Portugal’s new citizenship law has changed one of the assumptions that shaped the Golden Visa market for years.
For many international investors, the programme was understood as a relatively straightforward equation: make a qualifying investment, maintain a limited physical presence in Portugal and, after five years, become eligible to apply for Portuguese citizenship.
That equation no longer applies in the same way.
Under Portugal’s revised Nationality Law, the standard residence period required for naturalisation has increased. Nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries and EU Member States must generally demonstrate seven years of legal residence, while nationals of other countries must generally complete ten years.
For most Golden Visa investors from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa, Turkey, China, India and the Middle East, the relevant period is therefore now ten years.
The reform is significant. But does it make the Portuguese Golden Visa too risky?
Not necessarily.
It does, however, mean that the programme must be assessed differently. The Golden Visa remains a powerful residence and mobility solution, but it should no longer be presented as an automatic five-year route to an EU passport.
What has actually changed?
The most visible change is the extension of the residence period required for citizenship by naturalisation.
The new law generally requires:
- seven years of legal residence for nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries and EU Member States; and
- ten years of legal residence for nationals of other countries.
Equally important for Golden Visa applicants, the previous rule that allowed the citizenship residence period to include the time elapsed from the submission of a residence permit application has been revoked.
For a new Golden Visa investor, the practical consequence is that the years spent waiting for the initial residence permit are not expected to count merely because the Golden Visa application is pending. The citizenship clock should therefore be assessed by reference to periods during which the investor is legally resident under a qualifying visa, title or residence authorisation.
In most Golden Visa cases, this will mean that the relevant period starts only once legal residence has effectively been granted - not when the online investment residence application was submitted.
This distinction matters because administrative processing times can materially extend the investor’s overall journey.
What has not changed?
The Golden Visa itself has not been abolished.
It remains a lawful residence-by-investment programme under Article 90-A of Portugal’s Immigration Law. Eligible third-country nationals may still obtain a Portuguese residence permit through qualifying investments such as:
- a minimum investment of €500,000 in qualifying non-real-estate Portuguese investment funds;
- a minimum contribution of €500,000 to qualifying scientific research;
- a qualifying cultural or heritage contribution, generally from €250,000;
- the creation of at least ten jobs; or
- qualifying capitalisation of a Portuguese company combined with job creation or maintenance.
Direct and indirect real-estate investments no longer qualify for new Golden Visa applications, but the remaining routes continue to operate.
Golden Visa holders also continue to benefit from several important rights:
- residence and work rights in Portugal;
- visa-free travel within the Schengen Area, subject to the applicable travel rules;
- the possibility of including qualifying family members;
- a comparatively low minimum-stay requirement;
- No mandatory tax residency requirement (as long as applicants do not exceed 183 days in Portugal in a year);
- access to permanent residence once the statutory conditions are met (in only 5 years); and
- the possibility of applying for Portuguese citizenship once all requirements under the Nationality Law have been satisfied.
Golden Visa residence cards are currently issued with a validity of two years. During each two-year validity period, the holder must remain in Portugal for fourteen days, whether consecutive or non-consecutive.
That low physical-presence requirement remains one of the programme’s strongest distinguishing features.
Is citizenship still possible through the Golden Visa?
Yes - but citizenship is not granted “through” the investment itself.
The Golden Visa creates a pathway to legal residence. Legal residence may eventually support an application for citizenship, but nationality is governed by a separate body of law and is always subject to the requirements in force when the application is made, unless a specific transitional provision applies.
This was true even before the reform.
A Golden Visa was never a contractual guarantee that Portugal would issue a passport after five years. It gave the investor a residence status capable of leading to permanent residence or naturalisation, provided that the applicable legal conditions were met.
The new law has made that distinction much more important.
Investors should now think of the programme as a residence and long-term strategic optionality solution, rather than as a five-year passport product.
Where does the real risk now lie?
The principal risk is not that the Golden Visa has suddenly become invalid. The greater risk lies in entering the programme with the wrong expectations or an investment structure that does not match the revised timeline.
1. A longer route to citizenship
For many non-EU and non-Portuguese-speaking investors, the citizenship horizon has effectively moved from five to ten years of legal residence.
If the first residence permit takes substantial time to be issued, the overall period from investment to citizenship eligibility may be longer still.
An investor whose only objective is to obtain an EU passport as quickly as possible may therefore conclude that the programme no longer fits their priorities.
2. Administrative timing
Portugal has faced well-documented immigration processing delays. Recent digitalisation measures, including online renewal procedures for Golden Visa residence permits, are encouraging, but administrative timing remains an important part of any realistic assessment.
A legally sound programme can still produce commercial frustration when applications, biometric appointments, approvals or residence cards take longer than anticipated.
The relevant question is therefore not simply whether the law permits the residence route, but whether the investor has been advised on a realistic timeline from the outset.
3. Investment duration and liquidity
The citizenship reform may create a mismatch between the statutory residence timeline and the commercial life of certain investments.
For example, a fund may have an expected duration of seven or eight years, while a particular investor may require a longer period of legal residence before becoming eligible for Portuguese citizenship under the new rules.
This does not necessarily create a problem. A well-structured immigration strategy should not end with the Golden Visa itself.
Once the investor has completed the required five years of legal residence, they may become eligible to apply for Permanent Residence for Golden Visa holders. Unlike ordinary permanent residence, this special status preserves one of the Golden Visa’s greatest advantages: investors are not expected to relocate permanently to Portugal or satisfy the ordinary residence requirements applicable to other permanent residents. Instead, they continue benefiting from the reduced physical presence requirements established for investment residence.
For many investors, this represents the ideal long-term strategy. Rather than maintaining the Golden Visa indefinitely, they may transition to Permanent Residence after five years while continuing to accumulate the legal residence required for Portuguese citizenship under the new Nationality Law.
Accordingly, the duration of an investment fund should never be analysed in isolation. It should always be considered alongside the investor’s broader immigration strategy, including the transition from the Golden Visa to Permanent Residence where appropriate.
The legal eligibility of a fund is only one part of the analysis. Investors should also consider:
- the fund’s duration and extension provisions;
- the investment strategy and concentration risk;
- the manager’s track record;
- liquidity and exit limitations;
- fees and carried interest;
- tax treatment in Portugal and the investor’s home jurisdiction;
- whether the structure remains compatible with the investor’s immigration timeline; and
- the consequences of an early redemption, liquidation or disposal.
A Golden Visa investment should never be selected solely because it appears on a promotional list or carries the word “eligible”.
4. Future legislative change
Immigration and nationality laws are expressions of public policy. They can change.
No lawyer, fund manager or adviser can guarantee that the law will remain identical for the next decade. That is not unique to Portugal; it is inherent in every residence- and citizenship-planning strategy.
The relevant issue is whether the jurisdiction has a functioning legal system, constitutional safeguards, available judicial remedies and a credible framework for protecting pending procedures and acquired rights.
In the process leading to the current law, Portugal’s Constitutional Court found several proposed provisions unconstitutional, including a proposed rule affecting pending nationality applications. The final legislation expressly preserves the previous legal regime for nationality procedures already pending when the new law entered into force.
That history does not eliminate political risk, but it demonstrates that legislative power is not unlimited and that constitutional review has practical consequences.
Does permanent residence become more important?
Yes.
One of the most important strategic changes is that investors should no longer treat permanent residence as merely an alternative that can be ignored in favour of an immediate citizenship application.
Portuguese permanent residence may generally be requested after at least five years of temporary residence, subject to the applicable conditions, including basic Portuguese-language knowledge, compliance with tax and social-security obligations, sufficient means and the relevant criminal-record requirements.
For Golden Visa holders, Portugal also provides a specific permanent investment residence status that preserves important features of the programme, including a more favourable treatment of absences than ordinary permanent residence.
This creates a potentially valuable two-stage strategy:
- maintain the Golden Visa and become eligible for permanent residence after the applicable five-year period; and
- continue building the legal residence period required for citizenship under the new Nationality Law.
Permanent residence is not the same as citizenship. It does not provide a Portuguese passport, unconditional EU citizenship rights or political rights on the same basis as nationality.
It can, however, offer greater long-term security and reduce dependence on repeated temporary residence renewals while the investor completes the longer citizenship timeline.
Who may still find the Golden Visa highly attractive?
The programme remains particularly relevant for investors who:
- cannot or do not wish to relocate immediately to Portugal;
- want a Portuguese residence status with limited minimum-stay obligations;
- require Schengen mobility;
- want to include a spouse, dependent children or qualifying dependent parents;
- are interested in diversifying assets into Portugal;
- value the possibility of relocating in the future;
- want a potential long-term route to permanent residence and citizenship; or
- prefer to preserve several future options rather than commit to immediate full-time residence.
For these investors, the Golden Visa may remain more suitable than traditional residence visas, which are generally designed for people genuinely relocating to Portugal and may involve substantially greater physical-presence expectations.
The programme’s value has therefore not disappeared. Its centre of gravity has shifted.
The strongest case for the Golden Visa is no longer “invest today and receive a passport in five years”. It is:
Secure a flexible European residence status today, preserve family and mobility options, and build a structured long-term path towards permanent residence and, potentially, citizenship.
Who should reconsider?
The Golden Visa may no longer be the best fit for an investor who:
- is interested exclusively in obtaining the fastest possible EU passport;
- is uncomfortable with a long and potentially evolving legal timeline;
- requires guaranteed liquidity within a short period;
- cannot tolerate administrative delays;
- does not wish to learn Portuguese;
- is unwilling to maintain the qualifying investment and residence structure for the necessary period; or
- would, in reality, be willing to relocate to Portugal and could use a less capital-intensive residence route.
An investor planning to live in Portugal full-time may have alternatives such as an employment, entrepreneurial, passive-income or remote-work residence visa, depending on their circumstances.
The correct comparison is therefore not simply “Golden Visa versus no Golden Visa”. It is the Golden Visa versus every other route available to that particular individual and family.
So, is the Golden Visa now too risky?
For the right investor, no.
For a poorly advised investor buying a residence product based on outdated five-year citizenship marketing, yes.
Portugal’s new citizenship law has not destroyed the Golden Visa. It has exposed the weakness of treating the programme as a guaranteed passport transaction.
The Golden Visa remains one of Europe’s few residence-by-investment programmes combining a relatively low stay requirement, family inclusion, Schengen mobility, access to permanent residence and a potential route to citizenship.
But the route is now longer for most international investors, and the interaction between immigration status, citizenship timing and investment duration must be analysed with far greater care.
The programme should therefore be approached as a coordinated legal, financial and tax strategy - not as a standalone investment purchase.
How Fresh Legal can help
Before proceeding, investors should obtain advice covering the entire expected life of the structure, including:
- eligibility for the Golden Visa;
- comparison with alternative Portuguese residence routes;
- the likely commencement of the legal-residence period;
- family-reunification planning;
- compliance with minimum-stay requirements;
- investment eligibility and exit implications;
- renewal and permanent-residence strategy;
- nationality eligibility under the new law;
- Portuguese-language requirements; and
- cross-border tax considerations.
At Fresh Legal, our immigration, tax, corporate and investment-related legal teams work together to assess not only whether a Golden Visa application can be submitted, but whether the overall strategy remains appropriate for the client’s objectives.
The new citizenship law has made the analysis more complex. It has also made careful legal planning more valuable.
This article is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal, tax or investment advice. Portuguese immigration and nationality rules are subject to legislative, regulatory and administrative developments. Individual advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from any action.
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