The honest verdict
Is Portugal’s Golden Visa still worth it?
The short answer
For the right person, yes, but it’s no longer the product it was sold as. Think of it as an EU residence card and a Plan B you can keep alive with about a week a year in Portugal, with a possible passport at the end of a 13–15-year road. If that’s what you want, nothing else in Europe does it. If you’re buying a “five-year passport,” that deal is gone. And if you’re actually going to live here, a D7, D8 or D2 gets you to the same citizenship clock for a fraction of the cost.
A few years ago this was an easy sell. Buy an apartment, visit for a week a year, apply for a Portuguese passport after five years. Most of that has gone. The property route closed in 2023. NHR closed. Since May 19, 2026, citizenship takes 10 years of legal residence for most nationalities, counted, on most lawyers’ reading, from the day your first residence card is issued. And with AIMA, Portugal’s immigration agency, taking well over a year to issue that card, the clock starts late.
What hasn’t changed is the thing that made the Golden Visa special in the first place: you can hold Portuguese residence, and build toward permanent residency and citizenship, while spending as little as 7 days a year here. And people are still buying it. In 2025, Americans received more Golden Visa permits than any other nationality.
Most Golden Visa guides are written by law firms, fund managers, or relocation companies, so they lead with requirements and leave the doubts for the small print. This page works the other way around. First, my honest opinion: the pros, the cons, who it’s worth it for, and how investors are actually reacting. Then the practical detail: the routes, the real costs, the requirements, and every step from application to passport.
✍️
A note on this guide
This is my opinion, not legal or financial advice. I’m not a lawyer or a fund manager. I’ve run Portugalist since 2016 and spoken with thousands of people weighing exactly this decision, and this page is built on those conversations plus Portuguese and English reporting up to November 2026. I write about Portugal, so I’m probably a little biased toward it. I’ve tried hard to correct for that.
📅
What changed in 2026
Citizenship: since May 19, 2026, 10 years of legal residence (7 for citizens of Portuguese-speaking CPLP countries and the EU), most likely counted from your first card, plus a test of Portuguese culture, history, and civic life. Applications filed by May 18, 2026 keep the old five-year rules.
Fees: AIMA’s new fee table took effect on March 1, 2026.
Renewals: since February 16, 2026, renewals go through AIMA’s online portal, which only works from inside Portugal. And since September 11, 2026, a renewal AIMA hasn’t decided in time no longer counts as automatically approved.
Backlog: in October 2026, the government told Parliament AIMA had processed about 6,000 of roughly 46,000 pending Golden Visa applications.
On this page
- The pros and cons at a glance
- Who it’s worth it for (and who it isn’t)
- The pros in depth
- The cons in depth
- How investors are actually reacting
- The bottom line, and what I’d do
- The five ways to qualify
- The cultural donation route
- What it really costs
- Golden Visa vs the D7, D8 and D2
- Portugal vs Greece
- The process, step by step
- Requirements
- Bringing your family
- The 7-day stay requirement
- Year by year to a passport
- FAQ
📘 Free ebook: Is Portugal’s Golden Visa still worth it?
Ten years to citizenship, processing delays, no more property route. The free ebook works through whether it still makes sense, and for whom.
The basics
The Golden Visa in 60 seconds
Officially the Autorização de Residência para Atividade de Investimento (ARI), it’s a renewable Portuguese residence permit for non-EU citizens who make a qualifying investment or donation. It has run since 2012. It’s a residency program, not a passport-for-cash scheme: citizenship is a separate application, years later, with its own requirements.
Cheapest route
€250,000
cultural donation; €500,000 for a fund
Time in Portugal
7 days
a year, on average
To your first card
14–24 months
typical estimates, late 2026
Government fees
~€14,500
per person, first 5 years
Permanent residency
Year 5
with A2 Portuguese
Realistic passport
13–15 years
from application
At a glance
8 pros, 8 cons
The short version. Each one is explained properly further down.
✓ Pros
✈️
About 7 days a year is enough
Keep living where you are. Fly in for a week a year, or two weeks every two years.
🛡️
A real Plan B, ready now
EU residency you can use the day you need it, instead of starting a visa application in a crisis.
👨👩👧
Each family member sets their own pace
One parent here, one working abroad, kids at college elsewhere: everyone’s years still count.
🇪🇺
The only no-move route to an EU passport
Elsewhere in the EU, citizenship means actually living there. Here, the light-stay years count.
💼
Residency without Portuguese tax residency
Stay well under 183 days, don’t keep a habitual home here, and your tax life stays where it is.
🎓
A head start for your children
Children on your application build their own residence time toward permanent residency and citizenship.
💶
You can, in principle, exit at year 5
Permanent ARI residence doesn’t require you to keep the investment, so the capital can come back.
✅
Residency, not a passport sale
Far less exposed than the “golden passport” schemes the EU has been shutting down.
✗ Cons
🛂
A passport takes 13–15 years, not 5
The wait for your first card, then 10 years of residence, then years of citizenship processing.
💸
Expensive, and the investment can lose money
€500,000 at risk, plus €54,000–€87,000 you won’t get back, for a single applicant.
⚠️
Portugal changed the rules on people already in
The switch from 5 to 10 years came with no protection for investors who hadn’t yet applied for citizenship.
❓
Citizenship is a path, not a promise
The government says the Golden Visa was never meant to grant nationality, and the “ties” test is vague.
⏳
AIMA backlogs, and no safety net on renewals
Tens of thousands of files still waiting, and late renewals no longer count as approved.
💱
Currency risk
The investment, the fees, and any returns are all in euros.
🏖️
No lifestyle benefit unless you visit
The beaches, food, and weather don’t do much for you if you’re here a week a year.
🧳
Poor value if you’d move anyway
A D7 reaches the same 10-year citizenship for a few thousand euros in fees.
The verdict by situation
Is the Golden Visa worth it for you?
The answer changes a lot depending on what you actually want from it. Find yourself below.
✓ Yes, strongly
You want a Plan B
This is the strongest case for it, and the one I hear most from American readers. If things go badly at home, you can get on a plane and live in Portugal full-time, because you already have residency. No months of gathering apostilled documents while the situation gets worse, and no new visa backlog that everyone else is joining at the same moment. Just a flight.
Unlike the D7 or D8, you keep the permit alive from abroad and only use it when you need to. And if you do move, you don’t have to stay 365 days a year: you can mix time here with the usual 90 days in any 180 elsewhere in Schengen.
✓ Yes, with caveats
You want an EU passport without moving, and can wait
Portugal’s advantage is no longer speed. It’s structure: roughly a week a year for ten years, then apply. Other EU countries can get you to citizenship in five to seven years, but they expect you to actually live there and become a tax resident. If you earn well in a lower-tax country, that move is itself a huge cost.
The caveats: it’s a 13–15-year road, citizenship is never guaranteed, and the “ties” requirement is hard to evidence from abroad. More on both in the cons.
✓ Yes
You might retire in Portugal in 10+ years
You’re in your 40s or 50s and Portugal is a real possibility for retirement. Apply now, keep your life where it is, and by the time you’re ready to move you could already hold permanent residency and be most of the way to citizenship.
✓ Yes, if you start early
You’re doing it for your children
Children on your application build their own legal residence. Start when a child is young and the path is clean. Start when they’re 13 or 14 and it gets more complicated, because the 10-year rule now runs well past their 18th birthday. Details below.
✓ Yes, easily
You’re from a Portuguese-speaking country
Citizens of CPLP countries (Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde and the rest) qualify for citizenship after 7 years of legal residence instead of 10, and as native speakers the language requirement is a formality. You still don’t have to relocate.
~ It depends
You only want EU residency, never the passport
Portugal still works, and permanent residency at year 5 gives you most of what people want. But if you’re sure you’ll never apply for citizenship, look hard at Greece: no minimum stay at all, a property you can use, much lower government fees, and a government that hasn’t changed the core deal on existing investors. Portugal vs Greece.
✗ Usually not
You’re moving to Portugal now
If you’ll live here full-time, the Golden Visa is rarely the sensible route. The D7, D8, and D2 involve far lower fees, no €500,000 investment, and lead to exactly the same 10-year citizenship. Plenty of would-be Golden Visa applicants could qualify for a D7 by restructuring their income into dividends, rent, or a pension.
✗ No
You want the fastest EU passport
Portugal isn’t fast anymore. If you’re willing to move, Ireland and Germany naturalize after about five years of residence, and Greece after seven.
✗ No
You need the money back, or a guaranteed return
The fund is capital at risk, tied up for at least five years from when your permit is granted. With AIMA’s waits, that can mean six or seven years after the money leaves your account. If you can’t comfortably lock away €500,000, don’t stretch for it.
Free consultation
Not sure which camp you’re in?
Tell us a little about your situation and we’ll set up a free 20-minute call to talk through whether the Golden Visa, or a cheaper visa, makes more sense for you.
The 8 pros, in depth
Why the Golden Visa still works for the right person
What each advantage means in practice, and who it actually matters for.
1 · About 7 days a year is all it asks
To keep the permit, you need at least 7 days in Portugal in your first year, then 14 days in each two-year period after that. Live in the US, the UK, Canada, or anywhere else as normal, and fly in once a year, or do a two-week trip every other year. Every other Portuguese residence route expects you to actually live here.
| Visa | Time in Portugal | Portuguese tax resident? |
|---|---|---|
| Golden Visa | ~7 days a year on average | Usually not |
| D7 | Most of the year | Almost certainly |
| D8 | Most of the year | Almost certainly |
There’s a less obvious upside too. Most of Portugal’s notorious bureaucracy comes from living here: swapping a driver’s license, chasing the tax office, waiting for a renewal slot while your card expires and you can’t leave the country for a wedding. Golden Visa holders still deal with AIMA, but on their own schedule, and much of it can be handled by a lawyer with a power of attorney.
2 · A Plan B you can use the day you need it
If you’re looking at the politics around you and wondering what you’d do if everything went wrong, this is the answer. With a Golden Visa, you’re already legal in Portugal. You can get on a flight at short notice and stay as long as you like.
⚡
A Plan B that doesn’t need a plan
If you waited until things looked bad to apply for a D7 or D8, you’d be gathering apostilled documents, opening a Portuguese bank account, signing a lease, and waiting on a consulate while the situation at home got worse. And if lots of people had the same idea at the same time, the backlog would be far longer than it is now.
People tend to use it in one of three ways:
- Keep life abroad: spend the minimum in Portugal, reach permanent residency, then decide.
- Slow transition: spend more time here each year as the kids grow up or work becomes more flexible.
- Test, then move: treat it as an option to move, and use it years later when the time is right.
3 · It works for families who don’t all live in one place
On a D7 or D8, family members are expected to move here and live together. If one parent can’t leave a job, or a child wants to finish college elsewhere, they can only visit as tourists, and that time doesn’t count toward anything.
With the Golden Visa, each family member has their own permit and their own 7-day average to meet. One parent can move here full-time while the other keeps their job back home and the kids study in a third country, and everyone’s clock keeps running. Family members are a big part of the program: in 2025, AIMA issued more permits to family members (3,967) than to investors (2,685).
4 · It’s the only route to an EU passport that doesn’t require moving
Other investor programs give you residency without living there, but if you want citizenship, you have to actually move. Portugal is the exception: the light-stay years count as legal residence.
| Program | Stay to keep residency | What citizenship takes |
|---|---|---|
| Portugal Golden Visa | ~7 days a year | 10 years of legal residence; the light-stay years count |
| Greece Golden Visa | None | 7 years of genuine residence (around 183+ days a year) and a B1 Greek, history and civics exam |
| Malta | Light | Its citizenship-by-investment scheme was ruled incompatible with EU law by the EU’s top court in 2025 |
| Spain | n/a | Golden Visa closed in April 2025 |
At the end, a Portuguese passport is one of the strongest in the world for visa-free travel, and it comes with the right to live, work, and study anywhere in the EU, the EEA, and Switzerland. Portugal also allows dual citizenship.
5 · You can hold residency without becoming a Portuguese tax resident
You become a Portuguese tax resident if you spend more than 183 days here in any 12-month period, or if you have a home here that you appear to be keeping as your habitual residence. Most Golden Visa holders spend a week or two a year here and stay non-resident comfortably.
Golden Visa
~7 days a year
D7 / D8
Most of the year
Tax residency
Usually not, as long as you don’t keep a habitual home here
Almost certain
Worldwide income
Stays outside the Portuguese tax net
Reportable in Portugal
The one to watch is buying or renting a home here that you use regularly. That alone can make you a tax resident. Speak to a tax advisor who understands both Portugal and your home country.
6 · It gives your children a head start, if you start early
Start when a child is five and the path is clean: permanent residency at around ten, citizenship eligibility in their mid-teens, even if the family has lived abroad the whole time.
Start when they’re 13 or 14 and it’s more delicate. They’d reach permanent residency around 18, but the 10-year rule means they’re still years from citizenship as young adults. Some advisors suggest moving the whole family to permanent residency at year 5, so each child holds an independent permit before they age out as a dependent. If your plan hinges on a teenager’s timeline, get specialist legal advice first.
Siblings can end up on very different clocks, too. One complaint raised in the 2026 investor litigation is that brothers and sisters added at different times now face citizenship dates years apart.
7 · You can, in principle, get your capital back
You must keep the investment for five years from when your permit is granted. After that, if you move to permanent ARI residence (which needs A2 Portuguese and a fee of about €9,500 per person), lawyers say you no longer have to keep the investment, and you can continue toward citizenship. That’s a real structural advantage over Greece, where the permit stays tied to the property.
Two caveats. First, get written confirmation from your lawyer before you sell. Second, funds have their own terms: many won’t let you out at year five even if the law would, and some closed-end funds won’t even run long enough to cover a 10-year citizenship plan. Check the maturity date against your timeline before you invest.
8 · It’s residency, not a “golden passport”
Politically, Portugal’s Golden Visa sits in a much safer place than the quick-passport schemes. The EU has been cracking down on citizenship-by-investment, its top court ruled Malta’s “golden passport” incompatible with EU law in 2025, and several Caribbean passport programs are under EU pressure over visa-free access.
Portugal sells residence, and citizenship comes through ordinary naturalization years later. That doesn’t make it risk-free, as the cons below show, but it puts it in the “respectable” category rather than the “might lose Schengen access next year” one.
The 8 cons, in depth
Where the Golden Visa falls short
The parts the brochures skip. None is necessarily a deal-breaker, but you should go in knowing all of them.
1 · A passport now takes 13–15 years, not 5
Ten years is the headline, and it understates the reality. The 2026 nationality law repealed the 2024 rule that counted residence from the day you applied. On most lawyers’ reading, the clock now starts when your first card is issued, so the wait for that card doesn’t count. Then the citizenship application itself takes time: the registry office has a 90-day legal deadline, but lawyers say it can take two, three, or four years.
| Phase | Realistic duration |
|---|---|
| Application to first residence card | About 14–24 months |
| Legal residence needed for citizenship | 10 years (7 for CPLP citizens) |
| Citizenship application processing | 1–4 years |
| Realistic end to end | 13–15+ years |
There’s still some fog. The law doesn’t spell out how residence is counted for minimal-stay Golden Visa holders, and the government’s implementing regulation, approved by the Council of Ministers on October 29, 2026, hadn’t been published at the time of writing.
2 · It’s expensive, and the investment itself can lose money
The €500,000 fund investment is the price of entry, not the cost. For a family of four, the stack looks something like this:
- €500,000 in a fund: recoverable in theory, at risk in practice
- About €58,000 in government fees over the first five years, and around €96,000 by the time everyone holds permanent residency
- €10,500–€30,000+ in legal fees across the whole process
- 1–2% a year in fund management fees, often plus a setup fee and a performance fee of around 20% of gains
- €3,000–€12,000 in travel per phase, for biometrics and the stay requirement
There’s also no independent data on what Golden Visa funds have actually returned. Everything published is a target return, typically 7–15%, and as one fund analyst puts it, target returns are not returns. Over seven years, fees on a fund that hits an 8% target can approach €100,000. You’re paying for the residency, not buying an investment.
3 · Portugal changed the rules on people who had already paid
This is my biggest reservation, and it isn’t about features. It’s about whether Portugal keeps its word.
- October 2023: property and capital-transfer routes closed. People got notice, and existing holders kept their rights.
- October 2025: Parliament voted to double the citizenship requirement from five years to ten.
- December 15, 2025: the Constitutional Court (Acórdão 1133/2025) struck down four provisions, including retroactive treatment of pending applications. The longer residence periods weren’t part of that challenge.
- May 19, 2026: the revised law came into force. Only people who had already filed a citizenship application kept the five-year rules.
- May–July 2026: more than 500 holders, mostly American, announced a collective action, and a group of 1,260 complained to Portugal’s Ombudsman. As of early November, I haven’t been able to confirm that the lawsuits have actually been filed.
Countries are allowed to change their immigration rules. The reasonable expectation is warning and protection for people already in the system. Spain closed its Golden Visa entirely in 2025 and still protected applicants in the pipeline. Portugal didn’t. People who invested half a million euros expecting a five-year finish line now face ten, counted in a way that excludes the years they spent waiting on AIMA.
When you’re committing capital and a decade or more of your life, dependability is part of what you’re paying for. Portugal has spent some of that. Budget your decision for the possibility that the rules change again.
4 · Citizenship is a path, not a promise
Nobody has ever guaranteed that ten years on a Golden Visa ends in a passport. When investors threatened legal action in May 2026, the government told ECO that the Golden Visa “never had as its purpose the attribution of Portuguese nationality.” Take that at face value: it’s the position the state will argue in court.
Citizenship is a separate application: A2 Portuguese, the new test of Portuguese culture, history, and civic life, a declaration of commitment to democratic principles, and the vaguer requirement of an “effective connection” to Portugal. It isn’t hard to imagine a future government deciding that someone who spent a week a year here hasn’t built that connection.
“I think one of the requirements is that you have to prove an effective connection with the Portuguese community, and I believe that will be more complicated in the future. Since there are so many people applying, once they have Portuguese citizenship, they will have the civil and political rights of a European citizen, with the possibility to travel without a visa within 198 countries plus the right to work, live, or study in any European country. This is a big thing. I always mention that sooner or later, from a practical point of view, the Portuguese entities will be more demanding in terms of this requirement.”
Sandra Gomes Pinto, Portuguese immigration lawyer, speaking to Portugalist
The practical takeaway: if your goal is permanent residency at year 5, the ties question barely matters. If your goal is citizenship, start building the connection early. Portuguese classes, Portuguese cultural organizations in your home city, business or charitable links to Portugal, longer stays when life allows: all of these are far easier to build over ten years than to manufacture in the final one.
5 · AIMA backlogs, and no safety net on renewals
Portugal’s immigration agency left investor files until last for years. In October 2025, the government promised to clear the Golden Visa backlog in 2026. A year later it told Parliament it had processed about 6,000 of 46,000 pending files and booked about 30,000 appointments. Lawyers still describe clients waiting three or four years without a card.
Two newer changes matter if you already hold a card:
- Renewals only work from Portugal. Since February 16, 2026, renewals go through an online portal that only accepts access from inside the country. You file 90 to 30 days before your card expires. Plan a renewal into one of your visits.
- No more automatic approval. Since September 11, 2026, a renewal AIMA hasn’t decided within 60 days no longer counts as approved. Your receipt keeps you legal for six months after expiry, but it isn’t a travel document.
Even once your file moves, the main applicant may get a biometrics slot months before their spouse or children, and criminal record certificates can expire while you wait.
6 · You’re taking on currency risk
The investment, the government fees, the legal fees, and any eventual return are all in euros. If the euro strengthens 10% against the dollar between investing €500,000 and getting it back, your dollar return improves by around $50,000 or more. If it weakens 10%, you lose about the same. Build in a buffer, or ask a currency broker about locking in a rate.
7 · No lifestyle benefit unless you actually come
Golden Visa marketing leans heavily on the weather, the beaches, and the food. Those are benefits of being in Portugal, not of holding the permit.
| Time in Portugal | What it gets you |
|---|---|
| ~7 days a year | The minimum. Permit stays valid. Almost no lifestyle benefit. |
| 3–5 months a year | The sweet spot for many holders: real time here, still well under the 183-day tax threshold (if you don’t keep a habitual home here). |
| 183+ days a year | You’re a Portuguese tax resident. A D7 or D8 would probably have been far cheaper. |
8 · It’s the slow, expensive option if you’d move anyway
If you’re willing to relocate and become a tax resident somewhere, faster routes exist: Ireland and Germany naturalize after about five years of residence, and Greece after seven. And Portugal’s own D7 reaches the identical 10-year citizenship for a few thousand euros in fees, with no €500,000 investment. The Golden Visa earns its premium in one scenario: you want the residency, or the passport, and you won’t move to get it.
Beyond the brochures
How investors are actually reacting
The 10-year rule landed hard, and the reaction tells you a lot about who this program now suits. Here’s what the data and the people involved are saying.
Investor permits, 2025
2,685
up a third on 2024; US first (535)
Fund redemptions
€94.7M
Jan–May 2026, vs €45.3M in all of 2025
New fund money
€283M
Jan–May 2026, about 3 in for every 1 out
Permit data: AIMA Migration and Asylum Reports 2024 and 2025. Fund flows: APFIPP data as reported by Expresso, ECO and Jornal de Negócios, May–July 2026. Quotes translated from Portuguese reporting; sources at the end of this page.
The bottom line
So, is it still worth it?
It comes down to two questions: do you want a passport, and would you move to get it?
- You want EU residency, and maybe a passport, without uprooting your life. Portugal is the only EU program that delivers that, and I’d still choose it. But go in with your eyes open: you’re buying a great path from a counterparty that has shown it will change the deal.
- You want residency and are sure you’ll never want the passport. Portugal still works, but look hard at Greece too.
- You’d move anyway. Skip the Golden Visa. A D7, D8, or D2 gets you to the same place for a fraction of the cost.
- You want a guaranteed return, or can’t comfortably tie up €500,000 for five-plus years. This isn’t the product for you.
✅ What I’d do in your shoes
- Plan for 15 years to a passport, and treat anything sooner as a bonus.
- Check the fund’s maturity date against that plan, and ask how and when you can actually redeem.
- Get your source-of-funds paperwork in order first. It’s the most common reason files stall.
- Start Portuguese early. You’ll need A2 at year 5 anyway, and it’s the cheapest “tie” you can build.
- Keep a travel file from day one: boarding passes, hotel receipts, card statements.
- Time a visit for each renewal, since the portal only works from inside Portugal.
- Decide your year-5 move in advance: permanent residence or keep renewing.
There’s no black-and-white answer anymore. Talk to a Portuguese immigration lawyer and a tax advisor who understands both Portugal and your home country, and go in with realistic expectations about the cost and the timeline. Portugal will still be here when you’re ready.
The five routes
How can you qualify?
There are five qualifying routes, and none of the thresholds changed in 2026. Since the property route closed in 2023, funds have become the route most applicants use, with the cultural donation a distant second. The other three only make sense in specific situations.
📈
Investment funds: €500,000+
Venture capital or private equity funds set up under Portuguese law and regulated by the CMVM, with at least 60% invested in companies headquartered in Portugal, nothing in real estate, and at least five years left to run when you invest. There’s no official list: advisers count roughly 25–30 eligible funds. Americans can sometimes invest through an IRA, but get US tax advice first.
🎨
Cultural donation: €250,000 (€200,000 low-density)
The cheapest route. A donation to an approved cultural project, such as a museum restoration, a theater production, or heritage conservation. You don’t get the money back, but it’s the smallest outlay and the simplest paperwork.
🔬
Scientific research: €500,000 (€400,000 low-density)
Invest in approved public or private research institutions, often university partnerships in renewable energy, medicine, or technology. It appeals to the philanthropically minded, but finding pre-approved, structured projects is hard.
👥
Job creation: 10 jobs (8 low-density)
Create 10 new full-time jobs in Portugal. There’s no fixed capital threshold, but salaries, social security, accounting, and office costs add up quickly. Only realistic if you genuinely want to build a business here.
💼
Capital + jobs: €500,000 + 5 jobs
Invest €500,000 to set up a company headquartered in Portugal and create 5 permanent jobs, or put €500,000 into an existing company and create or keep 10 jobs, at least 5 permanent, for at least three years. If you’ll run the business here full-time, the D2 is much cheaper.
🔎
Choosing a fund: the questions I’d ask
When does the fund end, and does that cover a 10-year citizenship plan? When and how can I redeem? What are the setup, management, and performance fees, and what’s the hurdle rate? What has the manager actually returned on earlier funds, not just targeted? Be wary of “guaranteed buyback” or fixed-yield products: they swap investment risk for the risk that the counterparty can’t pay.
Routes that no longer exist
🏠
Real estate purchase
Closed in October 2023 under the Mais Habitação housing reforms. You can still buy property in Portugal; it just won’t get you a Golden Visa.
🏦
€1.5 million capital transfer
Also closed in October 2023. Moving money into a Portuguese bank account no longer qualifies.
A “Solidarity Golden Visa” (donations to immigrant-integration projects) was announced in 2024 but has not been implemented as of 2026.
The cheapest route
The cultural donation route: cheapest, but the money’s gone
Donate €250,000 to a government-approved cultural project, or €200,000 if the project is in a low-density area, and you get exactly the same residence rights as a fund investor. The route has existed since 2015, but almost nobody used it until the property route closed. Americans now lead it: industry counts put US donors well ahead of Chinese, Indian and British ones.
Why people choose it
- It’s simple. Donate, apply, renew. No asset to manage, no quarterly reports, no exit to plan.
- The rest of your money stays free. With a fund, €500,000 is tied up for five to eight years. With a donation, if you had €500,000 available, the other €250,000 stays liquid.
- The cost is known on day one. No fund performance, manager risk, or redemption worries.
- The money does something visible. Unlike the old property route, which was blamed for pushing up housing costs, donations go into museums, archives, film, music, and heritage, often in parts of the country that see little outside investment.
My take: fund or donation?
Purely financially, a fund usually beats the donation as long as it returns anything meaningful. At an 8% annual return, you could exit with your capital back and a profit, even after fees. At 2%, you’d come out roughly flat. Either beats a donation, where €250,000 is guaranteed gone.
But the 10-year rule changes the math slightly. The donation is the cheapest route in cash, and the most expensive in sunk cost: you’re paying €250,000 for a residence card and a long road, with nothing coming back. If your priority is a possible return, choose a fund. If it’s certainty, simplicity, and the lowest outlay, the donation does exactly what it promises.
€200,000 projects are rare
The lower threshold only applies in low-density areas, which rules out Lisbon, Porto, and most of the coast. Projects at that level tend to be small foundations, regional museums, and inland initiatives, and smaller projects fill fast: if one needs €1 million, that’s five donors, and then it’s gone.
The best-known success story is the Museu do Caramulo, in an inland mountain town. By 2025, 73 Golden Visa donors had given €14.6 million, with 32 more pledging €6.8 million. The money funded a new toy museum, restoration of its classic car and motorcycle collections, and newly opened collections, and some donors have stayed involved as ambassadors for the museum.
| Institution | Location | What Golden Visa donations funded |
|---|---|---|
| Museu do Caramulo | Caramulo (low-density) | A new toy museum, vehicle restoration, newly opened collections |
| Fundação de Serralves | Porto | Museum expansion, restoration of Casa de Serralves, contemporary art programming |
| Fundação Côa Parque | Vila Nova de Foz Côa | Conservation of the Côa Valley rock art and heritage buildings |
| Fundação da Casa de Mateus | Vila Real | A rural heritage center, restoration workshops, and digital archives |
| Cinemateca Portuguesa | Lisbon | Digitizing and preserving Portuguese feature films |
| Fundação Batalha de Aljubarrota | Batalha | A historical film and battlefield heritage work |
| Museus e Monumentos de Portugal | National | Restoration of the Palácio Nacional da Ajuda interiors and museum exhibitions |
⚠️
Check the project before you send a cent
There’s no single public list of open projects, and availability changes constantly. Have a Portuguese immigration lawyer confirm that the project is approved for Golden Visa purposes, still open for funding, and that the paperwork matches what AIMA expects.
Could €250,000 get you residency another way?
Possibly, if you’re willing to live here. The D7 requires passive income of at least €920 a month. At 5% a year, €250,000 produces €12,500, which roughly clears it. At 4%, it falls short. The bigger difference is the stay requirement: on a D7 you live here most of the year, while on the Golden Visa it’s about a week. If you’re moving anyway, the D7 is far cheaper. If you’re not, it isn’t really an alternative.
The real cost
What does the Golden Visa actually cost?
The €500,000 investment isn’t the cost. It’s the price of entry, and it’s capital at risk. The real costs are everything else: government fees, legal fees, travel, documents, and the expense of maintaining an immigration file for a decade or more.
In short: the costs you won’t get back, all the way to citizenship
| Family profile | Total unrecoverable cost | Roughly per year |
|---|---|---|
| Single applicant | €54,000–€87,000 | ~€5,000–€8,000 |
| Couple | €100,000–€157,000 | ~€9,000–€13,000 |
| Family of four | €145,000–€255,000 | ~€13,000–€21,000 |
Portugalist estimate. Excludes the €500,000 investment, which you may get back but which is at risk. The wide ranges reflect real choices, particularly around health coverage, legal help, and how long you keep paying fund fees. With citizenship now 13–15 years away, expect to land toward the top of the range.
🧮 Run the numbers for your situation
Investment route, family size, professional fees, health coverage: plug it all into the Golden Visa cost calculator for a realistic total.
Government fees, per person
AIMA’s fee table from March 1, 2026. Applications made online get a 25% reduction, and since the Golden Visa and renewal portals are online, the reduced rate is normally what you’ll pay. Fees rise with inflation every March.
| Fee | Reduced (online) | Standard |
|---|---|---|
| Application analysis (each application or renewal) | €632.10 | €842.80 |
| Residence permit grant | €6,314.20 | €8,418.90 |
| Renewal (years 2 and 4) | €3,157.80 | €4,210.30 |
| Permanent ARI residence grant (year 5) | €8,840.00 | €11,786.70 |
| Permanent ARI renewal (every 5 years) | €4,420.70 | €5,894.10 |
Add it up and the first five years cost €14,526 per person, or about €58,100 for a family of four. Moving to permanent residence at year 5 adds €9,472 each, which brings government fees to about €24,000 per person, or €96,000 for four, before a single legal bill.
Everything else that’s included
| Cost category | When | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Lawyer fees | Setup + each renewal | €10,500–€30,000+ for a family across the whole process |
| Fund fees | Ongoing (fund route) | Often a setup fee (around 3%), 1–2% a year in management, and around 20% of gains above a hurdle rate |
| Setup & documents | Once + recurring | NIF, bank account, currency exchange, apostilles, translations, couriers: €3,000–€16,000 in total |
| Health coverage | Ongoing (required) | Portuguese private insurance runs about €100–€150 a month per person for a healthy adult, rising steeply with age |
| Fiscal rep + bank | Ongoing | €150–€300/year fiscal representative + €60–€180/year bank fees per person |
| Travel to Portugal | Every year or two | Flights and lodging for the stay requirement, biometrics and renewals: €3,000–€12,000 per phase, depending on family size |
| Language qualification | Before year 5 | CIPLE A2 exam (€75–€85) + prep (€200–€1,000), or a 150-hour PLA course (€800–€2,000) |
The thresholds in your currency
| Route | EUR (actual) | USD (approx) | GBP (approx) | CAD (approx) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investment fund | €500,000 | ~$559,750 | ~£417,500 | ~CA$782,450 |
| Cultural donation | €250,000 | ~$279,875 | ~£208,750 | ~CA$391,225 |
| Cultural donation (low-density) | €200,000 | ~$223,900 | ~£167,000 | ~CA$312,980 |
Approximate conversions at recent exchange rates. A 3–5% swing between deciding and transferring is normal, so check a live rate and consider a currency broker or forward contract if your budget is tight.
How it stacks up
Golden Visa vs the D7, D8 and D2
The Golden Visa wins on flexibility and loses on cost. Since 2026, all four lead to citizenship on the same 10-year clock, so the only thing the Golden Visa’s premium buys is not having to live here.
| Golden Visa | D7 | D8 | D2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main requirement | €500,000 fund or €250,000 donation | Stable passive income ~€920+/month | Remote work or freelance income ~€3,680+/month | Portugal-based business + ~€920+/month |
| Need to live in Portugal? | No, about 7 days a year | Yes, most of the year | Yes, most of the year | Yes, most of the year |
| Tax residency | Usually not | Almost certain | Almost certain | Almost certain |
| Government fees, first 5 years | ~€14,500 per person | A few hundred euros | A few hundred euros | A few hundred euros |
| Path to permanent residency (year 5) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Path to citizenship | 10 years | 10 years | 10 years | 10 years |
Quick rules of thumb
- You want EU residency without moving → Golden Visa
- You’re moving full-time on passive income → D7 (much cheaper)
- You’re a remote employee or freelancer with foreign clients → D8
- You’re actively running a business in Portugal → D2
- You’ll move in a few years and want to lock in residency now → Golden Visa
The one people compare it with
Portugal or Greece?
Greece’s Golden Visa is the one most people weigh against Portugal’s, and it’s busy: Greek government figures show 8,879 initial Golden Visa permits issued in 2025. My short answer: choose Portugal if you want a realistic path to a passport without moving. Choose Greece if you only want residency and like the idea of owning a property you can use.
🇵🇹 Portugal
Residency with a no-move path to citizenship
🇬🇷 Greece
Residency with no stay requirement at all
Minimum investment
€500,000 in a fund, or a €250,000 cultural donation
€800,000 property in Athens, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and larger islands; €400,000 elsewhere; €250,000 for conversions and listed buildings; €350,000 fund route
Time you must spend there
About 7 days a year on average
None
Path to citizenship
10 years, and the light-stay years count
7 years on paper, but only with genuine physical residence (around 183+ days a year)
Language for citizenship
A2 Portuguese (upper beginner) + culture and civics test
B1 Greek + a history, geography and civics exam in Greek, with a 70% pass mark
What you hold
A regulated fund stake that can be spread across sectors and funds
Usually one property (at least 120 m² at the €400k and €800k tiers); short-term rentals banned
Getting your money out
Generally possible after permanent residence at year 5
The permit stays tied to the property; selling means finding a buyer and paying agent and legal costs
Government fees
~€14,500 per person over the first 5 years
€2,000 for the main applicant, €150 per adult family member
Track record
Changed the citizenship rules without protecting investors already in
Raised prices, but kept the core residency bargain for existing holders
🇵🇹 Choose Portugal if…
- You want a Portuguese passport and won’t relocate to get it
- You’re doing this partly for your children, and starting early
- You’re a CPLP national (7 years, and Portuguese is your language)
- You might move later and want the early years to count
- You’d rather hold a diversified fund than a single building
🇬🇷 Choose Greece if…
- You’re sure you only want residency, never the passport
- You want a real property you can visit, use, and rent long-term
- You want far lower government fees
- You’re seriously wealthy and will actually move (Greece’s flat-tax regimes reward that)
- Dependability matters more to you than the citizenship option
🧭
If you’d actually live there
Day to day, the two are closer than people expect. Both have a rising far right, both have become much more expensive, and both are bureaucratic. Athens is cheaper than Lisbon mostly because of rent. Portugal ranks higher for peace and stability (7th in the world on the 2026 Global Peace Index, against Greece’s 53rd), is much easier to settle into in English, and is better connected to North America. Greece has a cultural pull that’s hard to match. Pick the one you’d genuinely want to spend time in.
The mistake is arguing Portugal versus Greece in the abstract. It’s really citizenship versus residency. Once you’re honest about which one you’re buying, and whether you’d ever actually move, the answer usually picks itself.
The process
The Golden Visa process, step by step
A Golden Visa has two stages: making the investment and applying online, then waiting for AIMA to call you to Portugal for biometrics. Here’s every step in order, with roughly when it happens.
| Step | When | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Decide it’s the right route | Now | Home |
| 2. Choose a lawyer and a route | Month 1 | Remote |
| 3. Get your NIF and fiscal representative | Month 1 | Remote |
| 4. Open a Portuguese bank account | Months 1–2 | Usually remote |
| 5. Gather source-of-funds documents | Months 1–2 | Home |
| 6. Make the investment | Months 2–3 | Remote |
| 7. Apply online and pay the analysis fee | Month 3 | AIMA’s ARI portal |
| 8. Wait for approval | About 14–24 months | Home |
| 9. Attend biometrics | When AIMA calls | Portugal, in person |
| 10. Pay the permit fee and get your card | Weeks after biometrics | Remote |
| 11. Renew at years 2 and 4 | 90–30 days before expiry | Online, from Portugal |
| 12. Make the year-5 decision | Year 5 | Online |
| 13. Apply for citizenship | Year 10+ | IRN registry office |
Before you invest
Now
1. Decide it’s the right route
Be honest with yourself about what you want from it. If you’re going to live here, stop and look at the D7 first. If you want a passport, budget for 13–15 years.
Month 1
2. Choose a lawyer and a route
You don’t strictly need a lawyer, but almost everyone uses one: they hold your power of attorney, open doors at the bank, and chase AIMA for you. Pick the lawyer before the fund, and make sure they’re independent of whoever is selling you the investment.
Month 1
3. Get your NIF and fiscal representative
Your Portuguese tax number. You’ll need it for the bank account, the investment, and the application. Every adult on the application needs one. Make sure your service includes a fiscal representative, since you won’t be living here.
Months 1–2
4. Open a Portuguese bank account
Expect 2–4 weeks remotely, longer if you’re American (FATCA reporting makes US customers more work for Portuguese banks). Your lawyer’s relationships with bank managers help a lot here.
Months 1–2
5. Gather source-of-funds documents
The bank, the fund, and AIMA all want a clean paper trail from where the money was earned to the Portuguese investment. Start this early. It’s the step that most often stalls files. What they ask for.
Investing and applying
Months 2–3
6. Make the investment
Transfer the money from abroad and complete the investment or donation. It has to be fully in place before you apply, with a bank declaration confirming the money came from outside Portugal.
Month 3
7. Apply online and pay the analysis fee
Your lawyer submits the application through AIMA’s ARI portal, and you pay the analysis fee of €632.10 per person.
About 14–24 months
8. Wait for approval
The longest and least predictable stage. Estimates for people applying in late 2026 range from about 14 months to two years to biometrics. Some investors take AIMA to court to force a decision. This waiting time almost certainly won’t count toward citizenship.
In Portugal, then every few years
When AIMA calls
9. Attend biometrics
Fly to Portugal with originals of every document. Every family member attends, though not always on the same day: the main applicant is often called months before the rest of the family. Check that time-limited documents like criminal record certificates haven’t expired.
Weeks after biometrics
10. Pay the permit fee and get your card
Once approved, you pay the grant fee (€6,314.20 per person) and your 2-year card is issued. This is the day that matters: your stay requirement and, most likely, your citizenship clock both start now.
Years 2 and 4
11. Renew
File 90 to 30 days before your card expires, through AIMA’s renewal portal, which only works from inside Portugal. You show the investment is still in place and that you met the stay requirement. AIMA now checks your Portuguese criminal, tax, and social security records directly. Each renewal costs about €3,790 per person.
Year 5
12. Make the year-5 decision
Move to permanent ARI residence (A2 Portuguese needed, investment no longer required) or keep renewing your temporary card. Compare the two.
Year 10+
13. Apply for citizenship
After 10 years of legal residence (7 for CPLP citizens), apply to the IRN with proof of residence, A2 Portuguese, and the new culture and civics test. Processing takes one to four years.
What you need
Golden Visa requirements
To qualify, you need to be a non-EU adult with a clean record, a completed qualifying investment, a clear paper trail for the money, and a Portuguese tax number and bank account. Here are all 15 requirements, then each one explained.
| Requirement | Who | When |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Age and nationality | Main applicant | Application |
| 2. Clean criminal record | Every adult | First application |
| 3. Portuguese record check authorization | Every adult | Application |
| 4. No Portuguese tax or social security debts | Main applicant | Application and renewals |
| 5. No Schengen bans | Everyone | Application |
| 6. Power of attorney | Optional | Before you start |
| 7. Valid passport | Everyone | Throughout |
| 8. Passport photos | Everyone | Application |
| 9. Government fees | Everyone | Application, grant, renewals |
| 10. A completed qualifying investment | Main applicant | Before you apply |
| 11. Source of funds | Main applicant | Before you invest |
| 12. NIF (tax number) | Every adult | Before you invest |
| 13. Fiscal representative | Non-residents | Before you invest |
| 14. Portuguese bank account | Main applicant | Before you invest |
| 15. Health coverage | Everyone | Application and renewals |
Personal eligibility & legal
Main applicant
1. Age and nationality
The main applicant must be 18 or over and a non-EU/EEA/Swiss citizen. If a family member is an EU citizen, you may be able to join them through a family route instead.
Every adult
2. Clean criminal record
Minor offenses are usually fine. Anything carrying more than a year in prison under Portuguese law will likely disqualify you. More on applying with a criminal record.
You’ll need a certificate from your country of nationality and any country you’ve lived in for a year or more (an FBI report for Americans), apostilled or consulate-legalized, sometimes translated, and typically issued within the last 90 days. At renewals, AIMA now checks Portuguese records itself, so you only need foreign certificates for the first application.
⚠️
The validity trap
With waits of over a year, criminal record certificates often expire before biometrics, which means requesting them, and the apostille, all over again. Ask your lawyer exactly when to order them.
Every adult
3. Portuguese record check authorization
A signed form letting the authorities check for a Portuguese criminal record. For most people this is a formality.
Main applicant
4. No Portuguese tax or social security debts
Certificates showing no outstanding issues with the tax authority (Finanças) and social security (Segurança Social). They’re short-lived, often around 45 days. At renewal, a phantom “debt under review” flag is one of the most common reasons the portal blocks people, so check your status before you file.
Everyone
5. No Schengen bans
No active entry ban for Portugal or the Schengen Area, no alert in the Schengen Information System, and no serious past immigration problems.
Optional, but standard
6. Power of attorney
A notarized power of attorney lets your lawyer open the bank account, submit documents, and manage the process without you flying in for every step.
Documents & fees
Everyone
7. Valid passport
The process can take two years, and renewing your passport partway through means updating your file. If it expires within the next three years, renew it before you apply.
Everyone
8. Passport photos
Two EU-sized passport photos per applicant.
Everyone
9. Government fees
€632.10 per person to apply, €6,314.20 when the permit is granted, and €3,789.90 at each renewal (online rates). That’s about €14,500 per person over five years. Full fee table.
Investment & money
Before you apply
10. A completed qualifying investment
One of the five routes, fully in place before you apply, with a bank declaration that the money came from abroad. You keep it for at least five years from when your permit is granted, not from when you invested.
Before you invest
11. Source of funds
The most important requirement, and a common reason files get held up. You must show where the money came from, with a clean chain from the original source to the Portuguese investment. Typical documents:
- Bank statements showing savings building up
- Employment contracts, payslips, tax returns
- Company accounts, dividend statements, share or business sale documents
- Inheritance paperwork, gift deeds
- Proof supporting older transfers between accounts
Business exits, crypto, mixed-source money, older family transfers, and multi-country structures all attract more scrutiny.
Portuguese setup
Every adult
12. NIF (tax number)
Needed for the bank account, the investment, and the application. Most people get it through their lawyer, but you can get it yourself.
Non-residents
13. Fiscal representative
Usually your lawyer. They receive Finanças mail and forward tax notices. Some cheap online NIF services don’t include this, because they’re aimed at people moving here.
Main applicant
14. Portuguese bank account
Banks want ID, proof of address, tax documents, evidence of wealth, and an explanation of transfers. Expect 2–4 weeks remotely, longer for Americans.
Everyone
15. Health coverage
Insurance that covers you in Portugal, with at least €30,000 of medical cover including repatriation to be safe. Portuguese private insurers such as Médis, Multicare, or Fidelidade typically charge €100–€150 a month for a healthy adult, rising steeply with age. If you’re over 70 or have pre-existing conditions, MGEN is one insurer that accepts all ages.
Bringing family
Who you can include on the application
You can include your immediate family on the same application, and most investors do. They get the same residence rights, and their time counts toward their own permanent residency and citizenship. Each family member has to meet the stay requirement too, and you can add family members after you’re approved.
💑 Spouse or partner
Married spouses need an apostilled marriage certificate. Unmarried partners need to prove a stable union, typically two or more years of living together (a joint lease, shared bills, a joint bank account, photos, witness statements).
👶 Children under 18
Apostilled birth certificates. If only one parent is applying, you’ll need notarized consent from the other. Adopted children and stepchildren can qualify with the relevant documents.
🎓 Adult children in full-time education
Adult children can qualify if they’re unmarried, in full-time education, and financially dependent on you. Evidence includes college enrollment, tuition records, transfers from your account, and the absence of independent income. Families with children near the age limits often move everyone to permanent residence at year 5, so each child holds an independent permit.
👵 Dependent parents
Parents over 65 are generally easier to include. Younger parents need stronger evidence that they depend on you, such as medical records and proof of ongoing financial support.
🧒 Minor siblings under your guardianship
If you’re the legal guardian of a minor sibling and can document it, they can qualify too.
⚠️
Family biometrics are often staggered
AIMA doesn’t always call the whole family together. The main applicant may need to fly in first, with the rest following months later, and since everyone’s citizenship clock likely starts from their own card, family members can end up on different timelines. Budget for several trips.
Time in Portugal
Stay requirements: the famous “7 days a year”
You need at least 7 days in Portugal in your first year, then at least 14 days in each two-year period after that. It’s the Golden Visa’s defining feature and the question people ask most. It’s far lighter than any other Portuguese residence route, but the way it’s measured and proven trips people up.
The rule, in plain terms
The days don’t have to be consecutive. That averages 7 days a year, and after the first year you can split each 14 however suits you. The clock starts when your card is issued, so the months you spend waiting for biometrics carry no stay obligation (they don’t count toward citizenship either). Fewer, longer trips usually work out cheaper than lots of short ones.
Everyone on the application has to meet it, not just the main applicant. As Julian Johnson of Tejo Ventures puts it, you and all of your dependents must come to Portugal.
Worked examples
- Annual visits: 7 days every year → ✓ meets the requirement
- One long trip every two years: 7 days in year 1, then a 14-day trip in year 2 and another in year 4 → ✓ meets the requirement
- Uneven trips: 7 days in year 1, then 10 days in year 2 and 4 days in year 3 → ✓ meets the requirement
- Slow start: nothing in year 1, then 14 days in year 2 → ✗ misses the first-year minimum
- Not enough: 10 days across a two-year period → ✗ falls short of 14
What counts, and how to prove it
Days you’re physically in Portugal. The rules don’t spell out how partial days are treated, so plan a few days more than the minimum. A day trip to Spain counts as a day out of Portugal unless you sleep here that night.
AIMA checks at renewal, and the burden of proof is on you. Keep boarding passes, hotel or rental receipts, and card statements from Portugal. Don’t rely on passport stamps: residence-card holders often aren’t stamped, and if you fly into another Schengen country and cross by land, there’s no Portuguese record of your entry at all.
💡
Time a visit for each renewal
Since February 2026, the renewal portal only works from inside Portugal, and you file 90 to 30 days before your card expires. The simplest approach is to plan one of your two-week stays inside that window and do the renewal while you’re here.
What happens if you miss it
Your next renewal may be refused. If it is, you lose your Portuguese residence, and with it the time you’ve built up toward permanent residency and citizenship. If you’ve fallen short, talk to your lawyer well before your renewal date.
After year 5
Permanent ARI residence keeps the same light rule, instead of the ordinary permanent-residence limits (no more than 24 consecutive months, or 30 months in any three years, outside Portugal). Lawyers’ standard advice is simply to keep doing roughly 14 days every two years. Once you’re a Portuguese citizen, there’s no stay requirement at all.
One thing a week a year won’t get you: EU long-term resident status, which would let you move to other EU countries. It requires five years of continuous residence with limited time abroad.
Stay requirements vs tax residency
They’re different rules. You become a Portuguese tax resident if you spend more than 183 days here in any 12-month period, or keep a home here that looks like your habitual residence. Speak to a tax advisor if you’re buying or renting here.
The long game
Year by year to a passport: what you do, pay, and get
From application to passport, realistically 13–15 years or more. The years below are years of legal residence, counted from your first card, plus the wait before it and the citizenship processing after.
⏳ Before residency · Application to first card (about 14–24 months)
You make the investment, apply, and wait for AIMA to call you for biometrics. This waiting time almost certainly doesn’t count toward citizenship.
What you pay: The investment, the €632.10 analysis fee, the €6,314.20 grant fee once approved, and setup costs: lawyer, NIF, bank account, documents, and a trip for biometrics.
🪪 Residence years 1–5 · Temporary residence
Your first card is valid for 2 years, and you renew it at years 2 and 4, showing the investment is still in place, you met the stay requirement, and you still have health coverage.
What you pay: About €14,500 per person in government fees across this period, plus legal, fiscal representative, fund, travel, and document costs.
What you get: The right to live and work in Portugal, visa-free travel around Schengen, the right to include your family, access to the SNS, and time counting toward permanent residency and citizenship.
The year-5 decision: permanent residence or keep renewing?
At year 5 you have a real choice, and it’s worth deciding in advance, because it changes what happens to your money.
Permanent ARI residence
What most investors aim for
Keep renewing
Stay on the temporary card
Cost per person
About €9,470 to grant, then about €5,050 every 5 years
About €3,790 every 2 years
Your investment
No longer required, so you can exit (get your lawyer’s confirmation first)
Must stay in place
Portuguese
A2 needed now
Not needed until you apply for citizenship
Stay rule
Same light rule: about 14 days every 2 years
Same light rule
Paperwork
A renewal every 5 years
A renewal every 2 years, with all the AIMA risk that brings
Ordinary permanent residence (the cheap kind D7 and D8 holders get) has much stricter absence limits, and AIMA’s fee table suggests Golden Visa holders are expected to use the permanent ARI route. Ask your lawyer which applies to you.
🏡 Residence years 5–10 · Permanent residence
For many investors, this is the milestone that matters most. It renews every 5 years instead of every 2, and if you don’t need a Portuguese passport, it can be renewed indefinitely and gives you most of what people want from EU residency. Many investors stop here.
What you pay: Permanent residence fees, a renewal at year 10, and ongoing fiscal representative, bank, and health coverage costs. Roughly €25,000–€33,000 for a single applicant across this phase.
🇵🇹 Residence year 10+ · Citizenship
After 10 years of legal residence (7 for CPLP citizens), you become eligible to apply for Portuguese citizenship. Eligible doesn’t mean approved.
- You apply to the IRN (the registry office) with proof of legal residence and A2 Portuguese
- You also pass a test of Portuguese culture, history, and civic life, and sign a declaration of commitment to democratic principles
- Processing takes one to four years
What you pay: Roughly €2,350–€5,250 for a single applicant in application fees, language exam, lawyer, and documents, plus permanent residence renewals while you wait.
What you get: Full EU citizenship: the right to live, work, and study anywhere in the EU, the EEA, and Switzerland, and one of the world’s strongest passports. Portugal allows dual citizenship, and your future children can inherit it.
Common questions
Golden Visa FAQ
Is Portugal’s Golden Visa ending?
No. As of 2026, the program is open and the investment thresholds haven’t changed. What changed is the road to citizenship, which is now 10 years of residence counted from your first card.
Can I still buy property to qualify?
No. The real estate route was removed in October 2023, along with the capital transfer route. You can still buy property in Portugal; it just won’t qualify you.
What’s the cheapest way to get a Golden Visa?
The cultural donation: €250,000, or €200,000 for a project in a low-density area. It’s a donation, so the money doesn’t come back. See the cultural route.
Can I get my €500,000 back?
Possibly, but it isn’t guaranteed. You must hold the investment for five years from when your permit is granted. Once you move to permanent ARI residence, you no longer need to keep it, but the fund’s own terms decide when you can actually redeem, and it may be worth more or less than you put in.
Does the time waiting for my first card count toward citizenship?
Almost certainly not anymore. The 2026 law repealed the rule that counted residence from the day you applied, and most lawyers now count from the day your first card is issued. The government’s implementing regulation hadn’t been published at the time of writing, so watch for it.
Can I renew from abroad?
Not easily. Since February 16, 2026, renewals go through an online portal that only works from inside Portugal. File 90 to 30 days before your card expires, ideally during one of your visits.
What if AIMA doesn’t decide my renewal in time?
Your receipt keeps you legally resident for six months after your card expires, but it isn’t a travel document. Since September 11, 2026, a renewal that isn’t decided within 60 days no longer counts as automatically approved, so file early.
Do I have to become a Portuguese tax resident?
Not usually. You become a tax resident if you spend more than 183 days here in any 12-month period, or keep a home here that looks like your habitual residence. Most holders visit for a week or two a year and don’t come close.
Can I move to other EU countries with the Golden Visa?
No. You can travel around Schengen for up to 90 days in any 180, but not live or work in other EU countries. The right to live anywhere in the EU comes with Portuguese citizenship.
Is Greece’s Golden Visa better?
For residency alone, it can be: no stay requirement, much lower fees, and a property you can use. For citizenship, no: Greece expects you to actually live there for seven years and pass a B1 Greek exam. See Portugal vs Greece.
I’m from a Portuguese-speaking (CPLP) country. Anything different?
Yes. Citizens of CPLP countries (Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, and East Timor) can apply for citizenship after 7 years of legal residence instead of 10.
Do I need to speak Portuguese?
Not for the Golden Visa itself. You’ll need A2 Portuguese (upper beginner) for permanent residence at year 5 and for citizenship, usually proven with the CIPLE exam (€75–€85) or a 150-hour PLA course. Citizenship also requires the new culture and civics test.
What if I want to actually move to Portugal later?
Nothing breaks. You keep the same permit and simply spend more time here. Once you’re here more than 183 days in a 12-month period, or set up your main home here, you become a tax resident. Plenty of Plan B investors plan for exactly this.
Still on the fence?
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Book a free consultation and we’ll help you work out whether the Golden Visa is right for your situation, or whether a D7, D8, or D2 would make more sense.
Where this comes from
Sources
Checked in November 2026. Fees change every March, and the nationality regulation was still unpublished when this was written.
Official and legal
- AIMA: Residence permit for investment (Art. 90-A)
- AIMA: Foreigners’ Law regulation FAQ
- AIMA: Migration and Asylum Report 2024
- Portuguese Government: nationality and residence law reform
- Observador: Constitutional Court ruling on the nationality law (Dec 15, 2025)
Fees, renewals and processing
- Público: AIMA fees rise from March 1, 2026
- Europe Simple: tacit approval of renewals ends
- IMI Daily: Portugal has processed 13% of its Golden Visa backlog (Oct 2026)
- Observador: AIMA to clear Golden Visa backlog in 2026 (Oct 2025)
Investor reaction, funds and statistics
- ECO: government criticizes commercial expectations around Golden Visas (May 2026)
- ECO: nationality changes stall Golden Visa funds (May 2026)
- ECO: redemptions from Golden Visa funds surge (June 2026)
- ECO: investors ready to sue the state (July 2026)
- TSF: more than 500 Golden Visa holders to sue the state
- Jornal de Negócios: fund redemptions after the nationality change
- Uglobal: 1,260 investors’ complaint to the Ombudsman
- MFG Consultants: Golden Visa statistics 2025 (AIMA data)
- Luznur Capital: Portugal Golden Visa Monitor
- RankiaPro: Golden Visa fund eligibility is not investment quality
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