Over the past few years, more and more South Africans are looking at ways to invest in alternate citizenship.

It’s a fantastic option for those who are looking to have a ‘Plan B’, and countries like the US, Grenada, Cyprus, and Malta are often the first port of call.

You may also have heard that Portugal is an option, so let’s take a closer look at that.

Whilst the Golden Visa programme has been enormously popular, with thousands of investors from around the world qualifying for residency through their investment in property in the country, very few investors have taken up the option of investing in a business.

In order to attract entrepreneurs and experienced professionals, the Portuguese authorities have gone back to the drawing board and have launched a new start-up business sub-category, called the Angel Visa.

The Angel Visa follows the same residency and citizenship process as the Golden Visa, but instead of investing in property, you invest in the development of a start-up business. As an investor, you would qualify for temporary residency within a couple of months.

Your residency permit would then be renewable at the end of your first and third year, and in year five, you can apply for permanent residency or citizenship.

As with the Golden Visa, you will need to pass a language test to qualify for permanent residency or citizenship.

All these start-up businesses go through a formal three-year incubation programme at one of the government research and development facilities, managed by a very experienced start-up management team. You can decide if you would like to be a “business angel” and have no operational involvement in the development of the business, or to be an active participant.

The cost of the three-year incubation programme is €175 000, which is around R2,8 million at the time of writing. At the end of the programme, you can choose to continue to operate the business within the incubator structures, at a minimal cost, or to operate it independently.

If you want to find out more about the Angel Visa, have a chat with Immigration South Africa, who have offices based in Cape Town.

You can speak to one of their immigration professionals on 021 001 2109, or email them at info@immigrationsouthafrica.com.