Portugal Golden Visa Applicants Stuck in Limbo Use Legal Options

  • Some investors are suing Portugal over excessive wait times
  • Foreign population in Portugal more than doubled since 2018
The Alfama district of Lisbon, PortugalPhotographer: Goncalo Fonseca/Bloomberg
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Tired of the cold winters in Canada, Renhai Wang packed his bags in 2021 and headed to Portugal to start a new life in Europe.

But three years after sinking €350,000 ($380,000) into an apartment in Lisbon, the Chinese national is still waiting on Portugal’s immigration agency to decide about his status. The 50-year-old is among the thousands of people who applied for the country’s golden visa program, which promises investors a path to citizenship.