing programme.

With the entry into force of the new law, new applications for the granting of residence visas for investment activities will not be accepted, however, this will not affect the possibility of renewing authorisations which have already been granted. Applications for granting and renewing residence permits for investment activities remain valid, including those that are “pending prior control procedures in Municipal Councils” at the date of entry into force of the law.

The granting or renewal of residence permits for family reunification is also excluded from the adopted limitation. The Government's initial proposal admitted new requests for residence permits for investments or support for artistic production and the recovery or maintenance of the national cultural heritage, but the PS, the party that supports the parliamentary majority, proposed, as a specialty, the elimination of this exception.

The end of gold visas for housing investments divided parliamentarians left and right, with BE and PCP demanding more from the Government and PSD, CH and IL contesting the measure. The announcement was made on February 16, at the first presentation of the Mais Habitação programme, when the Prime Minister, António Costa, announced the end of the granting of golden visas as part of measures to combat real estate speculation.

The Prime Minister detailed, at the time, that, “of the approximately 11,000 golden visas granted (…), more than 9,000 were solely and exclusively dedicated to real estate investments”. There is a “very low rate, not to mention almost zero, for job creation, and a very low contribution to other activities”, he pointed out.