LONDON: The kitchen and living area of the one-bedroom Knightsbridge apartment in London. The home is located directly opposite of iconic department store Harrods and within walking distance of the amenities of Sloane Street and Brompton Road

LISBON, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Chinese are leading the way among non-European new residents in Portugal, whose investments have helped fuel a property boom under an advantageous "golden visa" scheme that is also creating political tension at home.

'Let's face it, if the rate moves against you 10 cents between now and June of next year — when you go to actually facilitate that transaction — it might actually place you in a situation where you can no longer afford to make that investment, or you're not as comfortable as you were previously,' Cutchin said.

The strength of the dollar along with the current housing crisis in some US cities where $750,000 will buy small homes with major issues is driving Americans to consider their real-estate odds abroad. 

The Portuguese branch of anti-corruption group Transparency International (TI) has said the programme could be used for money laundering, while the European Commission has said it considers such schemes a potential security risk.

To apply, non-EU nationals must make a significant investment in Portugal, such as buying real estate. They are then given residency rights and are allowed visa-free travel throughout Europe's Schengen area.

LISBON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Investments through Portugal's "golden visa", which gives wealthy foreigners residence rights, jumped nearly 50% last month, data showed on Sunday, as the government considers whether to scrap the controversial scheme.

Interior ministry figures issued on Wednesday showed that the 6,498 non-Europeans granted residency since Portugal launched the scheme in 2012 had generated 3.97 billion euros ($4. When you liked this post along with you want to get more details relating to portugal golden Visa kindly go to the page. 7 billion) in investments, mainly in property.

"We are not allowing entrance to criminals or money for which we do not know the source," Silva said. "Exceptions can happen but it will be one in 10,000 or two in 10,000 and of course those are the ones that go public."

Situations between the US and Europe could not be more different, it would appear, as Laurent said she shaved off an extra $100,000 from the time when she first viewed the apartment in early 2022 to when she closed the deal. 

'We all have a bit of FOMO [fear of missing out], right? "Everyone in my country club is doing it — so I want to have that same status as Suzy, and so therefore, I too need to buy a property in Paris, and we can vacation together with our families,"' Cutchin said. 

Vasco Silva, the CEO of Kleya, which helps foreigners move to Portugal, said his company had received many queries about what was going on, adding that some investors had rushed their decision just incase the programme was altered or binned.

'I had been looking for a place for a long time,' Laurent told The Wall Street Journal, explaining that she often visits the French capital for work and vacations there with her husband and three young children.

Kelly Cutchin, of global payments services provider Moneycorp Americas, told MoneyWise that such is the scale of the real estate acquisition that many wealthy US citizens are copying moves by their friends and business associates.

Britain scrapped golden visas in February following the Russian invasion of Ukraine amid concerns about the inflow of illicit Russian money. Portugal suspended golden visas for Russians, but 431 had already benefited from the scheme since the time of its launch, according to SEF. ($1 = 0.9497 euros) (Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Crispian Balmer)