Obtaining Portuguese Citizenship through the 2025 Golden Visa: Research & Findings
Introduction:
I’ve been researching the process of obtaining Portuguese citizenship via the Golden Visa program as of 2025. The goal was to understand the feasibility, timeline, investment requirements, and potential pitfalls of using a Golden Visa (GV) to ultimately become a Portuguese (and EU) citizen. This post summarizes my findings – including how the program works after recent changes, comparisons of investment options, potential risks/delays, and insights from others who have gone through it. My hope is that this overview will help anyone considering this route, and I’d love feedback from the community on whether this strategy seems sound and if you’d consider it a viable plan.
Key Findings: Path to Citizenship via Golden Visa
Golden Visa Overview: Portugal’s Golden Visa grants a residency permit through investment. It’s been one of Europe’s most popular residency-by-investment schemes since 2012, with over 13,000 investors and €8+ billion invested. The ultimate allure is a clear path to EU citizenship after a period of legal residency – without needing to live in Portugal full-time or become tax resident. As long as you meet the requirements, you can maintain your life elsewhere and still work toward a Portuguese passport.
Residency Requirements: A major benefit of Portugal’s GV is the minimal physical presence requirement. You only need to spend an average of about 7 days per year in Portugal (specifically, 14 days every two years) to keep renewing your permit. This means no relocation is necessary – you can keep your primary home and work outside Portugal if you want. During those short visits you can enjoy visa-free travel in the Schengen area as a resident.
Timeline to Citizenship: Officially, after 5 years of legal residency on a Golden Visa, you become eligible to apply for Portuguese citizenship or permanent residency. In practice, the total time to get a passport includes application processing times and the citizenship procedure itself. Historically, total time to citizenship often extended to 9+ years due to bureaucratic delays. Important update: In early 2024, Portugal passed a law to “start the clock” for the 5-year residency count from the date you submit your GV application, not from the date of approval. Authorities confirmed this change as of February 2025, potentially reducing total time to citizenship to ~6–7 years.
Language and Integration: Unlike some programs, Portugal’s GV requires naturalization, including basic Portuguese language proficiency (A2 level) for citizenship. A2 is beginner-level proficiency. Portugal removed deeper “integration” requirements beyond minimal residency. Many GV holders have successfully obtained citizenship fulfilling minimum stay and language requirements.
2023/2025 Program Changes: The Golden Visa program is not ending in 2025, but was restructured in late 2023. The Portuguese government removed real estate purchases and simple capital transfers from qualifying investments, directing funds toward business, innovation, or cultural heritage. Existing investors were grandfathered; new applicants in 2025 have fewer, though still several, attractive investment routes available.
Benefits of Citizenship: Portuguese citizenship grants an EU passport, allowing you to live, work, or study anywhere in the EU/EEA. It’s highly valued for global travel freedom and stability, offering significant long-term family benefits.
Investment Options and Cost Comparisons
To pursue the Golden Visa, you must make and maintain a qualifying investment for at least 5 years:
1. Investment Fund (Private Equity/Venture Capital) – €500,000: Most popular route now. A passive investment managed by professionals with potential returns but market risk and management fees.
2. Cultural Heritage Donation – €250,000 (or €200,000 in low-density areas): A simple, one-time non-recoverable donation supporting Portuguese culture. Straightforward, no management or financial return.
3. Scientific Research Donation – €500,000: A non-recoverable contribution supporting scientific institutions in Portugal, twice as expensive as cultural donations.
4. Business / Job Creation – Create 10 Jobs: No fixed minimum capital; involves running or investing in a business in Portugal. More complex due to ongoing management and risk.
Real estate or pure capital transfer routes are no longer available for new applicants post-2023.
Potential Risks and Considerations
Processing Delays & Bureaucracy: Significant delays currently affect the GV application process. Initial approvals can take 1-2 years or longer due to backlogs and bureaucracy. Patience and planning are crucial.
Political and Policy Risk: The GV program has faced political scrutiny. Future changes could further restrict or modify requirements, though existing investors typically remain protected.
Financial Risk of Investments: Each investment type carries specific financial risks, from market risks (fund investments) to non-recoverable expenditures (donations).
Renewals & Compliance: GV holders must renew residency periodically and meet minimal physical presence requirements. Missing these can jeopardize status.
Citizenship Application Stage: Naturalization processing typically takes an additional 1-2 years. Rejections have occasionally occurred, although rare, usually due to procedural or documentation issues.
Tax Considerations: GV does not inherently trigger Portuguese tax residency, but investments might entail tax implications. Professional advice recommended.
Opportunity Cost & Life Planning: Significant financial commitment for several years; consider family dynamics, timing, and alternative opportunities carefully.
Experiences from Current Golden Visa Holders
Early adopters successfully reached citizenship, confirming practical feasibility.
Bureaucratic delays and frustrations remain prevalent.
Investment selection often depends on personal priorities: passive management, simplicity, or entrepreneurial interest.
Community support and language preparation are commonly emphasized as important.
Many initially skeptical investors became fond of Portugal, some even relocating fully.
Conclusion & Next Steps (Seeking Feedback)
In conclusion, obtaining Portuguese citizenship via Golden Visa remains a viable, though lengthy, strategy as of 2025. Recent adjustments clarify timelines but impose new investment limitations. The benefits of eventual EU citizenship generally outweigh the required patience and financial commitment for many investors.
Feedback Wanted: Does this strategy seem reasonable? Any overlooked considerations or personal insights? Would you pursue the Golden Visa route under current conditions? Your thoughts and experiences are greatly appreciated!
ChatGPT would rely a lot of GV promoters’ (hucksters?) material, which always presents a far too optimistic/naïve interpretation of PT Government and AIMA announcements. For example:
Those hundreds of thousands of people currently trying to get their visas approved now… will be hundreds of thousands of people trying to get PT citizenship/passports in a few years. That agency is already struggling with its backlog, and the tsunami of citizenship applications hasn’t even started.
etc, etc.
Basically these things sound great when they are announced, but the actual implementation is f’d up at every opportunity by an overloaded, convoluted bureaucracy. This will continue to be the case as long as there’s hundreds of thousands of applications in AIMA’s backlog.
You need to study the PT threads on Nomadgate to understand the reality vs. the sales pitch. Yes a PT GV is still attainable, but it will take far longer, cost far more, and be much more hassle than you ever could have imagined.
When I applied in 2022, various people promoting PT GV were saying “the process would speed up now that covid is behind us, and the number of 2022 applicants << 2021.”
Three years later, AIMA still hasn’t finished processing all 2021 applicants.
If one invests the 500k EUR in low risk, low return fixed income (e.g. investment grade bond ETF) in the US, or any competitive capital markets, say for return of 5% p.a.
One receives:
500k EUR *5% p.a. = 25k EUR per year, or 2083 EUR per month, enough to apply for D7 for a family of four.
Lower fees (attorney fees and AIMA fees for application + renewals + PR), lower transaction costs (GV fund investments have obscene fees on asset and distributions, GV real estates in the old days were worse), and better treatment from AIMA.
Regarding the statement on removal of deeper connection to local society, it remains to be verified by mutiple GV holders who have already obtained citizenship. After all, it is the minimal stay requirment of only 35 days that appeals to a large number of GV investors.
If you are willing to move the Portugal right away, GV might not be a right option. It is a great option for people who are not ready to move but want a residency/citizenship.
There is some truth to this. I was considering this also during my research phase. However, a D7 requires one to live in Portugal (PRT) full time if obtaining Portuguese citizenship or permanent residence (PR) is the goal. So, if one is still working/managing businesses in Canada/USA or cannot move to PRT immediately, then it will be hard to obtain PR or citizenship down the road.
However, I am wondering about another scenario where one “lives” part of the time in PRT using a D7 permit while at other times living/working in another EU/Schengen country (e.g. Ireland or Germany). Will the stay/travels outside of PRT be detected/be a problem come the time of citizenship or PR application considering both PRT and Germany are both in the Schengen zone?
@callixtus
Hi. It the big risk you are taking
at renewal of your D7 AIMA would ask for:
Tenancy or ownership contract
They start checking if you are really living in PRT using internal checks (they are checking if you have an usual usual life spending such as groceries, leisure, transportations, etc…) your NIF is your tacker (efatura on financias website…)
So i can tell that punctual absence could work but the risk is still there…) …
That experienced by a friend of mine and he faced a refusal of his renew.
The only way -secured- is GV path (7 days a year of presence) No alternatives.
The big investment is dealing with the messy pathway of GV … and the so frustrating citizenship waiting time.
It is theorized 5 years and A2 language
But in practice count minimum 7- to 8 years before applying if you are lucky and get only the minimum of this mess procedure
Final word: It s worth it. You will be European at the end!
Anything can happen over 7-8 years or longer. Chega might win majority over this time frame. PS might pull the rug when it’s time to apply for citizenship. Europeans might start drafting your male offspring. Who knows.
If you must have a plan B asap and have serious money, then look up what Peter Thiel did (Malta and NZ).
If you are five years from retirement and LOVE Europe, skip GV and just start spending longer holidays in Europe, to make up your mind where the retirement house will be—then do passive income visa when you are ready to move per my old post.
If you don’t have Peter Thiel type of money, but have enough to not feel anxious about 500k Euro (ok with investment losing $$, ok with not getting a residency card for 3-4 years, ok with mild abuse from bureaucrats, ok with the currently small risk of not receiving a passport after 7 years of 7 days per year—again, the risk might become big, ok with the significant risk of having to spend 10-11 years instead of 7 years—if despite AIMA’s words, the regulations are written such that the 5 year clock starts from the start date of your first GV residency card). If you are anxious about the future, and need to feel that you are doing something RIGHT NOW towards plan B, but can’t move right away, then PT GV is for you. (But then if you would never give up your existing first world passport, nothing wrong with just a long term residency card somewhere with low maintenance and low taxes—having to renew every 2 years at 7k EUR is too much maintenance.)
I personally will not play games with day counting. Very easy to get caught. Visa fraud is never worth it.