Portugal’s Golden Visa — the residency-by-investment program that launched a thousand real estate purchases and dominated expat forums for nearly a decade — is over. Not “paused” or “reformed.” Over. The Portuguese government killed the real estate and capital transfer routes in October 2023, and by 2025, the last of the fund-investment routes were gone too.
If you’re reading this hoping to buy your way into Portugal with a €500,000 property purchase, that ship has sailed. But the story isn’t entirely over. Existing Golden Visa holders still have rights and timelines. A narrow donation pathway technically still exists. And more importantly, there are better, cheaper ways to get Portuguese residency — the D7 and D8 visas cost a fraction of what the Golden Visa required and lead to the same citizenship endpoint.
This article covers what the Golden Visa was, why it ended, what happens to existing holders, whether any investment routes remain, and what your alternatives are in 2026 and beyond.
Portugal launched the Autorização de Residência para Atividade de Investimento (ARI) — commonly called the Golden Visa — in October 2012. The program was designed to attract foreign investment during the eurozone crisis, when Portugal’s economy was struggling and its real estate market was in freefall.
The pitch was simple: invest in Portugal, get EU residency. No requirement to live in the country full-time. Just 7 days per year on average. After 5 years, apply for citizenship. For wealthy individuals from countries with limited visa-free travel, this was extraordinarily attractive.
The Golden Visa offered several investment pathways:
| Route | Minimum Investment | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Real estate (any area) | €500,000 | Closed Oct 2023 |
| Real estate (renovation, low-density) | €350,000 | Closed Oct 2023 |
| Real estate (low-density area) | €400,000 | Closed Oct 2023 |
| Capital transfer | €1,000,000 | Closed Oct 2023 |
| Job creation (10+ jobs) | No minimum | Closed Oct 2023 |
| Scientific research | €500,000 | Closed |
| Cultural heritage donation | €250,000 | Technically still open |
| Investment fund (qualifying) | €500,000 | Closed Jan 2024 |
| Company incorporation + 5 jobs | €500,000 | Closed |
At its peak, the program attracted over €6.8 billion in investment, with Brazilians, Chinese, Turks, South Africans, and Americans being the top nationalities. Real estate accounted for roughly 90% of all Golden Visa investments.
Several factors made the Portuguese Golden Visa uniquely appealing:
Minimal stay requirement: Just 7 days per year on average. Compare to Greece (no stay requirement but 7-year citizenship timeline), Spain (which required actual residency), or Malta (which required significant ongoing investment).
Path to citizenship in 5 years: One of the shortest naturalization timelines in the EU. And Portugal is unusually generous — no language requirement beyond A2 (basic), and no requirement to renounce your original citizenship.
EU access: A Portuguese passport gives visa-free access to the entire Schengen Area and over 180 countries worldwide.
NHR tax regime: The Non-Habitual Resident program offered 10 years of preferential tax treatment on foreign income. This was the real one-two punch: Golden Visa for residency + NHR for tax optimization.
No wealth tax, no inheritance tax on direct descendants: Portugal’s tax environment was remarkably favorable.
The Golden Visa’s demise wasn’t sudden — it was the culmination of years of growing criticism.
By 2022, Portugal was in the grip of a severe housing affordability crisis. Rents in Lisbon had increased 65% in five years. Average Portuguese workers were spending 50%+ of their income on housing. The Golden Visa wasn’t the sole cause — short-term rentals, foreign buyers, and limited housing supply all contributed — but it became the symbol of the problem. Foreign investors buying up Lisbon apartments, never living in them, and driving up prices while locals were priced out of their own neighborhoods.
The political pressure became impossible to ignore. The 2022 “Housing Crisis” protests drew tens of thousands of people across Portugal. The government responded with the “Mais Habitação” (More Housing) program, which included the end of the Golden Visa’s real estate routes.
Prime Minister António Costa’s government (and later the Montenegro government that took over in 2024) made a straightforward calculation: the Golden Visa’s economic benefits no longer outweighed its political costs. The program was generating relatively little new investment compared to its early years, and the housing crisis was a vote-loser.
In October 2023, the “Mais Habitação” law took effect, ending new Golden Visa applications for real estate, capital transfers, job creation, and fund investments. The law didn’t just close these routes — it specifically prohibited renewing Golden Visas for people who had used real estate as their qualifying investment and had not transitioned to a different basis.
After the main routes closed in October 2023, there was a brief window where fund investments were still technically possible. This closed definitively in January 2024 when new regulations eliminated the fund route.
By early 2025, the only remaining investment pathway was the cultural heritage donation at €250,000, and even this has been subject to increasing scrutiny and administrative obstacles. In practice, it’s functionally closed — the government is not processing new applications through this route in any meaningful numbers.
Effectively, no. The cultural heritage donation route exists on paper, but:
If you find a lawyer who tells you they can still get you a Golden Visa, be very skeptical. They may be referring to the heritage donation route, and they may be downplaying the difficulties. Some lawyers are still advertising Golden Visa services — this is marketing from before the closure, not a reflection of current reality.
If you already have a Golden Visa, your rights are preserved. Here’s where things stand:
Renewals: Golden Visa holders can still renew their residence permits. The Mais Habitação law originally proposed ending renewals for real estate investors, but this was struck down by Portugal’s Constitutional Court in 2023 as unconstitutional. As of 2026, all existing Golden Visa holders can continue to renew.
Requirements for renewal: - Maintain the qualifying investment for the original renewal period (5 years total) - After 5 years, you can sell the investment and still maintain residency through other means - Continue to meet the minimum stay requirement (7 days per year on average) - Clean criminal record - Valid health insurance - NIF and Portuguese tax compliance
Important: If you used real estate as your qualifying investment, you no longer need to hold that real estate after your 5-year mark. You can sell and still renew your Golden Visa — but only if you’ve already completed the 5-year holding period.
This is the key benefit that remains. Existing Golden Visa holders who have completed 5 years of legal residency can apply for Portuguese citizenship. Requirements:
Timeline: Citizenship applications are currently taking 12–24 months to process. The demand has overwhelmed the registry system, and there’s a significant backlog. You maintain your Golden Visa residency while the citizenship application is pending.
Key point: The Golden Visa was never the only way to get citizenship — it was just the lowest-effort way (minimum stay, no need to work). The citizenship itself is the same regardless of which residency pathway you used.
Short answer: No, not through any remaining route.
The cultural heritage donation route requires you to give away €250,000 with no return, and the processing is so slow and uncertain that you’d likely wait 2+ years for a residence permit that you could obtain in 1–2 years through the D7 for a fraction of the cost.
If you’re considering the Golden Visa for the citizenship timeline, understand this: the D7 and D8 both lead to citizenship in 5 years — the same timeline as the Golden Visa. The only advantage the Golden Visa had was the minimal stay requirement (7 days/year vs. 183 days/year for D7/D8). That’s a significant difference if you don’t want to live in Portugal full-time, but if you’re actually planning to live there, it’s irrelevant.
| Feature | Golden Visa (closed) | D7 (Passive Income) | D8 (Digital Nomad) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum investment/income | €250,000 (donation) | €820/month | €3,280/month |
| Stay requirement | 7 days/year avg | 183 days/year | 183 days/year |
| Initial permit | 2 years | 2 years | 1 year |
| Renewal | 3 years | 3 years | 2 years |
| Path to citizenship | After 5 years | After 5 years | After 5 years |
| Work in Portugal | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Family reunification | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Process complexity | High (lawyer needed) | Medium | Medium |
| Legal fees | €15,000–30,000 | €2,000–5,000 | €2,000–5,000 |
| Total 5-year cost | €350,000+ | €15,000–25,000 | €25,000–40,000 |
The math is straightforward: unless you absolutely cannot spend 183 days per year in Portugal, the D7 or D8 is vastly cheaper and equally effective for getting you to citizenship.
There’s exactly one scenario where pursuing the remaining Golden Visa route makes sense: you need EU residency but genuinely cannot spend 6+ months per year in Portugal, and you’re willing to gamble €250,000 on a donation route that may not be approved. Even then, you’d be better off looking at other countries’ investment visa programs (see below).
For the thousands of people who obtained Golden Visas before October 2023, the situation is stable but not without complications.
Many Golden Visa holders bought property in Lisbon or Porto and are now wondering if they can sell. The answer depends on timing:
Golden Visa holders who become tax residents in Portugal face the standard Portuguese tax regime. The NHR (Non-Habitual Resident) program that many Golden Visa holders planned to use has been significantly restricted starting in 2024:
If you’re an existing Golden Visa holder who relied on NHR for tax optimization, you need to talk to a Portuguese tax advisor immediately. The landscape has changed significantly.
AIMA (which replaced SEF in late 2023) is processing a massive backlog of Golden Visa renewals and appointments. Existing holders have reported wait times of 12–18 months for renewal appointments. During this wait, your existing residence permit remains valid — you don’t lose your legal status. But it can be stressful, and it complicates travel outside Portugal (carry your receipt showing you’ve applied for renewal).
If you have significant capital and want EU residency without the 183-day stay requirement, Portugal’s Golden Visa isn’t the only game — it just used to be the cheapest and easiest. Here are alternatives:
For 95% of people considering moving to Portugal in 2026, the answer is the same: skip the Golden Visa. It’s dead, and the remaining shell isn’t worth chasing. Instead:
If you have passive income (pension, dividends, rental income, social security): Apply for the D7 visa. Minimum €820/month, path to citizenship in 5 years, total cost under €25,000 including legal fees. See our D7 Complete Guide.
If you have active remote work income: Apply for the D8 Digital Nomad Visa. Minimum €3,280/month, same citizenship timeline, designed specifically for remote workers.
If you have significant capital and don’t want to live in Portugal full-time: Look at Greece, Spain, or Italy — but understand that you’re paying a premium for the flexibility of not having to reside in the country, and the citizenship timelines are longer.
If you’re an existing Golden Visa holder: You’re fine. Your rights are protected. Focus on maintaining your 7-day-per-year stay requirement, keep your documentation current, and start your citizenship application as soon as you hit the 5-year mark. The backlog means the actual processing will take a while, but your legal status is secure in the meantime.
The Portuguese Golden Visa had a good run — over a decade, billions in investment, and thousands of new residents. But it was always a product of a specific moment: Portugal’s post-crisis need for foreign capital. That need has diminished, and the political cost of the housing crisis has made the program untenable.
The irony is that for most people, the Golden Visa was never the best pathway to Portuguese residency — it was just the most famous. The D7 visa, which has existed since long before the Golden Visa, offers the same end result (EU citizenship) for a fraction of the cost. The only thing the Golden Visa bought you was the right to barely live in Portugal while qualifying for its passport — a loophole that was always going to close.
If Portugal is genuinely where you want to live, you don’t need a Golden Visa. You need a D7, some patience, and a willingness to learn Portuguese. The bureaucracy is the same either way. The citizenship timeline is the same. The pastéis de nata taste the same.
Welcome to Portugal — the front door is open, you just have to actually walk through it.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or immigration advice. Immigration laws change frequently. Consult a qualified Portuguese immigration lawyer for advice specific to your situation.