Russian Investment in Portugal Surges to €450 Million in Past 3 Years

Russian investments into Portugal rose 49% over the past three years, reaching €450.6 million since 2022, according to Público, which claims to have obtained the data from the Bank of Portugal’s FDI records.

Público, however, did not expand on the details of these figures, which could represent investments made prior to Portugal’s Golden Visa ban on Russians in 2022, as the country continues to process a backlog of over 55,000 files, extending processing times to over 36 months on average.

Prior to 2022, Russian applicants represented 4.2% of all investments under the program.

During that decade, 431 main Russian applicants obtained Portuguese Golden Visas, investing in excess of a quarter-billion euros. The €450.6 million invested since 2022 nearly doubles that accumulated decade-long investment.

The Agency for Integration, Migration, and Asylum (AIMA) began approving Russian applications again in August 2024, following an unofficial suspension that had been in place since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022.

Sara Sousa Rebolo, Partner at Prime Legal, clarifies that “the program has no restrictions in terms of applicants’ nationalities, meaning that Russians are allowed to apply.”

According to Rebolo, introducing an express rule against a specific country would be “totally against Portugal’s historical position regarding the reception of foreigners.”

She hopes that Portugal will resist “extremism and xenophobia,” which she believes would undermine the country’s fundamental values.

She argues that “each applicant is an applicant, and we cannot stereotype, namely, based on place of birth.”

Rebolo notes that while Russians can apply, practical obstacles remain for Russian applicants, including “restrictions in terms of capital movement” under European sanctions regulations.

She says most of the banks in Portugal are not opening bank accounts to Russian citizens unless they already have a European residency permit or an official renunciation of Russian citizenship.

However, she says there “are alternatives to skip the bank account opening that players from the offer side are developing under the legal framework.”

This policy reversal occurred after Portuguese courts ruled against the government in over 170 lawsuits filed by Russian and Belarusian applicants who challenged the suspension’s legality.

Portuguese judges consistently overturned the suspension, finding it violated fundamental constitutional rights.

Rebolo cautions against misinterpreting the reported increase in Russian applications.

She says these applications come from investments made “about three to four years ago,” and AIMA is now getting around to approving them.

She points out that “consequently, there is no increase in new Russian investments,” but rather the “completion of investments made before the start of the war in Ukraine.”

While Portuguese officials publicly announced the initial suspension in 2022, they made no formal announcement about reversing their position on Russian applicants.

Regarding potential European pressure on Portugal, Rebolo dismisses concerns. She does “not believe that the [EU] pressure can increase nor that there is any justification for it.”

She says an increase of 50% in the applications “is relative and must be seen in context. If there were five candidates of Russian origin in 2024, for example, and ten in 2025, this increase does not seem relevant given the volume of applications – hundreds – that the immigration services receive daily.”

Rebolo points out that Portuguese legislation already includes safeguards, noting that since a 2023 amendment, authorities can refuse or revoke permits for “third-country nationals who are subject to restrictive measures by the European Union.”

Regarding the program’s security measures, Rebolo affirms her belief in the Golden Visa’s robust vetting process. She considers it the most secure of Portugal’s immigration programs due to the “different stages and layers of scrutiny” applicants undergo throughout the investment and application process.