How Portugal Stacks Up Against the Rest of Europe After the Latest Law Changes

For anyone comparing options today, the picture looks very different to even two years ago. The table below gives a quick side-by-side view of the main programmes, followed by a country-by-country breakdown of how each one actually works in practice.

At a Glance

Portugal

The Portugal Golden Visa is still open. Qualifying investments include regulated Portuguese investment funds (typically from €500,000), cultural donations from €250,000, scientific research contributions, and job creation through a new or existing Portuguese business. Real estate has not been a qualifying route since 2023.

Permanent Residency is available after five years of legal residency. Citizenship now takes ten years under the May 2026 Nationality Law, up from the previous five. The stay requirement is light: seven days in the first year, then fourteen days in each subsequent two-year period, which works out at roughly seven days a year on average. There is no Portuguese language requirement at the visa stage; A2-level Portuguese is needed at the Permanent Residency and citizenship stages.

Spain

Spain’s Golden Visa officially ended on 3 April 2025. Existing holders can continue to renew under the rules in force when they were first granted, but no new investor applications are being accepted. The realistic alternatives for new applicants are the Non-Lucrative Visa for those with sufficient passive income, the Digital Nomad Visa, or the Entrepreneur Visa for genuinely innovative business projects.

None of these allow the absentee residency model the Golden Visa used to offer. They all expect applicants to live in Spain for most of the year. Citizenship still requires ten years of legal residence for most nationalities, and Spain does not generally permit dual citizenship outside specific bilateral arrangements.

Greece

Greece kept its Golden Visa but raised the cost of entry. Under Law 5100/2024 and the consolidating Law 5275/2026, real estate thresholds now run on three tiers: €800,000 in Attica, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and the larger islands; €400,000 in other regions; and €250,000 for commercial-to-residential conversions or heritage restorations. A new €250,000 start-up investment route was also added.

There is no minimum physical stay required to maintain the permit, which keeps Greece attractive for absentee investors. Citizenship requires seven years of residence and a Greek language exam, but in practice this route is harder than it looks because actually building seven years of real residence is something most Golden Visa holders never do.

Italy

Italy’s Investor Visa requires one of four investments: €250,000 in an innovative start-up, €500,000 in an Italian limited company, €2 million in government bonds, or €1 million in a philanthropic donation. The initial visa is granted for two years and is renewable in three-year blocks while the investment is maintained.

Permanent residence is available after five years. Citizenship takes ten years of legal residence and requires B1-level Italian. Italy expects genuine, sustained residence rather than short visits, which makes it less suited to investors who want to keep their base elsewhere.

Malta

Malta’s citizenship-by-investment programme (MEIN) ended in July 2025 after the European Court of Justice ruled in April 2025 that it was incompatible with EU law. A new “citizenship by merit” framework is being introduced, but it is not a direct investment route. Malta’s Permanent Residence Programme remains in place as a separate residency option, but it does not lead to citizenship through investment.

Cyprus

Cyprus offers permanent residency through a €300,000 investment in real estate, company shares, or approved funds, alongside an annual income requirement of €50,000 (with additions for a spouse and dependent children). The permit itself does not expire; the card is renewed every ten years, and the only physical presence requirement is a visit to Cyprus at least once every two years.

Citizenship is a slower, separate process and is not available through the investment route. For investors who want a low-touch EU residence and are not focused on citizenship, Cyprus remains one of the more practical options.

Latvia

Latvia is the cheapest entry point in Europe at €50,000, available through real estate, business investment, or a bank deposit. The permit runs for five years, with permanent residency available after five years and citizenship eligibility after a further five, putting the total at roughly ten years.

The stay requirement is minimal: entering Latvia once every twelve months is enough to keep the permit active. Latvian language and a civic knowledge test are required for citizenship, and Latvia does not generally permit dual citizenship outside specific circumstances.

Where Portugal Lands

So where does that leave Portugal? On cost it sits in the middle. Latvia is cheaper, the lower tier of Greece is cheaper, and Cyprus comes in lower too once everything is added up. But Italy’s two million-euro bond route, or Greece’s €800,000 tier in Athens and the islands, makes Portugal look fairly priced by comparison.

The bigger point is how little time you actually have to spend there. Seven days a year on average is barely an inconvenience. Italy expects real residence. Latvia and Cyprus all ask for less than Portugal on paper, but none of them pair a light stay with a clear five-year path to Permanent Residency the way Portugal still does.

On citizenship, Portugal’s timeline is now largely in line with the rest of Europe. Greece’s seven-year route looks better on paper, but building seven years of real residence on a visa that doesn’t require you to be there is harder than it sounds – whereas Portugal’s minimum stay, modest as it is, does actually count towards real residence.

Portugal remains one of the more dependable options. The programme is open. The five-year route to Permanent Residency hasn’t changed. There’s no language exam at the visa stage, and the family come in on the same application. None of that is the case across most of the rest of the table.

So, is Portugal still worth considering?

For anyone wanting the clearest and most up-to-date picture, our approved partner Jason Swan is hosting a free webinar on the 17^th of June at 5:00pm Lisbon time to walk through the latest Golden Visa changes and what comes next.

Secure your place here: Register Now