2026 investment routes (real estate abolished)
Buying real estate no longer qualifies for the Golden Visa. The 2026 routes are:
- Fund — €500,000: a CMVM-regulated qualifying fund or VC, ≥60% invested in Portuguese companies, with no direct or indirect real-estate exposure. Capital is recoverable on exit (subject to fund performance).
- Cultural donation — €250,000 (€200,000 in low-density areas): support for heritage or the arts. Non-recoverable.
- Scientific research — €500,000: donation to a research institution. Non-recoverable.
- Company / jobs: €500,000 plus 5 jobs, or 10 jobs with no capital minimum.
How to apply: steps, fees & timeline (2026)
The Golden Visa is investment-first: you complete the investment, then apply for residency through AIMA (the agency that replaced SEF). Here's the 2026 path.
Government fees — unverified
| Stage | Who pays it | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Application / processing | Main applicant | Not obtained |
| Application / processing | Each family member | Not obtained |
| Residence permit grant | Main applicant | Not obtained |
| Residence permit grant | Each family member | Not obtained |
| Renewal, every 2 years | Main applicant | Not obtained |
| Renewal, every 2 years | Each family member | Not obtained |
We could not obtain AIMA’s fee schedule and have therefore removed the amounts we used to print here. Until now this table showed a single approximate figure per stage and gave the main applicant and each family member the same grant fee — a figure we could not show you the origin of, and an equality we never verified. Measured on 22 August 2026 across two collection runs and twelve addresses: every AIMA path we tried (the fee pages, the investment pages and the immigrant portal) refused both direct and archived access, the predecessor SEF site and its fee-table PDF are gone, and the Diário da República pages for the governing instruments return only site navigation. The stages and payer categories in the table above are the axes AIMA actually splits on, so you can ask for each one by name; the amounts must come from AIMA directly. These government fees are separate from your investment and from lawyer/advisory fees, and they recur at each renewal. Amounts change periodically — confirm the current schedule at filing. Use the calculator above to see how they stack up against recoverable vs sunk capital.
How long does it take?
Because of AIMA's backlog, in 2026 the full journey from application to first residence card commonly runs 12–18 months (AIMA's administrative review alone is around 6 months, and biometrics scheduling can add several more). Choosing a less-congested regional office and filing a complete, source-of-funds-ready file is the best way to reduce delays.
Documents to prepare
- Valid passport and your Portuguese NIF.
- Proof of the qualifying investment (fund subscription / donation receipt).
- Clear source-of-funds evidence (bank statements, sale/contract documents, tax records).
- Criminal record certificate from your country of residence (apostilled / legalised).
- Proof of health insurance valid in Portugal, and family relationship documents for dependents.
The May 2026 citizenship reform
Parliament approved a revised Nationality Law on 1 April 2026; the President signed it (Lei Orgânica 1/2026) on 3 May 2026.
- Naturalisation extended from 5 years to 10 years for most nationalities, 7 years for EU and CPLP nationals.
- The residency clock now starts from the issuance date of the residence card (a 2024 rule that counted from application date was revoked).
- Applications filed on or before 18 May 2026 keep the prior 5-year regime; later applicants follow the new timeline.
- The Golden Visa residency program itself is unchanged — only the citizenship timeline. Permanent residency at year 5 remains available.
AIMA has yet to publish the updated nationality regulation, and treatment of residency already accrued is contested. Verify with a lawyer.
The year-5 PR strategy
Because permanent residency is still reachable at 5 years and is independent of the longer citizenship clock, a common 2026 plan is: hold the fund to year 5, obtain PR, then redeem the fund to recover your capital while keeping residency rights, and continue toward citizenship at year 10. Stay requirement is light — roughly 7 days per year on average.
Common rejection & delay reasons
Real-world reasons Portuguese Golden Visa files stall or get refused.
- Still chasing the real-estate route. Property investment was removed as a qualifying route in October 2023 (Lei 56/2023). Only the €500,000 fund and other non-property routes remain.
- Fund is not Golden-Visa-eligible. Subscribing to a fund that is not a CMVM-regulated qualifying fund. Verify eligibility before transferring.
- Weak source-of-funds trail. Funds from third-party or company accounts without documentation cause suspension at AIMA.
- Criminal-record certificate not legalised. Missing apostille/legalisation or translation from your country of residence.
- Assuming citizenship at 5 years. The 2026 reform raised naturalisation to 10 years (7 for EU/CPLP), from first residence-card issue.
Golden Visa document checklist (save your progress)
Tick each item as you gather it. Progress is saved in this browser — nothing is uploaded.
Sources and official references: Diário da República — Lei 23/2007 (ARI, consolidated text); Source gap: AIMA, the authority that administers the programme and publishes the route amounts and fee schedule, has been unreachable from our automated source checks since July 2026 (TLS failure on every aima.gov.pt path), so the route amounts on this page are carried against the legislation above rather than against AIMA’s own page. Re-checked on 22 August 2026 across two collection runs and twelve addresses — the AIMA fee, investment and immigrant-portal paths, the predecessor SEF site and its fee-table PDF, and the Diário da República pages for the governing instruments — and none returned readable fee text. The government-fee amounts we previously printed have been removed rather than kept unsourced, and the calculator no longer adds them to the total; the fee table now names only the stages and payer categories so you can ask AIMA for each by name. Verify current amounts on aima.gov.pt before acting. Last reviewed: August 22, 2026. Lei n.º 56/2023 (which removed real-estate as a qualifying route from October 2023); Lei Orgânica 1/2026 (nationality reform — Parliament approved 1 April 2026, promulgated 3 May 2026), which raised the naturalisation residency requirement to 10 years for most third-country nationals and 7 years for EU/CPLP nationals, with the clock running from the first residence-card issue date. The Golden Visa investment routes themselves (mainly €500,000 qualifying funds) are unchanged by the nationality reform. Government and processing fees are estimates and change periodically; fund performance is not guaranteed and capital is at risk. This is an estimate, not legal, tax, or investment advice. Confirm with a licensed Portuguese immigration lawyer and a regulated fund advisor.