10 On The Weekend is a weekly (-ish) feature in IMI, the concept of which is simple: Each time, we ask the same ten questions of a different IMI Pro, letting readers get to know the interviewee on a more personal and informal level than they might during the ordinary course of business.
Our guest this week is Susana Yang, Founder and CEO at The Golden Portugal
How do you spend your weekends?
Mostly with my daughter. We love exploring Portugal’s markets and local festivals together, and we’re about to start horse riding lessons near Alcochete as complete beginners, which is humbling for both of us.
What are your top three business goals this year?
First, keep our service standard high as we grow, with every family having a dedicated lawyer and account manager.
Second, expand our relocation services so families get support well beyond the visa itself.
Third, launch a corporate service to help businesses bring international talent to Portugal, while building on our outreach in Asia and North America.
What’s your biggest business concern right now?
Certainty.
Families worry less about the investment amount than about processing times and whether the rules will stay stable. Every change to the Golden Visa or the nationality law makes it harder for them to plan, so clear and timely communication matters more than ever.
Which book is on your nightstand right now?
Two at the moment: The Art of Spending Money by Morgan Housel and Protocols: An Operating Manual for the Human Body by Andrew Huberman. I read far more self-development than fiction.
Next on my list is Kobe Bryant’s The Mamba Mentality. I’m drawn to people who turn discipline into a way of life.
How and when did you first get into the investment migration industry?
I first came to this industry as a client. After a career in international finance, including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Standard Chartered Bank, and Hong Kong’s financial sector, I moved to Portugal in 2018.
The lawyer I hired for my own residency application gave me incomplete and inaccurate information, then stopped responding. I founded The Golden Portugal (TGP) in 2020 to close that gap, with one promise from day one: To answer every inquiry within 48 working hours.
What was your proudest moment as a service provider?
Seeing how far that first promise has taken us. TGP has now supported 800+ families from 40+ nationalities across all our services, from first application through renewals, permanent residence, and citizenship.
Which investment migration market development has surprised you the most in the last year?
How resilient the Portuguese Golden Visa has been. When the real estate route closed in 2023, many expected the program to fade.
Instead, AIMA’s 2025 report shows 2,685 Golden Visa permits granted to main applicants. That’s up 29% from the previous year and the highest number since 2012.
The investors who stayed are clearer about what they want: Residency, mobility, and a path to European citizenship.
If you could go ten years back in time, what business decision would you change?
I would have started TGP sooner. Many of our clients came to us after a bad experience early in their journey: Incomplete information, missed deadlines, advisers who stopped responding.
It was exactly what happened to me in 2018. If we had been in business earlier, we could have spared them that.
What investment migration industry personality do you most admire?
Honestly, it is not any single industry figure.
The people I admire most are our clients: Families who leave behind everything familiar, learn a new language and system, and build a new life with courage and patience. They remind me every day why this work matters.
If all goes according to plan, what will you be doing five years from now?
Still in Portugal, which is home for my daughter and me, and still helping international families build a long-term future in Europe. I’d also like to have built a community in Portugal for immigrants and investors, to make it easier for them to settle in and feel at home.
By then, many of our early clients will be reaching naturalization, and I’d love to be there for that milestone with them.
