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Residency by Investment · from United Kingdom

Is the Portugal Golden Visa Still Worth It After the Real-estate Route Closed? Asked Anonymously

I had been planning to invest €500k in property in Lisbon for the Golden Visa. Since the real-estate route closed in late 2023, what are the realistic alternatives, and is Portugal still the best European route for someone in my position?

Answered by
Adrian Sinclair
Senior Partner & Head of European Programmes
For most clients in your bracket, yes — Portugal's pathway to citizenship after five years is still uniquely strong in the EU, and the closure only removed one of several routes. The most common substitution is the qualifying-fund route (€500,000 in approved Portuguese venture or private-equity funds), which preserves both the residency threshold and the asset-recoverable structure. Other live routes include capital transfer (€1.5m) and the cultural-donation route (€250,000 to Portuguese cultural heritage). The key advantage Portugal retains over Greece, Malta MPRP and Spain (now closed) is the seven-day-per-year minimum stay and the citizenship eligibility at year five. You give up the asset-recoverable nature of property, but funds are typically liquid after the residency period and the regulatory environment is now more predictable than during the 2022–2023 reform cycle.
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