Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have just bought a mansion in Melides, Portugal, as reported by the Daily Mail. The couple decided to leave Europe a few years ago to start their life in the United States, but the news reveal an interest in keeping their ties to Europe. Further details of their new home have remained unspecified. It is only known that it is located in the Costa Terra Golf and Ocean Club, an exclusive complex of 300 properties about 81 miles from Lisbon.
Despite their most recent purchase, Harry and Meghan will probably not leave the United States, let alone get rid of the 18,000-square-foot mansion they own in California and bought in 2020. Their American home has 9 bedrooms and 16 bathrooms, so they have more than enough space for the two of them and their two children, Archie and Lilibet. The residence is completed by a foyer, kitchen, dining room, living room, master bedroom, office, laundry room, garage, among other rooms.
According to US news outlets, the property has extensive green areas, swimming pool with its respective spa, rose garden, tea house, guest house, tennis court, children’s play area, among other amenities.
It is not clear if, after the acquisition of the property, the couple will also look into the possibility of obtaining a Golden Visa, which is a program that allows people to earn certain legal rights in a country through investing in their economy. Some of the benefits include residency, education, healthcare, and tax benefits. The visa will also allow them to travel freely through the countries of the Schengen area.
“In its most basic form, golden visa acquisition, or residency by investment and citizenship by investment, denotes the process by which qualified and vetted candidates are granted full residency or citizenship rights in exchange for a defined economic contribution to the host country,” the law firm Henley & Partners explains on its website. “Golden visa programs provide high net worth individuals (HNWI) with the option to physically relocate to a favorable jurisdiction, either now or upon retirement, and become residents of that state with full legal rights, including the right to live, work, study, and receive medical care in that country.”
New Golden Visa rules in Portugal
In February 2023, after intense pressure from the EU, the Portuguese government put forward a proposal called “More Housing”, by which authorities effectively halted the path to the Golden Visa through real estate investment. Instead, they kept an investment funds option, which is now expected to see a boost as the next choice for wealthy foreigners to acquire residency in Portugal.
With the real estate option gone, investment funds are the next easiest route and are expected to see a boom in the near future, according to Reuters. “Real estate has always taken the focus away from the other options”, said lawyer Vanessa Lima, from Prime Legal, which helps foreigners apply for the visa. “The main type of investment will (from now on) be in funds – there is no doubt.”
“The new regulations are wind in our sails”, added Alex Lawry-White, from Pela Terra, a sustainable agriculture investment fund. “The golden visa programme should have the community (…) at the centre of its focus”, Lawry-White added, highlighting that attracting foreign investment should not come at the cost of local communities, as it happened while real estate was still included in the scheme.
While there are no official numbers yet, three lawyers specializing in golden visas told Reuters that, with real estate out of the scheme, they expect investment funds to soon account for 80-90% of all the golden visa applications. On the other hand, they also expect interest in golden visas to decrease, not only as a result of the lack of a holiday home attached to the residency permit, but also due to uncertainty over the future of the scheme.
