Can I get residency without buying property?

Yes, in four of the five. Portugal removed property from its Golden Visa in 2023 altogether — what is left is funds and job creation. Greece, Cyprus and Malta allow alternative routes, but their thresholds are usually higher.

Does the permit let me work anywhere in the EU?

No. An investment residence permit lets you live in the issuing country and travel freely in Schengen, but it carries no right to work in other EU states. Working in the issuing country itself is usually allowed; the conditions differ.

After how many years can I apply for citizenship?

Malta about five years by naturalisation, Greece seven, Cyprus eight, Portugal seven for EU and Portuguese-speaking nationals and ten for everyone else — that last figure changed in May 2026 and used to be five. The UAE has no citizenship route here at all. Everywhere the clock counts years of actual legal residence, not years of holding the status, so a permit that requires a few days a year accrues nothing on its own.

Do I have to live there to keep the status?

To keep the permit, almost nowhere: a few days a year is usually enough. For citizenship, yes — actual residence is required, and this is where expectations diverge most often.

Does buying property make me a tax resident?

No. Tax residence is decided by days of presence and centre of vital interests, not by ownership. Buying a house and remaining a tax resident of your own country is an ordinary situation.

What if the rules change after I apply?

Applications are normally assessed under the rules in force on the filing date, but there is no guarantee: Portugal and Greece have both changed terms with a short transition. That is the main argument against a long gap between deciding and filing.

Golden Visa (fund)

Moving to Portugal: residency, tax and property

Portugal grants residency against a qualifying investment, most commonly a fund subscription: property was removed as a route by Lei 56/2023, and the law now bars any investment aimed even indirectly at real estate. It is no longer the fast passport it was — naturalisation took ten years for non-EU nationals in May 2026 — and its strength has moved to the tax side.

From: €500,000
First permit: 90 days by law, a year or more in practice
Tax regime: IFICI, 20% flat for 10 years

The real number

What Portugal actually costs

The threshold is the investment alone. Transfer taxes, professional and government fees and the first renewal are not optional — everyone pays them, every time.

Advertised: €500,000
Everything else: €28,000
Real, first year: €528,000

Sources Verified against primary sources on 23 August 2026 — statutes, ministry tariffs and official fee schedules. Figures are for ONE main applicant and cover entry and the first renewal; dependants are priced differently in every jurisdiction and are not included. Amounts in euro; the UAE threshold is AED 2,000,000 converted at 4.288 on the same date. See the working →

Who this route suits

Portugal fits somebody whose money can sit still for five years and who wants a European tax position rather than a European passport in a hurry. The qualifying investment is a fund subscription, not a flat: property was removed as a route in 2023, and the law now bars an investment aimed even indirectly at real estate — a fund that holds buildings does not qualify.

It does not fit anybody in a hurry. The statute allows ninety days for a decision and the reality is a year to three, and it does not fit somebody whose plan was a fast passport: that plan stopped working in May 2026.

What stands behind the figure

€500,000 buys units in a non-property collective investment fund with a maturity of at least five years, at least 60% of it invested in companies seated in Portugal. Four other routes exist and are less used: ten jobs created (eight in a low-density area), €500,000 into scientific research (€400,000 in low-density), €250,000 into cultural heritage (€220,000 low-density), or €500,000 into a company that creates five permanent jobs.

The government fees are not small and are per person. From 1 March 2026: €842.80 to analyse the application, €8,418.90 to grant the permit, €4,210.30 to renew it — and a family member costs the same as the main applicant to grant. Filing online takes 25% off.

What changed, and when

Two changes matter and both are recent. Lei 56/2023 removed the real-estate routes and the plain €1.5m capital transfer. Then Lei Orgânica 1/2026, in force 19 May 2026, rewrote the nationality law: naturalisation now takes seven years for EU and Portuguese-speaking nationals and ten for everybody else, counted from the day the residence permit was issued rather than the day it was applied for, with an exam on language and on culture and history. It is not retroactive — applications pending on that date are decided under the old five-year rule.

After the first permit

The permit is renewable and requires very little physical presence, which is what makes it a tax and mobility instrument rather than a move. IFICI is the tax half: 20% flat on Portuguese employment and self-employment income from a qualifying activity for ten years, most foreign income exempt, pensions and income from blacklisted jurisdictions carved out. Registration closes on 15 January of the year after you become resident, and missing it costs the whole regime.

Sources: art. 3 of Lei 23/2007 as amended by Lei 56/2023; the AIMA fee table under Portaria 307/2023; art. 58-A of the EBF with Portaria 352/2024/1; Lei Orgânica 1/2026.

Buying property here — Buying property in Portugal: the rules, the costs and the new surcharge

Questions about Portugal

Can I get residency without buying property?: Yes, in four of the five. Portugal removed property from its Golden Visa in 2023 altogether — what is left is funds and job creation. Greece, Cyprus and Malta allow alternative routes, but their thresholds are usually higher.
Does the permit let me work anywhere in the EU?: No. An investment residence permit lets you live in the issuing country and travel freely in Schengen, but it carries no right to work in other EU states. Working in the issuing country itself is usually allowed; the conditions differ.
After how many years can I apply for citizenship?: Malta about five years by naturalisation, Greece seven, Cyprus eight, Portugal seven for EU and Portuguese-speaking nationals and ten for everyone else — that last figure changed in May 2026 and used to be five. The UAE has no citizenship route here at all. Everywhere the clock counts years of actual legal residence, not years of holding the status, so a permit that requires a few days a year accrues nothing on its own.
Do I have to live there to keep the status?: To keep the permit, almost nowhere: a few days a year is usually enough. For citizenship, yes — actual residence is required, and this is where expectations diverge most often.
Does buying property make me a tax resident?: No. Tax residence is decided by days of presence and centre of vital interests, not by ownership. Buying a house and remaining a tax resident of your own country is an ordinary situation.
What if the rules change after I apply?: Applications are normally assessed under the rules in force on the filing date, but there is no guarantee: Portugal and Greece have both changed terms with a short transition. That is the main argument against a long gap between deciding and filing.

Ask about Portugal

One partner works in each jurisdiction, and an enquiry reaches only them — and only if you tick the consent box. A person replies, usually within one working day.

Send an enquiry

We write when a rule changes

Not a newsletter. A short email when a threshold, a tax or a requirement in one of these jurisdictions becomes something else — with the statute and the date. There will not be many: across 2026 there have been fewer than ten such changes across five countries. The confirmation brings the four routes compared on one printable sheet.

You are on the list.

A confirmation is on its way, with the four-route comparison as a PDF. It also says what you signed up for and how to leave — one word in a reply.

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The subscription did not reach us — the fault is at our end. Write to office@moveandinvest.com and we will add you by hand.