Out of curiosity what is your goal with the donation? E.g. if citizenship without living full time in Portugal, how would you feel if the government changes the law so that you need 10 years each with 10 months physical presence in Portugal, to naturalize? In that case you may have trouble getting citizenship and also you’d never get your money back…
Personally, I want the ability to quickly relocate without necessarily needing to be there right now, and eventually to obtain citizenship for myself and my family. Historically, my family has done well by knowing when it’s time to move along, and I don’t like the way the winds are blowing at home lately.
how would you feel if the government changes the law so that you need 10 years each with 10 months physical presence in Portugal, to naturalize? In that case you may have trouble getting citizenship and also you’d never get your money back…
Well, I’d be pretty disappointed, but I’ve made my peace with the risk here. I’m very fortunate to say that “losing” this amount won’t make much difference. Also, as above, I’m buying optionality and not a passport.
I guess I’m just curious whether Portugal still comes ahead for “optionality” without the passport. Don’t Greece, Italy, Malta, Cyprus etc offer Golden Visas with less residence requirement?
To maintain the Portugal optionality you have to visit 7 days per year for the rest of your life. That didn’t seem bad when it was supposedly time limited to 5 years, but I only have so many vacation days and feel like annual Portugal trips for the rest of my life would cut into time our kids could spend visiting their grandparents.
I guess I’m just curious whether Portugal still comes ahead for “optionality” without the passport.
Even if that hypothetical came to pass, I would still have the option to relocate to Portugal, where presumably actual residence would count. We could imagine all sorts of changes that could be made, but they are beyond my meagre ability to predict.
Don’t Greece, Italy, Malta, Cyprus etc offer Golden Visas with less residence requirement?
For one reason or another, Portugal came out on top. The Greek language just doesn’t jive with me, Malta is a tiny island nation, Italy could teach Portugal a thing or two about bureaucratic nonsense, etc etc etc. Lovely places, all of them, and right for others, but not for me right now. We are happy to spend a week a year in Portugal, so the presence requirement isn’t a problem for us.
I plan to eventually relocate to Portugal. The GV lets me start the clock early plus have an “escape hatch” should things deteriorate even further here in the US. I already speak Portuguese and the thought of learning Greek does not excite me. I personally do not like Italy and Malta is too expensive.
Provided the law doesn’t change further, sure. I can’t really trust the government on this given what they’ve just done.
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I think the 300% increase in the donation route is misleading, or perhaps out of date. Most of it no doubt took place before the propose law change. Applications will fall in 2026.