Portugal's Golden Visa, the ARI, grants a residence permit through investment. Five routes qualify today: job creation, tech & scientific research, cultural heritage, a qualifying investment fund, and incorporating (or reinforcing the share capital of) a Portuguese company. Real estate is no longer in the options. That route ended in October 2023. Three years on, the legal options are still the same.
Here is what each route requires.
| Route | Minimum investment | Key requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Job creation | No capital minimum | 10 jobs* created in Portugal |
| Tech and Scientific Research | €500,000* | Research at a qualifying public or private institution |
| Cultural heritage | €250,000* | Artistic production, or recovery/maintenance of heritage, through qualifying entities |
| Investment funds | €500,000 | Non-real-estate fund, minimum 5-year maturity, 60% in Portuguese companies |
| Company incorporation | €500,000 | 5 new jobs, or maintain 10 jobs for 3 years |
*A 20% reduction in the minimum investment amount applies when the investment is located in a low-density area of Portugal
Source: Law no. 56/2023, of 6 October, amending Article 90-A and Article 3(1)(d) of Law no. 23/2007, of 4 July.
What changed with real estate gone
A property purchase was, for many applicants, the most familiar option: a fixed price, a tangible asset, a clear exit. The five routes that remain work differently from each other, and from that. Eliminating the most common option made it possible to identify the advantages associated with the staying options:
1. Investment funds: the most investment-oriented route
For many investors, this is the route that most closely resembles a conventional investment decision.
Rather than making a non-refundable contribution, the investor acquires an asset with the potential to generate returns. Depending on the fund selected, exposure may include private equity, venture capital, listed companies, technology, healthcare, infrastructure or other segments of the Portuguese economy.
Its main advantages are professional management, diversification and limited operational involvement. The investor is not required to create or manage a Portuguese operating company or employ staff directly.
The trade-off is that fund selection becomes critical. Investment performance is not guaranteed, and investors should analyze the fund manager, strategy, fees, valuation methodology, liquidity, maturity and exit provisions independently from immigration eligibility.
2. Cultural investment: the lowest entry threshold
This route has several distinctive advantages.
First, it has the lowest financial threshold of the existing Golden Visa alternatives that do not require active management by the investor.
Second, it can provide a comparatively straightforward solution for investors whose primary objective is residence and mobility rather than financial return.
Third, it offers an increasingly attractive legacy component: capital is directed towards Portuguese cultural institutions, artistic projects or heritage preservation rather than simply being held as a financial asset.
Fourth and most important, there is an official list of eligible projects, all of them previously validated and analyzed by the Government.
3. Scientific research: combining residence with innovation
This option can be particularly attractive to investors interested in innovation, biotechnology, medical research, technology, sustainability or other knowledge-intensive sectors.
It provides the possibility of associating the investor and family's residence strategy with an identifiable scientific or technological project and avoids the operational responsibilities associated with running a business.
For investors for whom social or technological impact is part of the investment decision, it can therefore provide an interesting middle ground between the cultural and commercial routes.
4. Creating ten jobs: no fixed statutory capital threshold
One of the most overlooked Golden Visa options is the creation of at least ten jobs in Portugal.
Unlike the fund, research or corporate-capitalization routes, the law does not impose a separate fixed minimum capital investment for this category. In qualifying low-density territories, the employment requirement may be reduced by 20%, effectively to eight jobs.
This can make the route particularly attractive for genuine entrepreneurs already planning to establish or expand an operating business in Portugal.
Instead of committing €500,000 to a passive investment solely to satisfy immigration requirements, the entrepreneur can direct capital towards the business itself — wages, equipment, technology, commercial development and operating expenses.
The advantage is therefore not necessarily that the route is cheaper. Maintaining a workforce involves significant costs and responsibilities. Rather, the immigration requirement and the investor's commercial objectives can be aligned.
5. €500,000 corporate investment: residence through business growth
The investment may be used to incorporate a new Portuguese company combined with the creation of five permanent jobs, or to reinforce the capital of an existing Portuguese company while creating at least five permanent positions or maintaining at least ten jobs, of which at least five must be permanent, for the required period.
This route can be particularly interesting for entrepreneurs, family offices and investors seeking direct economic exposure to a Portuguese operating company rather than a diversified fund.
It combines the immigration benefit with the possibility of equity participation, corporate growth and eventual capital appreciation.
It also offers significantly greater flexibility in designing the underlying business strategy than a passive contribution route, although naturally this comes with greater commercial and execution risk.
How the process is structured, in broad terms
The law sets a framework, not a timeline. Once a route is chosen and the capital transfer, or the job creation, is documented, the legal representative of the Investor can submit his application, as well as his family members. The process is online, without the presence of the applicants, until the second stage is reached: the appointment in Portugal before AIMA for biometric data collection, which results in a residence permit renewed in two-year periods, for as long as the underlying requirement continues to be met. At year 5 the possibility to apply for a 5 year card will be available, which will allow the applicant to complete the 10 year period to apply for citizenship.
Source: Law no. 23/2007, Article 90-A.
What should investors expect in the short to medium term?
The broader direction of Portuguese policy is now relatively clear.
The 2023 reform moved the program away from passive capital and real estate and towards productive investment, company capitalization, job creation, research and culture. The legislation itself requires the surviving Golden Visa investment categories to be evaluated every two years according to their impact on scientific and cultural activity, foreign direct investment and employment.
This means further adjustments are possible and will, at some point, occur.
However, as of September 2026, the current Golden Visa investment categories remain in force. The 2026 reform of Portuguese nationality changed the conditions for naturalization but did not abolish or directly amend the ARI investment routes.
The Government had also previously stated publicly that it was considering how to make the Golden Visa framework more economically effective and attractive to foreign investment, rather than abolishing it.
Taken together, these developments suggest that the most plausible medium-term evolution is continued fine-tuning of the program towards investments capable of demonstrating measurable economic or social impact, addressing the biggest challenges of the country.
Administrative modernization is also continuing. Since February 2026, ARI renewals have been processed electronically through AIMA's renewals portal, with physical attendance generally required only where biometric data must be collected. As of today, appointments for ew applicants are being released almost immediately after application.
What happens if Portugal changes the Golden Visa rules again?
This is understandably one of the first questions investors now ask.
The starting point is that no democratic legal system can guarantee that legislation will never change. An investor entering the program today cannot obtain an absolute contractual guarantee from the Portuguese State that immigration, nationality or tax legislation will remain unchanged indefinitely.
That does not, however, mean that investors are without protection. Portugal's recent legislative history provides an important example.
When the real estate and capital-transfer routes were closed to new Golden Visa applications in 2023, Parliament expressly protected existing situations. Previously granted residence permits remained renewable and pending applications under the discontinued categories remained valid. Family reunification rights connected to those applications were also preserved.
Residence protection and nationality should be separated
One final distinction is increasingly important.
The Golden Visa is, first and foremost, a residence permit for investment. Citizenship is governed by separate legislation.
The 2026 nationality reform demonstrates why investors should analyze the program in those two stages.
The ARI's core residence advantages — 7 days per year of physical presence, family reunification, Schengen mobility and access to permanent residence — remain. The regulation also continues to establish a five-year minimum period for maintaining the qualifying investment.
Investors considering investment after the minimum period should nevertheless coordinate the exit carefully with the acquisition of permanent residence or another appropriate residence status rather than assuming that an ARI can continue indefinitely without the underlying qualifying investment.
A Programme Tested by Its Own Success: Yet Still a Compelling Route to Flexible Second Residence
Portugal's Golden Visa today is very different from the program that first became known internationally through real estate investment and entry routes starting at €280,000.
Over more than a decade, the program has been repeatedly tested by its own success: strong international demand brought significant investment to Portugal, but also administrative pressure, political scrutiny and successive legislative adjustments. Yet the program has not disappeared. Instead, it has evolved, shifting its focus from real estate towards investment capable of generating a broader economic, cultural or social impact.
What has remained constant throughout that evolution is its central advantage: the ability to establish a long-term legal connection with Portugal and Europe — effectively creating a safe haven for the investor and the family — without requiring them to immediately relocate their lives to Portugal.
For internationally mobile families, this flexibility has value far beyond the residence permit itself. It can provide an additional layer of geographical diversification, family mobility and long-term optionality, while preserving the possibility of living, studying, working or establishing a more permanent connection with Portugal should personal, economic or geopolitical circumstances change.
This is also what continues to distinguish the Golden Visa from traditional immigration routes. The investor is able to build that connection progressively, rather than being required to choose between maintaining an existing international lifestyle and securing residence rights in Europe.
The program has certainly faced challenges — including lengthy administrative procedures, changing legislation and the complexity that is inherent in immigration systems. But these difficulties should also be viewed in the context of a program that has operated for more than a decade, survived several major policy changes and continues to offer a combination of low physical-presence requirements, family inclusion and access to a stable European jurisdiction that remains difficult to replicate through conventional residence routes.
In an increasingly uncertain international environment, that combination may ultimately be one of the Golden Visa's most valuable features.
The program may continue to evolve, but its direction increasingly points towards investment with a tangible connection to the Portuguese economy. For investors, that evolution may create new opportunities rather than simply new restrictions, while preserving the core value of the program: flexibility.
For those seeking not necessarily to relocate today, but to preserve the freedom to choose where they and their families may live tomorrow, Portugal's Golden Visa continues to make strategic sense.
This article reflects the legal framework in force in Portugal as of September 2026 and is intended for general information only. Individual investment, immigration, tax and nationality strategies should be assessed according to each investor's circumstances.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still buy real estate through Portugal's Golden Visa? No. That route was revoked by Law no. 56/2023, in force since 6 October 2023.
Is the minimum investment the same across all five routes? No. It ranges from €250,000 to €500,000 depending on the route, except job creation, which has no minimum capital figure but requires ten jobs.
Does the investment fund route accept any investment fund? No. The law sets requirements on the fund itself, including that it cannot be a real estate fund and must meet a minimum allocation to Portuguese companies. Confirming whether a specific fund meets these requirements is a diligence step that comes before any decision, not after.
Related reading: IFICI (NHR 2.0): a new opportunity, on the tax regime that applies once someone becomes a Portuguese tax resident, a separate question from the immigration route itself.
Sara Sousa Rebolo, Cert (IM), Investment Migration Council.
