This Friday, the parliament rejected the proposals of the PCP, BE and PAN to end visas Prayedas well as that of Chega for the extension of the regime, with the PS defending that it is time to evaluate the last change.
“The path and the moment is the evaluation” of a “successful legal modification that safeguarded the dimensions in presence that are important in this regime,” Socialist deputy Pedro Anastácio said this Friday during the plenary debate.
The PS parliamentarian, the party that voted against all these proposals, argued that “the last legal change made in the adequately responded to the size of the dwelling, allowing to safeguard and maintain the size of the scheme“.
For Pedro Anastácio, the changes materialize “something that is also important and fundamental for the country, which is the promotion of productive investment, job creation, investment in urban requalification, cultural heritage and activities of high environmental value. or social”, adding that “it is necessary to evaluate the effects after the introduction of this change” to assess whether the desired balance has been achieved.
The deputies only approved a recommendation from the PSD to the Government for an urgent regulation that would allow the online platform to be put into operation and the presentation of applications. online of visas Prayed for real estate purposes in the Autonomous Regions of Madeira, Azores and interior.
The PSD recommendation was approved this Friday with the favorable votes of the PSD, Basta and Liberal Initiative, the abstention of the PS and the PAN and the votes against the PCP, Left and Free Bloc.
However, while the debate and vote were taking place, the Portuguese Association of Real Estate Developers and Investors (APPII) announced that the platform was operational.
Jornal de Notícias reported last Tuesday that the lack of regulation of the law that modifies criteria for the attribution of Residence Permits for Investment, which came into force in January, was preventing the presentation of new applications to the visa regime. Prayed.
The next day, the Secretary of State for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, André Moz Caldas, stated that the law in question did not need to be regulated and could be “directly applied”.
“From my point of view, the law modified in the past is of direct application and does not require any special regulation,” said the Secretary of State at the press conference after the meeting of the Council of Ministers, adding that “there are all the conditions to implement it”. legislative reform”.
This morning, APPII announced that visa applications Prayed they resumed and several new applications for Residence Permits for Investment (ARI) have already been submitted.
In a statement, APPII adds that, “after a round with its partners, it confirmed that the platform for inserting new ARIs of the Immigration and Border Service (SEF) is finally operational.”
During the plenary debate, the PSD deputy, Sara Madruga da Costa, defended the “urgency to proceed with the rapid implementation of the SEF portal” in the framework of the latest changes, adding that “this is an excellent opportunity to put in practice the so often proclaimed territorial cohesion”.
With the law that took effect in January, the acquisition of real estate became eligible for the purpose of obtaining a visa. Prayed only in cases where the properties are located in inland territories or in the Autonomous Regions of the Azores and Madeira.
The rest of the projects presented by the left-wing parties of the PS and by Chega were rejected.
The proposal of the Left Bloc, which provided for the end of visas Prayedit was rejected with votes against PS, PSD, Chega and the Liberal Initiative and in favor of PCP, BE, PAN and Livre.
The PCP proposals, which sought to repeal the system for granting residence permits for investment activities, had the same vote as the PAN proposals, which also provided for the repeal of the system.
A PAN bill to force the government to prepare and deliver to parliament a report evaluating the impact of the ‘golden visas’ program in the period 2012 and 2021 was also unfeasible, with votes against the PS, abstention from the PSD and the votes in favor of Chega, Liberal Initiative, PCP, BE, PAN and Livre.
Enough’s proposal to extend the regime was also rejected, introducing the possibility of a concession for the transfer of capital for an amount equal to or greater than 250 thousand euros, which would be “applied to investment in companies in the agricultural, research and and development, tourism sectors, or environment”, with votes against PS, PCP, BE, PAN and Livre, abstention from PSD and the Liberal Initiative and votes in favor of Chega.
Before the votes, in the plenary debate on the subject, Pedro Filipe Soares, parliamentary leader of the Left Bloc, defended the end of the “immoral” regime, for the “defense of the dignity of our country”, arguing that “the values they are of little value for these games when money is at stake.”
The PCP deputy, Alma Rivera, also said that residence permits in Portugal “should not be commercialized”, and called for the end of the regime “from now on”.
For his part, the leader of Chega, André Ventura, pointed out that the visa regime Prayed it is used in 19 of the 27 countries of the European Union, considering that “there are possibilities to improve this regime” and make it “more effective”, calling for an expansion of investment areas such as agriculture and innovation.
The PAN deputy, Liberal Initiative, did not participate in the debate, despite the initiative presented, because at that time she was in audience with the Prime Minister, António Costa.
Source: Observadora
