I have been planning to apply for the Portugal Golden Visa for quite some time, but at the last moment I have started to feel uncertain and now I am seriously thinking whether I should go with Portugal or Bulgaria instead.
One of my main concerns is the timeline in Portugal. I keep reading about the backlog at AIMA and the waiting time for biometrics and residence cards. From what I see on this forum, people who recently reported receiving approvals seem to be mostly applicants from 2022 or 2023, and in some cases 2024. I have not seen any reports of approvals or residence cards for people who applied in 2025.
Some people who applied in late 2025 mentioned they received early biometric appointments, which is encouraging, but I have not yet seen anyone reporting that they actually received the residence permit after that. This makes me wonder what the real timeline looks like now if someone applies today.
Because of this, I have started looking into Bulgaria’s permanent residence by investment. The investment amount seems to be almost the same as the Portugal fund route, but the information online suggests that Bulgaria grants permanent residence relatively quickly and without the long waiting periods.
However, I would really like to hear from people who have actual experience. If anyone has experience with the Bulgaria investment PR programme, How long did it actually take from investment to getting the residence card?
Portugal still seems very attractive overall, but the waiting time and uncertainty are making the decision difficult. I would really appreciate hearing recent experiences from people who have gone through either process.
Is your goal just the residency, or citizenship? One downside if you’re aiming for citizenship, Bulgaria requires you give up your existing citizenship to naturalize there, so you can’t get dual citizenship.
But for residency I could see it being much better, especially since they give PR right away.
I think the Bulgarian program has much fewer applicants. So very likely less backlog than Portugal, but also harder to find information from applicants.
Portugal is a quagmire. If you apply now do not expect a card before 5 years nor citizenship before 15-20 years if ever.
Recently the waiting time seems to have improved significantly for the early stages. I see people reporting pre-approval within about a month and biometric appointments within 3–4 months. Any hope that in 2026 the waiting time for final approval will also improve ?
Stay far, far away from this program. It’s a complete scam. Even if you get lucky and have a step or two work out for you, eventually you will get stuck. I have been waiting 4 years for a biometrics appointment, don’t believe the lawyers (unless they’re actually honest..) and don’t believe the GV advisors and investment companies. There are no strings you can pull if you get stuck, there are no legal options the courts are packed with cases, if you get stuck, you’re done. If you get in this program, you will regret it and come back one day to this comment.
According to the crowdsourced timeline database, nobody in the database who applied after the end of 2023 has received their card yet. This is even after the rush of approvals in October following the passage of the (now overturned) nationality law.
even after reading all the horror stories (real life experiences) here on NG, you still think the PT government is truthful about their intentions of speeding things up, roll the dice..
on 10/31 last year they offered biometrics appointments to pretty much everyone who had applied before September. A few lucky outliers with September and October applications got appointments too but most who applied September or later are still waiting 6 months on.
I spoke with a Bulgarian attorney recently and was not impressed with the assurances that their GV option is more certain or speedy than the Portuguese one. One advantage of Portugal is that its program has been ongoing for a long time. Yes, there have been delays in processing in the past, but with the new digitized setup, things have been moving rather smoothly in my opinion.
@Aawattoo Your concerns are completely understandable. The Golden Visa process has been going through a very difficult phase due to administrative inefficiencies and the volume of applications. This has been frustrating not only for applicants but also for us, advisors who are trying to help their clients navigate the system. I think that even at this point nobody can responsibly promise clear timelines.
That said, I think @calvinesq is right: AIMA is trying to improve and digitalize the process, and we see good progresses. In the specific case of NSM, a good percentage of our clients who submitted their applications up to around September 2025 (64%, to be more specific) have already had their biometrics completed. No residence cards have been issued for those cases yet, but the process is moving much faster than before. And the Portuguese Golden Visa is still a very attractive program overall, so it’s definitely worth considering.
I think that depends on your goal. For those looking for citizenship without living in Portugal, the program seems very risky given the government’s desire to change the citizenship laws with no grandfathering for existing residents. Maybe for now the change is only adding 5 years (plus the 3-5 years of wait time for first card), but during that extra 8-10 years the government could change it again to disqualify those who don’t truly live in Portugal. Every extra year adds political risk.
The timeline uncertainty with AIMA is absolutely real, and I understand the frustration of trying to plan around it. You’re right that most recent approvals seem to be for 2022-2023 applicants, though I have heard of some 2024 filers getting movement.
One thing I’d think about beyond just processing time: the financial and tax implications between Portugal and Bulgaria are pretty different, especially if you’re American. Portugal has the tax framework that can work really well for US citizens (depending on your situation), while Bulgaria’s tax environment is structured differently. The Golden Visa timeline headache might be worth it if Portugal’s the better long-term fit financially, or it might not be if Bulgaria checks more boxes for you overall.
I don’t have firsthand Bulgaria PR timeline data to share, but I’d be curious what you find if you go that route. The decision gets a lot easier once you map out what each residency actually means for your taxes, retirement accounts, and overall financial setup over the next 5-10 years, not just which card arrives faster.