Portugal Golden Visa 2026: Real Estate Is Gone, the Fund Route Is What’s Left

By Olami, AbroadPilot · Reviewed September 2026 · Sources: AIMA (Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo)

A lot of “Golden Visa” content online still talks about buying property in Portugal to get residency. That route closed. We checked directly against AIMA — Portugal’s immigration authority — and confirmed what’s actually still open, and at what price.

What no longer qualifies

• Real estate purchases — closed to new applicants. This was the route most people associate with “Golden Visa.”
• Direct capital transfer (the old €1.5 million transfer option) — also closed.

What’s still open, verified directly against AIMA

The route most applicants now use is the qualifying investment fund path:

• Minimum investment: €500,000, transferred into a qualifying collective investment undertaking (fund) constituted under Portuguese law.
• The fund must not be real-estate-linked, directly or indirectly.
• The fund must have a minimum maturity of 5 years at the time of your investment.
• At least 60% of the fund’s investment value must go into commercial companies headquartered in Portugal.
• Funds are regulated by CMVM (Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários — Portugal’s securities market regulator), which requires semi-annual net asset valuations and independent annual audits.

AIMA’s own program pages also list a handful of other routes still open alongside the fund path: a €500,000 company-creation/capital-reinforcement route (paired with creating at least 5 permanent jobs, or maintaining 10), and a €500,000 scientific-research-donation route. For most applicants, the fund route is the practical default — it doesn’t require running a business in Portugal.

What you get, and the real timeline

• A residence permit with a genuinely low physical-presence requirement — historically around 7 days in the first year, 14 days per subsequent two-year period (confirm the current figure with AIMA or a licensed advisor before committing, as stay rules can be adjusted).
• Eligibility to apply for permanent residency after 5 years, at which point you’re no longer required to maintain the investment.
• Citizenship is a separate legal process under Portugal’s Nationality Law, not automatic and not guaranteed by holding the Golden Visa.
• AIMA has had significant application backlogs in recent years. Processing timelines fluctuate — get a current estimate from AIMA or a licensed immigration lawyer rather than relying on any fixed number, including ones quoted elsewhere on this page.

What this means practically

• If you were planning around buying Portuguese property for residency, that plan needs to change — evaluate the fund route instead, or a different country’s real-estate-based program if one still exists.
• Fund selection matters: you’re relying on a licensed fund manager, so review the fund’s CMVM registration, audit history, and fee structure (management/subscription fees are a real added cost on top of the €500,000) before committing capital.
• This is a five-year commitment minimum before the investment can be released — treat it as illiquid for that period.

Official sources

Checked directly against the government source as of September 2026:

• AIMA — Autorização de Residência para Investimento (ARI) — the official program page listing all current qualifying investment routes and their thresholds

Investment thresholds, eligible routes, and processing rules change with legislative reform — this program has been reformed multiple times in recent years. Re-check the live AIMA page above before making any financial decision based on this article. This is not financial or legal advice; a licensed Portuguese immigration lawyer should review your specific case.