Portugal Golden Visa 2026: Requirements & How to Apply

Portugal’s Golden Visa no longer includes real estate. The government removed property purchases as a qualifying investment in October 2023, and in May 2026 it also extended the wait for citizenship from 5 years to 7 years for EU and CPLP nationals, or 10 years for everyone else. If you’re researching this program based on older information, both of those changes affect your numbers.

The program itself is still active and still one of the most flexible paths to EU residency, since you only need to spend about seven days a year in Portugal to maintain it. Your qualifying options now are investment funds (€500,000), cultural or heritage donations (€250,000, or €200,000 in low-density areas), job creation, company investment, or scientific research contributions. Applications go through AIMA, the agency that replaced SEF in late 2023, and realistic processing time runs 12 to 24 months to your biometrics appointment.

This guide covers what qualifies now, what the current timeline actually looks like, and how the citizenship path has changed.

2026 Investment Options for the Portugal Golden Visa Program

The Portugal Golden Visa currently offers five investment routes. Real estate is not one of them. The government removed property purchases as a qualifying investment in October 2023 under the Mais Habitação law, so if you’re comparing programs based on real estate minimums, that information is out of date.

Qualifying Option	Minimum Investment Amount
Investment Funds	€500,000
Cultural or Heritage Donation	€250,000 (€200,000 in low-density areas)
Scientific Research	€500,000 (reduced in low-density areas — confirm current figure with AIMA)
Company Incorporation	€500,000 plus 5 permanent jobs
Job Creation	No capital minimum; 10 jobs (8 in low-density areas)

Investment Funds

This is now the most common route. You invest at least €500,000 in a Portuguese fund regulated by the CMVM, the Portuguese Securities Market Commission. The fund must have a maturity of at least five years and put at least 60% of its assets into Portuguese companies. Funds that hold real estate, directly or indirectly, don’t qualify.

Cultural and Heritage Donations

You can donate €250,000 to an approved arts, culture, or national heritage project. In low-density areas, that minimum drops to €200,000. This is a one-time, non-refundable contribution, not an investment you can recover later.

Scientific Research

You can fund research at a public or private institution within Portugal’s scientific or technological system for a minimum of €500,000. Low-density areas may qualify for a reduced threshold. Confirm the current figure with AIMA or a licensed advisor before committing, since sources differ on the exact discounted amount.

Company Incorporation

You invest at least €500,000 to start or expand a Portuguese company, and that company must create at least five permanent jobs and keep them for at least three years.

Job Creation

You can qualify with no fixed investment amount by creating at least ten full-time jobs in Portugal. In low-density areas, the requirement drops to eight jobs. The jobs need to be genuine, permanent positions with proper payroll and social security registration, not informal arrangements.

Portugal Golden Visa: Residency Requirements

You need to spend at least seven days in Portugal during your first year, then fourteen days during each subsequent two-year period. You don’t need to use your qualifying investment or property during these visits. A short trip anywhere in Portugal satisfies the requirement.

The Portugal Golden Visa Application Process

Applications go through AIMA, the Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo. AIMA took over immigration processing from SEF in late 2023, so if you see other guides referencing SEF, that reflects outdated information.

Before you apply, you’ll need to complete your qualifying investment, since it has to be in place before submission. You’ll also need a Portuguese tax number (NIF) and a Portuguese bank account.

The process runs through several stages: expression of interest and pre-approval through AIMA’s Portal ARI, document submission and fee payment, a biometrics appointment in person at an AIMA office, review and background checks, and finally issuance of your residence card.

Processing times have lengthened compared to the program’s early years. As of 2026, expect 12 to 24 months from submission to your biometrics appointment, and often another 9 to 12 months after that before your card is issued. Total time from application to card in hand often runs 24 to 36 months, depending on AIMA’s backlog and your case complexity.

Validity and Renewal

Your Golden Visa residence card is valid for two years. Renewal now happens through AIMA’s online Renewals Portal, which went live in February 2026, so submission and fee payment can both be done digitally. To renew, you’ll need to show proof of your minimum stay, a current criminal record check if you’re not otherwise resident in Portugal, valid health insurance, and confirmation that your investment is still in place.

Portugal Golden Visa Fees

Government fees for a single applicant currently run somewhere in the range of €17,000 to €18,000 across submission, issuance, and renewal over five years. AIMA updates this fee schedule periodically, so check the current AIMA fee table before budgeting rather than relying on a fixed figure from any guide, including this one.

Advantages of the Portuguese Golden Visa Program

Family Benefits

You can include your spouse or legal partner, children under eighteen, dependent children under twenty-six who are single students or financially dependent, and parents of either spouse over sixty-six (or fifty-five if dependent). Portugal recognizes same-sex partnerships for this purpose. Your dependents get the same rights you do.

Tax Considerations

The Non-Habitual Resident tax scheme that used to accompany the Golden Visa closed to new applicants at the end of 2023. If you already held NHR status, you keep it for your original ten-year term. If you’re applying now, NHR isn’t an option, so factor standard Portuguese tax rules into your planning, or ask an advisor about what replaced it.

Pathway to Citizenship

You don’t need to give up your existing passport to become a Portuguese citizen, since Portugal allows dual citizenship. The timeline changed in 2026, though. Under the Nationality Law reform that took effect on May 19, 2026, you need seven years of legal residence if you’re an EU or CPLP national, or ten years otherwise, before you can apply for citizenship. That replaced the previous five-year wait. A transitional rule may let your clock start from an earlier date if you paid your submission fees before the law was published, so check which rule applies to your case.

Schengen Access

Your residency gives you visa-free travel across the Schengen Area. Once you hold a Portuguese passport, you can live and work anywhere in the EU and EEA.

Healthcare and Education

Residents and citizens can access Portugal’s national healthcare system, Serviço Nacional de Saúde. Your family also gets access to Portugal’s education system.

Work Rights

The visa lets you work in Portugal as an employee, freelancer, remote worker for a foreign company, or business owner. Portugal consistently ranks as one of the top countries for expats — see our guide to living in Portugal for more on day-to-day life there.

Portugal’s Golden Visa Facts

The program launched in 2012 as the Autorização de Residência para Atividade de Investimento (ARI), aimed at attracting investment from non-EU and non-EEA citizens. As of late 2023, before the real estate route closed, the program had approved over 32,700 residence permits and brought in more than €7.2 billion in investment. Real estate accounted for the large majority of applications during that period. Since the route closed, investment funds have become the dominant pathway.

Portugal Citizenship by Investment

Portugal doesn’t offer direct citizenship by investment. You can’t buy Portuguese nationality outright. What you get through the Golden Visa is a residency permit that leads to citizenship eligibility after seven years (EU and CPLP nationals) or ten years (other nationalities), following the 2026 reform. As a Golden Visa holder, you don’t need to show ongoing ties to Portugal or live there to qualify, which still makes this one of the more accessible paths to EU citizenship even with the longer wait. See our guide to the easiest countries for citizenship by investment for how Portugal compares.

Golden Visa: Spain vs. Portugal

Both countries offer EU and Schengen access through their investment visa programs. Spain requires a minimum property investment of €500,000, and it places no restrictions on where in the country you buy. Portugal removed real estate from its program entirely in 2023, so this comparison point no longer applies the way it used to.

Renewal requirements differ too. Spain’s Golden Visa only requires a visit once a year at renewal time. Portugal requires seven days in your first year and fourteen days every two years after that.

Both countries offer permanent residence after five years. Citizenship timelines used to favor Portugal, since you could reach citizenship eligibility at the same time as permanent residence. That’s no longer accurate. Portugal now requires seven to ten years for citizenship depending on your nationality, which narrows or removes the advantage it previously held over Spain. Confirm Spain’s current citizenship timeline separately before treating this as a like-for-like comparison.

D7 Passive Income Visa or Golden Visa

The D7 visa is another option for non-EU and non-EEA citizens who don’t want to make the kind of investment the Golden Visa requires. It comes with a longer residency requirement of about four months per year, but it’s still a viable path to EU citizenship for people who plan to spend more time in Portugal. Read our full breakdown of the D7 passive income visa for the details.

Next Steps

If you’re ready to move forward, the investment fund route requires the most upfront paperwork (fund selection, CMVM verification, source-of-funds documentation), so start there if that’s your likely path. For a case-specific read on which route fits your situation, book a consultation with our Portugal immigration partner.

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FAQs for the Portuguese Golden Visa

Does Portugal have a Golden Visa program? Yes. Portugal’s Golden Visa (ARI) remains active and continues to accept new applications through AIMA (Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo), which replaced SEF in late 2023.

Can I get residency in Portugal by buying a house? No. Real estate purchases, residential or commercial, stopped qualifying for the Golden Visa in October 2023. You can still buy property in Portugal as a foreigner, but it won’t get you a visa.

What are the current Portugal Golden Visa investment options? Investment funds (€500,000), cultural or heritage donation (€250,000, or €200,000 in low-density areas), scientific research contribution (€500,000, reduced in low-density areas — confirm exact figure with AIMA), company incorporation (€500,000 plus 5 jobs), or direct job creation (10 jobs, or 8 in low-density areas, no capital minimum).

How much does a Portugal Golden Visa cost? Government fees for a single applicant total roughly €17,000–€18,000 across submission, issuance, and renewal over five years. This is separate from your qualifying investment and legal fees, and AIMA updates the fee schedule periodically.

How long does it take to get a Golden Visa in Portugal? Realistically 12–24 months to your biometrics appointment, with total time to card issuance sometimes extending to 24–36 months due to AIMA’s ongoing backlog. This is longer than the 3–6 months often cited in older guides.

Does the Portugal Golden Visa lead to citizenship? Yes, but the wait is now longer than it used to be. Since the Nationality Law reform took effect on May 19, 2026, most Golden Visa holders need 7 years of legal residence (EU and CPLP nationals) or 10 years (all other nationalities) before applying for citizenship, up from the previous 5-year requirement. Applicants who paid their submission fees before the law was gazetted may still benefit from an earlier clock start under transitional rules.

Can UK citizens apply for a Portugal Golden Visa? Yes. Since Brexit, the Golden Visa has been a popular route for UK nationals to retain EU residency rights.

Which family members can I include? Spouse or partner, dependent children, and dependent parents (of either spouse) can typically be included, subject to AIMA’s current dependency and age requirements.

Is the Non-Habitual Resident (NHR) tax scheme still available? No, NHR closed to new applicants at the end of 2023/2024. Existing holders keep their status for the full ten-year term.