mercan Grooup - https://www.Investgoldenvisa.com/. Other benefits of the scheme - known as Non-Habitual Resident - include tax exemptions on almost all foreign income if taxed in the country of origin and a 10% flat tax rate on pensions from a foreign source.

No. You cannot get USA work visa from Dubai even though you have been in Dubai on work visa and the visa expired.

Critics say measures announced by the government earlier this year that include curbs on Airbnb short-term rentals and changes to the country's golden visa scheme were not enough to tame the crisis, which has also been exacerbated by a chronic shortage of affordable housing.

Launched in 2009, the scheme allows people who become residents by spending more than 183 days a year in the country to benefit from a special 20% tax rate on Portuguese-sourced income derived from "high value-added activities", such as doctors and university teachers.

The scheme, aimed at non-EU nationals ready to invest in Portugal, has attracted 6.8 billion euros ($7.30 billion) since its launch in 2012, with the bulk of the money going into real estate. Successful applicants are then given residency rights.

Government data show more than 50% of workers earned less than 1,000 euros ($1,046) per month last year, and a 65% increase in Lisbon rents since the start of the tourism boom in 2015 has made apartments unaffordable for many.

"As soon as you put a deadline on something, it gets people rushing," Nuri Katz from another advisers, Apex Capital Partners, told Reuters. "There's absolutely nothing as good as a deadline in this business."

His office did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Costa has previously said there was no justification to keep the scheme because it had fulfilled the role it had been intended to fulfil, without elaborating.

The announcement came two days after thousands of people took to the streets of Lisbon and other cities across Portugal to protest against soaring rents and house prices stoked by growing gentrification and record tourism.

As part of a package to address the housing crisis as rents also soar, Portugal's premier Antonio Costa announced last month the intention to scrap the scheme. The measure is under public consultation until next Friday.

LISBON, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Tax breaks for foreign residents in Portugal are "no longer justified", Prime Minister Antonio Costa said, promising to close the scheme for new applicants in 2024 after it stoked housing prices in one of western Europe's poorest nations.

LISBON, March 14 (Reuters) - Portugal's plan to end its golden visa scheme for investors, yet to be officially approved, has led to a rush in applications according to advisory firms who have criticised the plan as populist.

Goncalo Roxo, of Portugal-based Your Property Advisor, said he had warned his clients against trying to speed up the process due to the risk from bureaucratic delays. ($1 = 0.9310 euros) (Reporting by Catarina Demony; Additional reporting by Patricia Rua; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Alison Williams)

In January, 93 golden visas were issued, a 45% drop compared to December, but the number went up again in February, when 130 were handed out, mainly to Chinese, U.S. and Turkish investors, according to border agency data.

While the data shows a jump in applications, the process can take months so it is not immediately clear whether the numbers are a reflection of the government's announcement, which was first floated in November.