How to Apply for the Portugal Golden Visa: Step-by-Step Explained

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“Where shall I start? What are the steps and procedures to apply for the Golden Visa?”

That’s usually how every Golden Visa journey begins — with questions and curiosity. Over the years, we’ve helped many clients turn those questions into confidence.

Here’s the clear, structured path we follow to make your Portugal Golden Visa process smooth, transparent, and successful.

Step 1 – NIF (National Identification Number)

The NIF is essential for almost everything you do in Portugal.

Getting a NIF doesn’t mean you are liable for paying tax in Portugal.

First of all, if you are not a tax resident (i.e., not living in Portugal for more than 183 days per year), you don’t need to pay taxes in Portugal for income obtained outside of Portugal. You can get your NIF months, even years, before you actually submit your visa application. It is recommended to get this as soon as possible.

All main applicants will need an NIF. And we encourage all other adult applicants to get an NIF as well, as it strengthens the ties with Portugal when it comes to applying for citizenship. We can apply for the NIF on your behalf remotely, and our company will serve as your tax representative.

  • Personal documents needed: passport and address proof
  • Other documents: declaration forms for appointing your NIF representative, NIF application submission form – We will prepare these documents for you to sign.

Note: Documents need to be certified by your lawyer in Portugal. (We include this with our service.)

Step 2 – Open a Bank Account

Only the main investor is needed to open a bank account in Portugal. We will introduce you to a bank for account opening. Please note that banks have their own regulations and processes. Some banks don’t take on clients for certain nationalities and/or certain investment routes. And not all banks can open bank accounts remotely.

We will introduce you to a bank (and the bank account manager that will be taking care of you) that can work with you based on your nationality and investment route.

Personal documents required — depending on the bank, but typically include:

  • Passport
  • Address proof
  • Most recent tax return
  • Bank statement(s) with €500,000
  • Source of fundse below:
    • Some banks don’t work with D visa clients
    • Some banks don’t accept American that invest in funds
    • Some banks require €30000 deposit for D visa clients

Note: All documents, including bank account opening forms and personal documents, must be certified by your lawyer in Portugal. (This certification is included in our service.)

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Step 3 – Bank transfer and investment fund subscription

We can provide you an overview of the investment funds and walk you through the most important aspects of each fund. We can also arrange calls with fund managers.

Personal documents needed are very similar to the bank. Please note that each fund may have their own procedures, but normally, below are the documents needed.

  • Fund subscription forms
  • Passport
  • Address proof
  • Most recent tax return
  • Bank statement(s) with €500,000
  • Source of funds
    • From employment – employment letter, pay slip
    • From investment – investment statement
    • From sales of assets – sales agreement and related documents

We will introduce you to the fund manager, assist you on the fund subscription, send the needed documents to the fund(s) and certify documents when needed.

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Step 4 – Personal documents

At the same time, you should start preparing personal documentation for the online application, like

  • Police report (anyone over the age of 16)
  • Marriage certificate (for spouse)
  • Birth certificate (for kids) (for parents)

Please note that all these documents need to be apostilled.

The critical one is the criminal record. Countries differ in how they issue the criminal record for their residents. Some countries even require a request letter from the Portugal Consulate in order to process the issuance of the criminal record. Getting the police report and getting it apostilled alone may take 2 months.

However, getting the documents is not always the sooner the better. For example, the police report only has a 3-month validity period (from the issuance date to the online submission date). We will guide you to get these documents at the right timing.

Note: If your country is not a member of the Hague Convention, you will need to have your documents certified at the nearest Portuguese consulate or embassy.

Refer to the table below for the validity period of the documents and the apostille requirements.

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Note: The above is not the full list of documents, as other documents may be needed for your dependents (e.g. proof of student status, single, and dependent, retirement status and so on).

Other than documents from your original country, you would also need to get documents in Portugal, such as the below

  • Applicant’s permission for the authorities to access his/her Portuguese criminal record.
  • Certificate of no debts from the Portuguese tax and national insurance offices.
  • Signed statement by the applicant that he/she will fulfill the investment requirements.
  • Evidence that the minimum investment has been made (declaration letter from fund manager(s))
  • Declaration letter from your Portugal bank confirming the transfer of the required funds

We will assist in requesting the above-mentioned information.

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Step 5 – Online submission

We will fill in the necessary forms and submit them online to the AIMA portal.

Our role as your consultant is to be there along the whole journey of the Golden Visa process. We will be the main coordinator between you and the bank, fund manager and lawyer.

How long does the whole process take?

The whole process, from start to finish, can be done in 3 to 4 months. Let’s take a look at the timeline of the whole process.

We can also speed up the process for clients if needed. The quickest we have submitted for the Portugal Golden Visa application is 1.5 months!

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If you live in a place where the Portuguese bank has a representative office, you can speed up your bank account opening process.

If your country is not in the Hague Convention, it may delay your process as you would need to get your documents certified in the nearest Portuguese embassy/consulate.

Banks and funds have a KYC (Know Your Client) process to verify your source of funds, and they can ask for more supporting documents, which may delay your process.

How can The Golden Portugal help me to speed up the process?

When you need someone who has experience in every phase of the process.

Our company, The Golden Portugal, specializes in Portugal Golden Visa. We provide a one-stop solution for clients going through the Golden Visa process, from the beginning to the end. We assist in:

  • NIF application
  • Being your NIF representative
  • Introducing the appropriate bank for account opening
  • sourcing/introducing suitable investments

Our strength is finding the appropriate projects according to your need and providing detailed analysis on the different investment options for you to make an informed decision.

In addition, we will guide you every step of the way.

  • Where and how to get your police report
  • Where to get your documents certified or apostilled
  • Certify documents for banks and fund’s KYC process
  • Maintain a great connection with the banks, the fund managers
  • Help to find solutions to your issues you may have along the way of the whole Golden Visa journey

Learn more about the Portuguese Golden Visa and how we can help get your Portugal residency and citizenship!

Contact us today to begin your Portuguese journey with expert guidance every step of the way.

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We have helped more than 500 families on their Portugal Golden Visa journey. 

We are also the pioneer firm to help clients to invest through funds back from 2020 until now. Come talk with us.

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