Portugal and Greece Golden Visas: what happens during a pandemic?
/In recent years Greece's and Portugal's Golden Visa programs broke records and showed excellent results. Alas, the coronavirus, which surprised everyone, had a negative effect on Portugal after the SEF officially announced the closure of the migration offices from March 30.
According to SEF, in Portugal, this March 55 golden visas were issued (in March of last year, it was 83).
Despite the fact that you can submit applications online, personal meetings will be scheduled according to the principle: first come first served. Personal meetings are planned to begin on July 1, as offices will be opened by that time.
As for the Golden Visa in Greece, nothing affected it, and the number of applications in March even increased:
January - 1253 applications
February - 1311 applications
March - 1343 applications
In total, for 2020 these are very good numbers. However, the number of applications in February was due to pending applications.
That is, COVID-19 had no effect on the Greek Golden Visa program. For 2020, from month to month, we see a slight increase in applications, despite the closure of immigration offices.
The Greek government is currently working on Greek Golden Visa applications received before the outbreak of COVID-19. It is still possible to apply for a Golden Visa as the country accepts electronic copies of documents, but the procedure cannot be completed until there is a personal meeting. So now it is possible to submit documents but getting a Greek Golden Visa will be possible only after the pandemic.
