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Applying for the Portugal Golden Visa

Researched and written with AI tools from official sources. How we make our guides

The Golden Visa investment routes and minimums, who your family can include, the AIMA fees, the days you must spend here, and the steps to apply.

The Portugal Brief 8 min read

Applying for the Portugal Golden Visa

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

  • You are a non-EU citizen with at least €250,000 to invest or donate in Portugal.
  • You want residence rights in Portugal without moving here full time.
  • You already hold a Golden Visa and want to check renewal, family, or citizenship rules.

Not for you if: you plan to live here full time on a pension or savings. Read the D7 guide instead.

Updated October 2026. Since 11 September 2026 the general rule is that AIMA must decide a residence permit within 90 days, extendable by 30. Citizenship now takes 10 years of legal residence for most non-EU citizens, not five.

The Golden Visa is a residence permit for investors. Its official name is the investment residence permit (autorização de residência para investimento, or ARI). You apply to AIMA, the immigration agency, without a consular visa. The cheapest route is a €250,000 transfer to arts or heritage. Most other routes start at €500,000. Property no longer qualifies. You must keep the investment for five years and spend at least 7 days here in the first year. AIMA's fees are about €6,950 per person for the first permit.

How the Golden Visa works

You make a qualifying investment in Portugal, then ask AIMA for a residence permit based on it. Unlike other routes, you do not need a residence visa from a consulate first. You also do not need to live here full time.

The first permit lasts two years. You then renew it for two years at a time, as long as you still hold the investment. After five years you can apply for a permanent permit.

A residence permit lets you work, study, and use the health service (SNS) in Portugal. It also lets you travel in the other Schengen countries for up to 90 days in any 180. It does not let you live or work in another EU country.

The investment routes

The investment cannot go into real estate, directly or indirectly. You must keep it for at least five years. These are the routes the law allows:

RouteMinimumIn a low-density area
Creating jobs in Portugal10 jobs8 jobs
Scientific research at public or private institutions in the national research system€500,000€400,000
Artistic production, or restoring or maintaining national cultural heritage€250,000€200,000
Units in Portuguese investment funds that are not real estate funds€500,000No reduction
Setting up or adding capital to a Portuguese company, with jobs€500,000No reduction

Low-density areas are parts of the country with fewer than 100 people per square kilometre, or income per person below 75% of the national average. The law lets the minimum drop by 20% there for the jobs, research, and culture routes.

Investment funds

You buy at least €500,000 of units in a Portuguese collective investment fund. The fund cannot be a real estate fund. When you invest, it must have at least five years left to run. At least 60% of its investments must be in companies based in Portugal. Fund fees and returns are set by each fund, not by the state. Your money is at risk.

Arts and cultural heritage

You transfer at least €250,000 to support artistic production or national heritage. The money must go through public bodies or certain approved entities. These include government services, public institutes, public foundations, private foundations with public interest status, and municipal bodies working in culture. This is a transfer, not an investment you get back.

Scientific research

You transfer at least €500,000 to research carried out by public or private research institutions in the national scientific system. This money is also not returned.

Company routes

You have two options:

  • Create at least 10 jobs. There is no minimum capital for this route.
  • Put in at least €500,000 to set up a company based in Portugal and create five permanent jobs. Or add the money to an existing Portuguese company, and either create five permanent jobs or keep ten jobs, at least five of them permanent. The jobs must last at least three years.

Who can apply

You can apply if all of these are true:

  • You are not an EU, EEA, or Swiss citizen.
  • You have made one of the investments above.
  • You entered Portugal legally and apply within 90 days of your first entry.
  • You meet the general conditions for a residence permit, including no conviction for a crime punishable in Portugal by more than a year in prison.

AIMA can refuse a permit for reasons of public order or security, or if you are under EU sanctions.

Bringing your family

Your family can apply with you from the start. The usual two-year wait for family reunification does not apply to Golden Visa holders. These relatives qualify:

  • Your spouse or legal partner. You must both be at least 18.
  • Your children under 18, or adult children who cannot look after themselves.
  • Adult children you support who are single and studying, in Portugal or abroad.
  • Your parents, or your spouse's parents, if you support them.
  • Your brothers and sisters under 18, if a court has made you their guardian.

Each family member needs no investment of their own, but each pays the full AIMA fees. See Applying for Family Reunification in Portugal for the general rules.

How many days you must spend in Portugal

AIMA's page says you must spend at least 7 days in Portugal in the first year and at least 14 days in the years after. The days can be together or spread out. Keep boarding passes and passport stamps as proof.

This is far less than other permits require. A D7 or D8 holder can lose the permit after six months away in a row.

How to apply, step by step

  1. Get a tax number (NIF). You need it to invest and to open a bank account. You do not need a tax representative to get a NIF. Later, once you own property or a car here or work here while living outside the EU and EEA, you must either appoint one or switch on free electronic notifications on the Portal das Finanças. See Getting a NIF (Tax Number) in Portugal and Appointing a Fiscal Representative in Portugal.
  2. Open a Portuguese bank account. The law requires a transfer of capital into Portugal for the money routes.
  3. Make the investment. Keep every contract, transfer record, and certificate.
  4. Gather your documents. Check AIMA's current checklist for your route before you start.
  5. Apply to AIMA. Include every family member who is applying with you.
  6. Pay the fees and attend AIMA when asked, for example to give fingerprints.
  7. Receive your card. Check your email for any request for more documents.

Documents to prepare

  • A valid passport for you and each family member.
  • Proof that you entered Portugal legally.
  • Proof of the investment, as AIMA's checklist sets out for your route.
  • Criminal record certificates, with an apostille or legalisation where needed.
  • Proof of family ties for each relative, such as marriage and birth certificates.
  • Your NIF.

What it costs

These are AIMA's fees from its table updated 26 February 2026. They apply to each person, including each family member.

ItemFull feePaid now (25% reduction)
First permit: assessing and granting€9,261.70€6,946.30
Renewal: assessing and renewing€5,053.10€3,789.90

AIMA's table gives a full fee and a fee 25% lower for online requests. Until its services move fully online, AIMA applies the 25% reduction at the counter too.

Moving to a permanent investment permit after five years costs more. The full fees are €842.80 to process and €11,786.70 to grant.

Budget separately for translations, apostilles, and any adviser. A lawyer is optional and their fees are not set by the state.

How long it takes

No official processing time is published for Golden Visa applications. Since 11 September 2026, the law gives AIMA 90 days to decide a residence permit application, extendable by 30 days in exceptional cases. AIMA has not said how it applies this to Golden Visa files. Do not plan around a fixed date.

Renewals

You renew every two years. Each time, you prove you still hold the investment and met the minimum stay. Apply no later than 30 days before your card expires. Investment permits are renewed at an AIMA office, not on the online Renewals Portal. See Renewing Your Residence Permit with AIMA in Portugal.

Permanent residence and citizenship

Permanent residence. After five years you can apply for a permanent permit. Golden Visa holders receive a special permanent investment permit, with the higher fees above. You also need basic Portuguese (A2). See Getting Permanent Residence in Portugal.

Citizenship. The five-year path to citizenship has ended. For applications made since 19 May 2026, you need ten years of legal residence, or seven if you are from a Portuguese-speaking country. Time spent waiting for AIMA to decide your first permit no longer counts. You must also pass a test of Portuguese language, culture, history, and national symbols. See Getting Portuguese Citizenship by Naturalisation.

Golden Visa or another visa?

If you want to live here full time, another route is usually cheaper:

  • D7: for pensions, rent, or savings. You need at least €920 a month in 2026.
  • D8: for remote work for clients or employers abroad. You need at least €3,680 a month in 2026.

Both start at a consulate and cost far less in fees. Compare every route in Visas and Residency in Portugal.

Living here more than 183 days a year usually makes you tax resident. The old non-habitual resident (NHR) tax scheme is closed to new arrivals. See Qualifying for the IFICI Tax Regime That Replaced NHR.

This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice. Rules change often; check the official source before you act.

Sources

This guide is written from official sources and, where relevant, organisations' own websites.

Last verified October 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.

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