Portugal’s Golden Visa gives EU residence from a 577,000 USD fund investment, with one of the lowest presence requirements in Europe. Two facts most sites get wrong: real estate has been excluded since October 2023, and since May 2026 naturalisation takes ten years, not five.
Real estate has been off the table in Portugal since October 2023, yet applications keep arriving because the fund route into CMVM-regulated vehicles still opens EU residence for 577,000 USD, with roughly seven days of presence a year. What changed less visibly is the road onward: the organic law in force since 19 May 2026 stretched naturalisation from five years to ten, seven for EU and Portuguese-speaking nationals, plus a civic test and A2 Portuguese. None of this touches tax residence, which still needs 183 days or a habitual home, entirely separate from the permit itself. Weigh the route against Greece and Italy before assuming Portugal is still Europe's cheapest door on our comparison of golden visa programmes.
| Programme | Status | Verified on | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portugal Golden Visa (Residence Permit for Investment, ARI) | Open | AIMA — Autorização de Residência para Investimento (art. 90.º-A) |
Residency by investment
Read the full Portugal Golden Visa (Residence Permit for Investment, ARI) page →
| Route | Official minimum | Real total, family of four | Hold | Recoverable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investment fundUnits of CMVM-regulated collective investment funds, at least 60 percent invested in Portuguese companies, five-year maturity. The dominant route since real estate was excluded in October 2023. | env. $577 000 | ≈ $770 429 | 5 yr | No |
| BusinessIncorporation of a Portuguese company creating at least five permanent jobs, or reinforcement of share capital maintaining ten posts. | env. $577 000 | ≈ $770 429 | — | No |
| DonationScientific research contribution to institutions within the national scientific system. | env. $577 000 | ≈ $770 429 | — | No |
| DonationSupport for artistic production or the preservation of national cultural heritage, through approved bodies. This is the cheapest way into the programme, and the only one under 577,000 USD. | env. $289 000 | ≈ $385 214 | — | No |
The programme announces 12–24 months; practitioners report 18–40 months.
AIMA publishes no official processing time. Immigration firms documented a 12-month best case, an 18 to 24-month median over 2025-2026, and up to 40 months where files are re-examined; the full path including the physical residence card commonly runs two to three years. The minister pledged in October 2025 to clear the backlog in 2026; lawyers publicly doubted it.
Portugal is a full-tax European country, not a low-tax haven. Tax residents are taxed on their worldwide income at progressive IRS rates running from about 12.5% to 48% in 2026, plus a solidarity surcharge on high incomes. This is the standard position — the tax appeal of Portugal has always come from a special regime layered on top, not from low headline rates.
The famous Non-Habitual Resident (NHR) regime — a 20% flat rate on qualifying Portuguese income and a broad exemption on most foreign income for ten years — was closed to new applicants under the 2024 State Budget. Existing NHR holders keep it until their ten-year term ends. Its successor, the IFICI regime (widely called “NHR 2.0”), keeps a 20% flat IRS on qualifying Portuguese employment income and foreign-income exemptions, but only for specific qualifying activities — scientific research, innovation and certain highly qualified professions. It is a far narrower door: do not assume you will qualify. Check IFICI eligibility for your profession before planning around it.
Companies pay corporate tax (IRC) at a base rate of 21% on the mainland, plus municipal and state surtaxes that lift the effective rate for larger profits — among the higher corporate rates in the EU.
The standard VAT (IVA) rate is 23% on the mainland, with reduced rates for essentials and lower rates in Madeira and the Azores. Everyday consumption is taxed at a normal European level.
The Portugal golden visa requires very little presence and does not by itself make you tax-resident; tax residency generally follows 183 days or a habitual home in Portugal. And since the 2026 nationality law lengthened naturalisation to ten years, the road to a passport is longer too. If a genuinely low-tax European base is the goal rather than EU residence, weigh Andorra’s tax residency against Portugal on our golden visa comparison. Understand the residency-versus-tax distinction in our guide to second citizenship and taxes, and see our methodology for how each figure is verified.
| — | Portugal | Greece |
|---|---|---|
| Official minimum | env. $289 000Identical on this line | env. $289 000Identical on this line |
| Real total, family of 4 (fees included) | ≈ $385 214Identical on this line | ≈ $385 214Identical on this line |
| Announced processing | 12–24 months | 4–6 monthsfaster |
| Presence required | Seven days in the first year, then fourteen days in each subsequent two-year period. | None. |
| Years to citizenship | 10 years | 7 yearsfaster |
| Investment routes | Investment fund, Business, Donation | Real estate |
| A route returns the capital | NoIdentical on this line | NoIdentical on this line |
| Open to Russian applicants | YesIdentical on this line | YesIdentical on this line |
| Region | EuropeIdentical on this line | EuropeIdentical on this line |
Open the country page · PortugalOpen the country page · Greece
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