Portugal Golden Visa for UK Citizens

The Portuguese Golden visa, otherwise known as the Portugal Investment visa, provides a route to Portuguese residency and eventual citizenship for those in a position to meet the eligible investment threshold. This is an investment-based route which allows applicants with sufficient personal funds to obtain Portuguese residency status and visa-free access to the entire Schengen area.

Portugal’s Golden Visa offers a variety of potential investment routes, such as a charitable donation of at least €250,000, an eligible investment of at least €500,000, or the creation of at least 10 Portuguese jobs. While the programme previously also offered a property investment route, this was recently discontinued, in part due to concerns over Portuguese property prices.

After 5 years of residence in Portugal on a Golden visa, you may become eligible for permanent residence and Portuguese citizenship, depending on whether you satisfy the additional eligibility criteria. In the case of Portuguese citizenship, for example, you will be expected to satisfy a minimum language threshold. However, it is important to note that the Portuguese government recently passed a bill which would extend the citizenship timeline from 5 years to 10 years. While this has not yet passed into law at the time of writing in December 2025, it is an important development to watch when preparing your own Golden visa application.

Page Contents

• What is the Golden Visa Program in Portugal?
• Benefits of the Portugal Golden Visa
• Portugal Golden Visa Requirements
• Required documents for the Portugal Golden Visa
• Application Process for the Portugal Golden Visa
• Investment Options for Portugal Golden Visa
• What is the minimum investment required for the Portugal Golden Visa?
• Maintain the qualified investment for the duration of the visa
• Family Members on Portugal Golden Visa
• Portugal Golden Visa Tax Benefits
• Portugal Golden Visa to Citizenship
• Portugal Golden Visa Processing Time
• Portugal Golden Visa Application Cost
• Getting a Portuguese NIF number
• Opening a Portuguese Bank Account
• How Can Our Portugal Golden Visa Lawyer Help?
• Frequently Asked Questions

The Portuguese Golden visa offers a wide variety of benefits. For one, it allows the holder to live and work in Portugal for the visa’s duration, whilst also providing the option of not living in Portugal full-time and still maintaining your visa’s legal requirements.

Additionally, it provides visa-free travel to other countries in the Schengen area, such as Italy, Spain, and France. This allows Golden visa holders to access Europe’s numerous rich cultural and natural offerings, such as stunning mountain ranges, culturally rich towns, and beautiful architecture.

The Golden visa also provides a route to eventual permanent settlement and citizenship. Portuguese citizenship in turn offers access to European citizenship, meaning access to the freedom of movement benefits associated with citizenship of an EU country. This is likely to be of especial interest to UK citizens post-Brexit, who no longer have access to EU membership benefits such as freedom of movement.

Overall, Portugal’s Golden visa programme provides access to a number of travel, professional, and eventual citizenship benefits, which appeal to many prospective expats.

In order to be eligible for Portugal’s Golden visa route, there are a number of criteria which potential applicants must satisfy. These are as follows:

• You must obtain a Portuguese Tax Identification Number (NIF)
• You must provide evidence of a clean criminal record, both from your current country of residence and from Portugal
• You must make an investment in the Portuguese economy which satisfies the minimum threshold. The specific investment options are detailed later in this article
• In order to satisfy the residency requirement, you must spend at least 7 days residing in Portugal during the first year of your visa and 14 days per each 2-year period following the first year

Your family members may also be eligible to join you in Portugal if they fall into one of the following categories:

• Your spouse or long-term partner
• Your minor or dependant child(ren)
• Your dependant parent(s)

For more information on whether or not you are eligible for Portugal’s Golden visa programme, contact Total Law today.

When applying for Portugal’s Golden visa programme, you will need to provide a range of documents in support of your application, such as:

• Completed application form
• Valid passport
• Proof of a Portuguese bank account
• Portuguese NIF
• Proof of a clear criminal record both in your country of residence and in Portugal
• Proof of your investment
• Confirmation that you will maintain the investment for the required 5-year period (i.e. until you obtain Portuguese permanent residence)
• Proof of payment of the application fee

Note that all documents must be translated into Portuguese by an authorised translation service.

Failure to provide sufficient evidence is likely to result in an unsuccessful application.

When applying for a Portuguese Golden visa, there are a number of application steps which you will need to complete. These are generally as follows.

Firstly, you will need to pick your investment route and invest at least the minimum amount for that particular route. The different investment options are outlined in the next section of this article. Note that specific investment requirements vary from route to route and it is advised that you receive legal assistance with navigating these different requirements.

Once you have completed your investment, you will need to obtain a Portuguese Fiscal Number (NIF), in addition to which you will also need to open a Portuguese bank account.

In order to obtain the Golden visa itself, you will first need to submit an online expression of interest to the Agência para a Integração Migrações e Asilo (AIMA). You will then need to wait for pre-approval of your application. Note that this stage can take up to 18 months, during which period you will be expected to maintain your investment.

Once you receive pre-approval, you will then need to attend a biometrics appointment.

Your application will then receive a final review and, if you are successful, you will receive confirmation that your application has been accepted. In this event, you will be granted a Portuguese Residence permit.

Owing to the numerous stages and eligibility criteria of the Golden visa programme, it is strongly recommended that applicants receive legal support with their application. Contact Total Law today to learn more about how we can support you with each step of your Golden visa application process.

Portugal offers a number of investment routes as part of its Golden visa programme. These are as follows:

• Investing at least €500,000 in an eligible investment fund, e.g. private equity or venture capital (this investment is recoverable)
• Investing at least €500,000 in a Portuguese scientific research institution (this investment is not recoverable)
• Donating at least €250,000 to Portuguese arts or natural cultural heritage, reduced to €200,000 in the case of certain rural areas or regions particularly in need of investment (in all cases, this investment is not recoverable)
• Creating at least 10 jobs
• Incorporating a commercial company within Portugal, investing €500,000, and creating 5 jobs or maintaining 10 jobs (5 of which are permanent)

In most cases, the minimum investment necessary for the Portuguese Golden visa programme is €500,000. In the case of an investment or donation in the arts or national cultural heritage, however, the minimum amount generally decreases to €250,000, and to €200,000 in the case of certain rural areas or areas with a low GDP.

As such, the lowest eligible investment is €200,000, although a number of criteria will need to be met in order for this lower threshold to be accepted. The route which is right for you will depend on your chosen avenue of investment and on your particular budget.

Once you have made an eligible investment in order to obtain a Portuguese Golden visa, you will be expected to maintain that investment for at least 5 years. This is to ensure that the investments associated with the Golden visa programme contribute sufficiently to the Portuguese economy, rather than being used as a means to Portuguese residency and then immediately withdrawn.

When you are applying for the Golden visa, you will be expected to submit a declaration of honour in which you commit to maintaining the investment for at least 5 years.

Note that this only applies to recoverable investments; in the case of donations to the Portuguese arts, for instance, this transfer is not recoverable and so cannot be reclaimed after 5 years have passed.

The Portuguese Golden visa route also provides a route for your immediate family members to obtain Portuguese residency. Specifically, if they fall into one of the following categories, your immediate family may be able to join you in Portugal:

• Your spouse or long-term partner
• Your minor or dependant child(ren)
• Your dependant parent(s)

They will also be able to apply for permanent residency and citizenship, upon becoming eligible, making the Portuguese Golden visa route a good choice for those looking to settle permanently within Europe.

There are a number of tax benefits associated with the Portuguese Golden visa. For one, if you do not change your tax residence to Portugal then you will not need to pay tax on your outside income. You will also not have to pay a wealth tax on your existing assets.

If you are a tax resident, you will gain greater tax obligations, but these are still considered fairly favourable. It is likely in this case that you will pay a flat tax rate of 20% on Portuguese income, with most foreign income remaining exempt.

With recent legal changes to the Portuguese Golden visa route, it is important to keep an eye on the tax rules and regulations associated with the programme.

In the past, the Portuguese Golden visa programme offered a route to Portuguese citizenship after 5 years. Owing to recent legal changes in Portugal, the minimum period before citizenship eligibility may soon become 10 years. If the change does indeed become law, the Golden visa programme will still offer a route to Portuguese citizenship but the route itself will take longer, which may be a disincentive for certain applicants, depending on your reasons for applying.

Once Portuguese citizenship has been obtained, however, the holder will gain a number of benefits, such as the ability to obtain a Portuguese passport, live and work in any other EU country without requiring a visa, and participate in Portuguese elections. As such, the Portugal Golden visa programme will continue to boast a wide range of advantages even if the route to citizenship becomes longer.

Processing times for the Portuguese Golden visa vary significantly but can often take over a year. After first submitting your application, you will need to wait for pre-approval, which can take 18 months. Once you have received pre-approval, you will then need to attend a biometrics appointment and wait for final approval, which can also take a number of months.

Exact waiting times depend on factors such as how many other applications are also being processed, whether there are any complications with your application, and whether you are required to provide any further evidence in support of your application.

In order to minimise waiting times, make sure to submit your application correctly. Seeking legal assistance with your application can help to ensure this.

There are a number of costs associated with the Portuguese Golden visa programme which it is important to pay to ensure that your application runs successfully.

Firstly, you will need to pay the investment amount itself, which is generally €250,000-500,000 in total, depending on your budget and chosen route.

When you submit your application, you will need to pay an initial application fee of €6,045. You will also need to pay a processing fee per each application. In the case of the main applicant, this fee is €605. In the case of additional dependents who form part of your application, the fee will be €83.

Your application may also include additional costs if your supporting documents aren’t already in Portuguese and need to be translated. In this event, you will need to make sure to pay for an authorised translation service.

It is also strongly recommended that you pay for legal assistance with your application. Contact Total Law today for more details on our range of services and to receive bespoke pricing information.

As one of the stages of applying for a Portuguese Golden visa, you will need to obtain a Portuguese Número de Identificação Fiscal (NIF). This is a taxpayer identification number which allows you to pay Portuguese taxes and to open a Portuguese bank account.

Non-citizens applying for a NIF will need to complete the following form: Modelo de Carta para residentes fora da EU. This can be found online. You will also need to appoint a Portuguese tax representative. Your application will then be sent to the Tax and Customs Authority, which will assign an NIF.

Opening a Portuguese bank account is another step in applying for Portugal’s Golden visa programme. It is possible to do so even without being a Portuguese resident. However, there are a number of details which you will need to provide.

In general, you will need to provide the following information:

• Proof of identity (e.g. a passport)
• Proof of address (this should be a Portuguese address if applying for a resident bank account but can be an overseas address if applying for a non-resident account)
• Proof of employment (e.g. a pay slip or official letter from your employer)
• NIF number (outlined in the previous section)

Opening a Portuguese bank account brings a number of benefits, such as a route to paying Portuguese taxes, buying Portuguese property, and receiving payments from Portuguese companies and employers.