So as the title already says, I’m considering investing in a Golden Visa in Portugal. To explain a bit about myself, I’m a gay guy that comes from a homophobic country in eastern Europe and so far I have been living in Portugal for couple of years but I don’t really see myself staying long term. I have elderly parents and I would still like to be able to travel without having to count my days each time I leave the country.
The reason why I’m somewhat hesitant in investing is that financially it would be a big burden for me to invest this amount of money. If it was real estate, as it used to be back in the day, it would be a bit of an easier decision.
So far I have seen that the Optimize fund has been doing pretty decent over the past years, but I would still have to do more research. Another thing I have to mention, I believe the years that I have already spent in Portugal would count towards naturalization. I’ve heard that they have somewhat sped up the process so while I would be waiting for the Golden Visa to be issued I would already have my digital nomad visa active from what I understand. I’m somewhat counting that the GV would be issued within a period of 2 years.
It depends an awful lot on variables you haven’t mentioned, and a lot of people are feeling burned right now so it’s going to be hard to get objective advice but I’ll try. First of all, I wouldn’t pursue it if you’re not prepared to lose the investment. Some people have done reasonably well in the funds, but it’s hit or miss. Also, make absolutely sure that your lawyer feels that your naturalization won’t suffer by switching visas. The good news though is that if you’re already a couple of years into a 10 year wait, the workload at IRN may have come down by the time you’re ready to apply.
If you’re willing (or planning) to move you may be better off just naturalizing somewhere that still has a 5 year citizenship path. It’s likely cheaper, faster and easier. The argument in favor of it is that if your time spent does count towards the 10 years and you already speak Portuguese, the ARI would allow you to keep your status without being limited in your time away.
Do you fully understand all of the issues the program has? Also all of the investments are not the best way to invest your money, or even bad investments. If it’s a lot of money for you, it’s a poor decision on the investment front too.
I would be willing to lose some of the money in the sense that the investment falls 10-15% but I wouldn’t be willing to risk the complete amount to be honest. They have open-ended funds that you’re able to withdraw such as Optimize, so in case the investment starts falling further I would try to withdraw back my funds.
I was considering France since I would be able to be absent 6 months per year but at the other side they are notorious for high taxes.
I was counting also on the 5 year path towards citizenship and I was extremely disappointed to hear there won’t be any sort of grandfathering. Furthermore, they stopped counting the time you wait for the residence permit to be issued as time towards naturalization.
Saying that Golden Visa investors were investing just for the right of residence permit and not citizenship seems disingenuine.
My wife and I started the Golden Visa process about two years ago in PT and were certainly frustrated when they extended the citizenship time frame from 5 years to 10 years. However, I have received my temporary residency permit, and we’re going for Lori’s biometrics in January.
I’ve been pretty happy with the investment funds we invested in, which I’ll detail in bullets below this. Oxy is strong enough that i’ve considered investing additionally with him but haven’t yet due to lots of spend on a home renovation in California. Edge - the law firm - has been excellent. When I was in Portugal last winter for my biometrics, I visited both investment firms, the law firm, and the bank, and was frankly impressed with all of them.
The returns on the investment fund, the liquid ones, have been pretty good. The private equity firm: the jury’s out, and the money’s going to be locked up for a while, which I’m comfortable with, but I suspect you may not be.
You might do a call with the law firm to get their advice - they will certainly chat with you for free for a bit. I also think Prime Legal seemed quite good too and may be worth a conversation. Given you are in country perhaps you could meet with both. I estimate legal and filing costs to be about $30-50k over the life of the process on top of the investments.
Something to consider is that citizenship and actual residency don’t have to align completely. Speak with a tax advisor and absolutely pay whatever taxes you’ll owe in whatever jurisdiction, but if you were to become a French citizen you could always then settle in another EU country.
A lot of this question comes down to what you want for your life though. I’m continuing in the program because I want to keep my flexibility and gain a secondary citizenship. You sound like you may be choosing a primary citizenship, but one that gives you flexibility across the EU. I think that the decision you have to make is more philosophical than practical.
I invested in a hotel project in 2023, when real estate was the dominant investment method and before funds became available. My biometric appointment was this past spring, and I’m still waiting on my card. I applied for citizenship early though, before the law officially changed, with the hope that I would hit five years before they look at my application. That route is now obviously off the table, and we don’t even know if it will work for those of us who took the chance.
Are you interested in the GV mainly for citizenship, or mainly to preserve your right to live in Portugal despite absences?
How disappointed would you be if, some years after getting GV but before you can apply for citizenship, the government changes the law so that only years where you were physically in Portugal for say, 10 months, count towards the 10 years for citizenship?
I’m interested more in the citizenship, I was also considering waiting 5 years in order to apply for EU LTR (Long-term residence) that would allow me easier time applying for other places in EU, but the problem with that one is that I would only be allowed 10 months of absence in the 5 years from Portugal.
Okay so how disappointed would you be if, some years after getting GV but before you can apply for citizenship, the government changes the law so that only years where you were physically in Portugal for say, 10 months, count towards the 10 years for citizenship?
Suppose you have 50% chance that the law doesn’t change and you can get citizenship. Would you still think the GV is worth it?
What if the chance of citizenship is only 20%?
Consider all these scenarios before committing. Remember the government has shown it’s willing to change the law with retroactive effect, and the Constitutional Court has shown they will allow it.
I’m still feeling a bit burnt with what just happened since I followed the recent changes. I’ve seen the laws being shifted constantly and it’s definitely not a good look.
However, I looked at various options and just can’t seem to find the perfect fit.
France allows 6 months of absence per year but at the same time has high inheritance tax, exit tax, wealth tax and so forth.
Greece and Cyprus are good options when you look at taxation but you actually have to live there 7-8 years to get a citizenship.
Malta on paper sounds good, 5 years until citizenship with low taxation. However, realistically it takes 13-15 years of living there before they actually approve you citizenship.
Croatia is where I would ideally like to move which is possible by buying a real estate there, but the problem is that once the 1 year visa expires you have to move elsewhere for 6 months before you can apply again which means it’s almost impossible to get a long term residence.
So that leads be back to Portugal and the Golden Visa since it’s one of the only options in Europe where you can obtain a citizenship with minimum presence (for now).
If you can afford the GV, but are living in Portugal, and assuming you can return to your home country for the appointment, why not invest your money somewhere that gets you the required monthly return for a D8? Visa requirements may have changed, but last I checked it wasn’t too hard to get a monthly return high enough to cover the income requirement with 500k.
Keep in mind most open ended funds have early withdrawal penalties, and custodian banks were looking to do the same, make sure to read the fine print. Is BPI an option for you? I’m a year and a half in with no card, and according to the EOY custodian bank statement - down on investments for 2025 (which didn’t quite align with the funds reporting). Knowing just how willing everyone involved with the process seems to be with moving the goalposts, and how challenging so many pieces have been, I can’t say I would choose to do this again.
Right but it’s a very expensive lottery ticket for a chance at citizenship. And the odds of that chance are entirely controlled by the same government selling you the lottery ticket.
As most responders correctly indicated many issues with the Golden Visa programme experienced over the recent years, I would like to re-iterate the one very important fact omitted from their responses: the government has intentionally discriminated against Golden Visa seekers, deliberately placing them at the end of the residency processing queue. Furthermore, the latest nationality law changes not only doubled the wait period for citizenship from 5 years to 10, the government also eliminated the count of wait time from the date of application to the issue of your first residency card. And so, here are your realistic timeframe if you are just starting:
Anywhere from extra 2 to 5 years of wait from the date of application to the first residency card (meaning: card in your hands with the issue date).
10 year wait from the date of your first card.
Currently about 3+ years wait for your citizenship processing.
Conservatively speaking, you should be willing to “part” with your investment for at least 15 to 18 years or more. And remember that even a permanent residency would require a minimum 5 year wait from your first card, resulting in a minimum of 7 (very rare) to 10 years (typical), with additional 2 to 4 years of processing.
I trust you are in good health, financially secure, and with a robust fighting spirit to persevere through this journey. May the force be with you!
P.S. I embarked on this programme in 2021, full of optimism, and moved to Portugal in 2022. For now, I will persevere here a bit longer since I entered GV under the now-extinct real-estate option and have NHR 1.0, yet I doubt I would live long enough to see a Portuguese passport in my hands. I wish the Italian GV programme would have been available at the time of my research in 2020/2021.
It feels the OP is looking for a solution without being clear on the objectives. The only statement coming close to defining objectives is this:
Which still does not allow to understand the ‘so what’? Why does he need citizenship? EU citizenship specifically or any other? What for, to do what? If residence is ‘enough’, again which one, EU specifically or any other? For what reason? There is no way of answering if PT GV is meeting the objectives without knowing the objectives.
You are unlikely to find many people in this forum that would advise you to embark on Portugal’s GV programme. Please, for your own sake, listen to the advice from the many people here who have been burned logistically and financially by Portugal as a result of the lengthy delays and the fundamental changes to the promises of the GV programme.
Do not rely on the advice of Portuguese lawyers, fund managers, or other people who make their living from GV applicants. GV applicants have been treated as the lowest of the low by the authorities and they have publicly admitted so if we needed such an admission based on our collective experience.
You say that investing in the GV would be a big burden and this detail alone means the GV programme is not appropriate for you. If the programme played out as promoted then you could make an informed decision. It will not play out as promoted and so you cannot make an informed decision. If you can afford to write off the hard cash and the years of time invested then it wouldn’t matter. But it sounds like the cash is important to you and the time invested needs to result in goals achieved. Hence, the Portuguese GV is not for you.
Make sure you add up the total cost of the GV including perpetual renewals for, maybe, 15 years at around €4000 every two years because there is no such thing in practice as Permanent Residence which is only valid for five years and theoretically costs around €9000 if it was possible to get an appointment which it isn’t.
Portugal is a lovely country to live in with excellent beaches, wine, and old castles to visit. But whatever your goals, you are unlikely to achieve them with this programme. Please take the advice from the very many people who believed the propaganda, invested under the GV programme, and now dearly regret not taking another path.