What is Portugal Golden Visa Program ?

The Portugal Golden Visa Program is a residency permit program designed for non-EU citizens. By engaging in specified investment activities (ARI) , applicants can obtain Portugal permanent residence and eventually have the opportunity to acquire Portuguese citizenship. For those investors aspiring to immigrate to Portugal, the Golden Visa stands as a gateway to the life of Europe. Compared to other countries, Portugal has the lowest residency requirements, no stringent stay mandates and offering tax- exempt status for fund investments, making the path to citizenship more straightforward and advantageous. This program is highly recommended for investors seeking greater flexibility while aiming to unlock the potential for residency and eventual portuguese citizenship within this vibrant country.

Portugal Golden Visa Program Requirement

Portugal Golden Visa Program Benefits

Portugal Golden Visa Changes : What’s New?

Portugal’s Golden Visa program has recently introduced key updates that affect how investors qualify for residency and citizenship. Our team stays up to date with these changes to help you make smart, compliant decisions.

For the latest details on Portugal’s nationality law amendment and answers to the most frequently asked questions about the Portugal Golden Visa, read our article and video below.

Get in Touch with a Portugal Golden Visa Specialist

We offer a free complimentary consultation via video calls to address your unique needs and questions. To book your initial consultation, simply click here, or complete the form below.

Qualified Investments for Portugal Golden Visa in 2025

Note that real estate and 1.5 million capital transfer are no longer investment options for Portugal Golden Visa starting from October 7, 2023. Currently, the Portuguese Golden Visa can be obtained through the following five investment routes:

Portugal Golden Visa Application Procedures

After you have decided that Portugal’s Golden Visa is your ideal choice, you might want to get more information on the investment options, and to start preparing for the application.  Below is an outline of the procedures for applying for the Golden Visa, step-by-step, to give you an idea of the process.  We understand there are major decisions to be made here, and dealing in Portuguese may make things more complicated, trust us that The Golden Portugal team is here to help you along the way. 

Step 1 – NIF (National Identification Number)

The NIF is essential for almost everything you do in Portugal.

Getting a NIF doesn’t mean you are liable for paying tax in Portugal.

First of all, if you are not a tax resident (i.e., not living in Portugal for more than 183 days per year), you don’t need to pay taxes in Portugal for income obtained outside of Portugal. You can get your NIF months, even years, before you actually submit your visa application. It is recommended to get this as soon as possible.

All main applicants will need an NIF. And we encourage all other adult applicants to get an NIF as well, as it strengthens the ties with Portugal when it comes to applying for citizenship. We can apply for the NIF on your behalf remotely, and our company will serve as your tax representative.

• Personal documents needed: passport and address proof
• Other documents: declaration forms for appointing your NIF representative, NIF application submission form – We will prepare these documents for you to sign.

Note: Documents need to be certified by your lawyer in Portugal. (We include this with our service.)

Step 2 – Open a Bank Account

Only the main investor is needed to open a bank account in Portugal. We will introduce you to a bank for account opening. Please note that banks have their own regulations and processes. Some banks don’t take on clients for certain nationalities and/or certain investment routes. And not all banks can open bank accounts remotely.

We will introduce you to a bank (and the bank account manager that will be taking care of you) that can work with you based on your nationality and investment route.

Personal documents required — depending on the bank, but typically include:

• Passport
• Address proof
• Most recent tax return
• Tax ID of currently residing country
• Bank statement(s) with €500,000
• Source of fundse below:
  • Some banks don’t work with D visa clients
  • Some banks don’t accept American that invest in funds
  • Some banks require €30000 deposit for D visa clients

Note: All documents, including bank account opening forms and personal documents, must be certified by your lawyer in Portugal. (This certification is included in our service.)

Step 3 – Bank transfer and investment fund subscription

We can provide you an overview of the investment funds and walk you through the most important aspects of each fund. We can also arrange calls with fund managers.

Personal documents needed are very similar to the bank. Please note that each fund may have their own procedures, but normally, below are the documents needed.

• Fund subscription forms
• Passport
• Address proof
• Most recent tax return
• Bank statement(s) with €500,000
• Source of funds
  • From employment – employment letter, pay slip
  • From investment – investment statement
  • From sales of assets – sales agreement and related documents

We will introduce you to the fund manager, assist you on the fund subscription, send the needed documents to the fund(s) and certify documents when needed.

Step 4 – Personal documents

At the same time, you should start preparing personal documentation for the online application, like

• Police report (anyone over the age of 16)
• Marriage certificate (for spouse)
• Birth certificate (for kids) (for parents)

Please note that all these documents need to be apostilled.

The critical one is the criminal record. Countries differ in how they issue the criminal record for their residents. Some countries even require a request letter from the Portugal Consulate in order to process the issuance of the criminal record. Getting the police report and getting it apostilled alone may take 2 months.

However, getting the documents is not always the sooner the better. For example, the police report only has a 3-month validity period (from the issuance date to the online submission date). We will guide you to get these documents at the right timing.

Note: If your country is not a member of the Hague Convention, you will need to have your documents certified at the nearest Portuguese consulate or embassy.

Refer to the table below for the validity period of the documents and the apostille requirements.

Note: The above is not the full list of documents, as other documents may be needed for your dependents (e.g. proof of student status, single, and dependent, retirement status and so on).

Other than documents from your original country, you would also need to get documents in Portugal, such as the below

• Applicant’s permission for the authorities to access his/her Portuguese criminal record.
• Certificate of no debts from the Portuguese tax and national insurance offices.
• Signed statement by the applicant that he/she will fulfill the investment requirements.
• Evidence that the minimum investment has been made (declaration letter from fund manager(s))
• Declaration letter from your Portugal bank confirming the transfer of the required funds

We will assist in requesting the above-mentioned information.

Step 5 – Online submission

We will fill in the necessary forms and submit them online to the AIMA portal.

Our role as your consultant is to be there along the whole journey of the Golden Visa process. We will be the main coordinator between you and the bank, fund manager and lawyer.

Step 6 – Biometrics

We’ll receive a notification ​for your biometric appointment to provide biometric information, including fingerprints and photo. You’ll need to submit the original application documents during this appointment.​ 

You’ll be required to pay the Golden Visa issuance fee to the governmen​t at the appointment by a debit card (no credit card or cash is accepted).

Step 7 – Approval and Residence Cards

Once your application is approved​.  We will collect your residence cards on your behalf and arrange for them to be sent to you. 

How long does the whole process take?

The whole process, from start to finish, can be done in 3 to 4 months. Let’s take a look at the timeline of the whole process.

We can also speed up the process for clients if needed. The quickest we have submitted for the Portugal Golden Visa application is 1.5 months!

If you live in a place where the Portuguese bank has a representative office, you can speed up your bank account opening process.

If your country is not in the Hague Convention, it may delay your process as you would need to get your documents certified in the nearest Portuguese embassy/consulate.

Banks and funds have a KYC (Know Your Client) process to verify your source of funds, and they can ask for more supporting documents, which may delay your process.

How can The Golden Portugal help me to speed up the process?

When you need someone who has experience in every phase of the process.

Our company, The Golden Portugal, specializes in Portugal Golden Visa. We provide a one-stop solution for clients going through the Golden Visa process, from the beginning to the end. We assist in:

• NIF application
• Being your NIF representative
• Introducing the appropriate bank for account opening
• sourcing/introducing suitable investments

Our strength is finding the appropriate projects according to your need and providing detailed analysis on the different investment options for you to make an informed decision.

In addition, we will guide you every step of the way.

• Where and how to get your police report
• Where to get your documents certified or apostilled
• Certify documents for banks and fund’s KYC process
• Maintain a great connection with the banks, the fund managers
• Help to find solutions to your issues you may have along the way of the whole Golden Visa journey