The term
What is a golden visa, and what each state actually calls it
A residence permit granted because you placed a defined amount of money in the country — not because you have a job offer there, family there, or protection needs. That is the whole of the idea. It is not a passport, it is not a travel visa, and it is not one programme: five of the six jurisdictions compared here grant five different instruments under a different law, and none of those laws uses the words golden visa. The sixth, Argentina, grants no permit for an investment at all: it sells citizenship itself.
Golden passport, golden residency and visa by investment are the same nickname wearing different clothes, and none of them is a status anyone can hold. What a holder actually holds is one of the five below, each named the way its own law names it.
The five real instruments
| Jurisdiction | What the law calls it | How long it runs | See the working → |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portugal | ARI — autorização de residência para investimento | Two years, then three | See the working → |
| Greece | Residence permit for investment activity | Five years, renewable | See the working → |
| Malta | Permanent residence certificate | Permanent from the outset | See the working → |
| UAE | Ten-year golden residence | Ten years | See the working → |
| Cyprus | Immigration Permit under regulation 6(2) | Permanent; the card is replaced every ten years | See the working → |
Citizenship by investment in Europe: what no longer exists
A golden visa grants residence, not a passport. The distinction is not terminological: of our six jurisdictions only Argentina sells citizenship itself, and its programme is not a golden visa: a US$350,000 contribution to the Treasury, applications from the fourth quarter of 2026, and a legal basis an appeals court declared void in June 2026. Portugal, Greece, Cyprus and the UAE grant a residence permit, after which citizenship comes by naturalisation — on the ordinary periods and with the ordinary examination.
Malta was the last EU member state where citizenship by investment existed. It is not suspended but repealed: after the Court of Justice's judgment in case C-181/23, Act XXI of 2025 and L.N. 159 of 2025 removed the relevant part of the regulations entirely. Pages still quoting contribution amounts in 2026 are selling something that has been deleted.
What each one costs and how long it takes
The thresholds, the wait to a first permit and the tax regime, side by side. Every figure links to the act it came from.
| Jurisdiction | How long it runs | What the law calls it | Read the jurisdiction → |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portugal | €500,000 | 60 days by law, a year or more in practice | Read the jurisdiction → |
| Greece | €400,000 | Lawful residence on filing, card in months | Read the jurisdiction → |
| Malta | €375,000 | Not published; 6–12 months in practice | Read the jurisdiction → |
| UAE | AED 2,000,000 | 7–10 working days published, 2–4 weeks end to end | Read the jurisdiction → |
| Cyprus | €300,000 + VAT | About 2 months, the department's own estimate | Read the jurisdiction → |
| Argentina | US$350,000 | Opens Q4 2026; 30 working days after vetting | Read the jurisdiction → |