A total of around 50 people gathered in front of the building with many holding up protest banners.
“Are the Gold Visas a cruel joke?” read one banner held up by a woman who was named as ‘Lily’. She told Lusa News Agency that she had been awaiting her visa under the Investment Activity Residence permit scheme, generally known as gold visas, since 2014.
“We chose Portugal because we thought this was easy. The Portuguese government announced that the authorities would provide the gold visa in a period of 90 days and that it would be a rapid process,” Lily said adding that they had no idea as to the reasons behind either the delay or the silence.
Lily added that many had family members wanting to join them here with some now even paying for schools for their children in Portugal whilst still awaiting the document necessary for getting the child out of China.
Another protest member said there were “over a thousand families” in such a situation “across various provinces” of China, with around 200 Chinese citizens in Portugal awaiting gold visa processes after having submitted the required documents.
The Investment Activity Residence permit was an initiative from the previous government enabling investors to access a fast track system whenever meeting certain criteria as regards real estate acquisitions, capital transfers or job creation.
Contacted by Lusa, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said that the delays resulted not only from the implementation of recommendations arising out of an earlier instance of corruption but also due to the suspension brought about by the recent changeover in governments whilst adding that the Ministry was “scrupulously meeting all the legal requirements in effect.”