Portuguese Citizenship / Permanent Residence by Investment (The Complete Guide on the Aftermath of Portuguese Golden Visa)

The Portugal Golden Visa is a program where you can get Portuguese citizenship or permanent residence by investment. During the first 5 years of the Portugal Golden Visa, you would hold a temporary residence card. After the initial 5 years, you have the following options:

1. To continue the Portugal Golden Visa program
2. To apply for permanent residency (by investment)
3. To apply for permanent residency (the regular one)
4. To apply for citizenship

There are certain things you need to consider before you decide on which plan B you go for. One of the most important questions to ask is what is the end goal you want, and how to get there. Can you eventually get the second passport? What requirements do you need to meet? Can your spouse and children get them as well?

This is the complete guide to the aftermath of Portugal Golden Visa, We will go into each of the above categories in details, giving you information on the requirements of getting and maintaining the citizenship or permanent residence status such as stay requirements, investment requirements (if any), language test, renewal frequency, and cost.

We will also go into details of getting Portuguese citizenship and the pitfall that no one else talked about; and insights as to why people choose each different options and which options might be most suitable in your situation.

At the end, we will take a closer look into some statistics of Portuguese citizenship by investment (the Portugal Golden Visa program)

Option 1 – To Continue with the Current Portugal Golden Visa Temporary Residence

Currently, for the Portuguese Golden Visa, you would initially get a 2 year temporary resident permit. Towards the end of the 2nd year, you would need to renew and get another temporary resident permit for another 2 years, and repeat the process at the end of 4th year.

You can actually repeat this process every 2 years, and renew the temporary residence permit, and not hop on to the citizenship or permanent residency train after the initial 5-year period.

Renewal requirements for Portuguese temporary residence by investment

The requirement for renewal is exactly the same as the first 2 renewals during the initial 5-year period of the Portugal Golden Visa. That is:

• 14 days stay requirement for each 2 year period
• Maintain the investment for the Portugal Golden Visa program
• Clean criminal record in Portugal and from your home and residing country
• No outstanding tax payment in Portugal

Who can renew for Portuguese temporary residence by investment?

The main investor and all dependents under the same application

Renewal fees for Portuguese temporary residence by investment

~2600€ per renewal

The cost is the same as the first 2 renewals of the temporary residence permit and is considerably higher than other options we will talk about below.

Who would typically choose this option?

The validity of the Portuguese temporary resident permit by investment (2 years) is shorter than all the other options. And the renewal cost is the highest amongst all. The only advantages for the temporary residence option is that there is no requirement on passing any language test or equivalent.

This option may be for those who

• Can’t stand to study Portuguese and not able to achieve any level of proficiency to pass a A2 level Portuguese test or complete a recognized Portuguese course equal or higher than A2 level
• Can’t meet the stay requirement as requested by the regular permanent residence
• Don’t want to get the Portuguese citizenship due to reasons such as dual citizenship not allowed in home country

Conclusion

This is a high cost, high maintenance options. Even if you don’t want to get the citizenship or can’t meet the stay requirement of a ‘regular’ permanent residence, you still have the option to apply for a Portuguese permanent residence by investment, which we will be going into details in the next section. The only catch is that to apply for any Portuguese permanent residence or citizenship, you need to pass the A2 level exam or complete a recognized Portuguese course of A2 (basic level) or above.

Catch?

If this is the route you will intend to go for, you must be sure that you can hold your golden visa investment for the long term (or at least to the point where you will not need to renew for the permanent residence by investment). That is, investment funds that have a definite holding period, and some buy back properties may not be suitable. You should check with your immigration consultant before making any decision.

Furthermore, if you have children over (or will be over) 18 years of age that are under the same Portugal Golden Visa application as your dependent, they must meet the following 3 criteria at the time of each renewal (same requirement as the first 5 years of the Portuguese Golden Visa)
- be unmarried, and
- be dependent 
- be a student

Option 2 – To Apply for Portuguese Permanent Residence by Investment (Portugal Golden Visa Program)

Do you know that there are 2 different types of Portuguese permanent residence permit that you can apply for with your Portugal Golden Visa?

There is the “regular” one, and there is another one especially for holders of Portuguese Golden Visa.

Here we will about the Portuguese permanent residence by investment, which can be applied especially for holders of Golden Visa. We will talk about the “regular” one in the next section.

So after 5 years, Portugal Golden Visa applicants can opt to apply for the Portuguese permanent residence permit (by investment).

Apply/ renewal requirements for Portuguese permanent residence by investment

The application requirements is very similar to the renewal of the Portuguese temporary residence by Golden Visa, except the language test:

• Pass the A2 level Portuguese language test or complete a recognized Portuguese course of A2 level or higher. For more information on the language requirements, you can refer to the SEF site.
• Maintain the investment for the Portugal Golden Visa program
• Clean criminal record in Portugal and from your home and residing country
• No outstanding tax payment in Portugal

Note that a lot of information out on the internet (about there is no language test requirements for permanent residence) are hearsay, and are incorrect. It is advisable to always check with a lawyer or an immigration consultant on all matters concerning your immigration process and be prepared for the documentations and requirements requested. Here is some info from SEF for applying the Portuguese permanent residence permit

The Portuguese permanent residence permit is valid for 5 years, and you can renewal this permit as long as you meet the renewal requirements (as above) and the below stay requirements.

Please note that once you have achieved the required language test/ course completion, you will not need to repeat it for each renewal.

Stay requirement for renewal of Portuguese permanent residence by investment

35 days stay requirement for each 5 year period.  Since the Portuguese permanent residence permit is valid for 5 years, the stay requirements is now calculated in a 5 year period, with 7 days per year, the stay requirement is 35 days for the 5 years. You can break it down or you can stay 35 days in one go.

Who can apply for Portuguese permanent residence by investment

The main investor and all dependents under the same application.

Application/ renewal fee for Portuguese permanent residence by investment

~7000€ per application

The fee is similar to the temporary residence when you add up the fee and the renewal frequency and is considerably higher than other options we will talk about below.

Who would typically choose this option?

The advantage of the Portuguese permanent resident permit by investment is that it doesn’t have a very stringent stay requirement as per the ‘regular’ permanent resident. But the renewal cost is high and the applicants must keep the investment.

This option may be for those who:

• Can’t meet the stay requirement as requested by the ‘regular’ permanent residence
• Don’t want to get the Portuguese citizenship due to reasons such as dual citizenship not allowed in home country

Conclusion

This is more flexible than the temporary residence option as you renew every 5 years instead of 2 years. And the stay requirement is calculated for the 5 year period which gives you added flexibility. If you are able to pass the language test or complete the required language course, this option is more preferable than the temporary residence. But if you think you can meet a more stringent stay requirement, check out the next one – the “regular” Portuguese permanent residence.

Catch?

If this is the route you will intend to go for, you must be sure that you can hold your golden visa investment for the long term (or at least to the point where you will not need to renew for the permanent residence by investment). That is, investment funds that have a definite holding period, and some buy back properties may not be suitable. You should check with your immigration consultant before making any decision.

Also, one of the biggest difference between permanent residence and temporary residence is that for children over age of 18, they don’t need to meet any special requirement (be dependent, a student, and unmarried) at the time of application nor at renewal.

Option 3 – To Apply for “Regular” Portuguese Permanent Residence

This is the ‘regular’ Portuguese permanent residence permit that most people refer to when they talk about permanent residence.

And Portugal Golden Visa holder can apply for this “regular” Portuguese permanent residence permit.

Apply/ renewal requirements for Portuguese Permanent Residence

• Pass the A2 level Portuguese language test or complete a recognized Portuguese course of A2 level or higher. For more information on the language requirements, you can refer to the SEF site.
• Clean criminal record in Portugal and from your home and residing country
• No outstanding tax payment in Portugal
• Proof of residence/ accommodation
• Proof of resources to sustain your living

Note that a lot of information out on the internet (about there is no language test requirements for permanent residence) are hearsay, and are incorrect. It is advisable to always check with a lawyer or an immigration consultant on all matters concerning your immigration process and be prepared for the documentations and requirements requested. Here is some info from SEF for applying the Portuguese permanent residence permit

The permanent residence permit is valid for 5 years, and you can renewal this permit as long as you meet the renewal requirements and the below stay requirements.

Please note that once you have achieved the required language test/ completion of course, you will not need to repeat it for each renewal.

Stay requirements for renewal of Portuguese Permanent Residence

Can’t be out of Portugal for 24 consecutive months or 30 non-consecutive months for each 5-year period.

Who can apply for Portuguese Permanent Residence?

The main investor and all dependents including spouse, children and parents.

Application/ renewal fee for Portuguese Permanent Residence

~300€ per application

Who would typically choose this option?

This permanent residence has the most stringent stay requirement out of all 4 options, it is for those who intent to live in Portugal for the long term but don’t want to apply for citizenship. If you don’t intend to live in Portugal, you should look into the other 3 options.

This option may be for those who

• Live in Portugal and are able to meet the stay requirement
• Don’t want to get the Portuguese citizenship due to reasons such as dual citizenship not allowed in home country

Conclusion

The advantage of this type of permanent residence permit over the permanent residence by investment is that the applicant no longer need to maintain the golden visa investment. Thus, you can be much more flexible in choosing your investment options.

Also the application and renewal cost is much lower.

Catch?

It is for applicants that live in Portugal as there are stay requirements for renewing your permanent residence permit.

Same as option 2, children over age of 18 don’t need to meet any special requirement (be dependent, a student, and unmarried) at the time of application nor at renewal.

Option 4 – To Apply for Portuguese Citizenship

Portuguese citizenship by investment, is probably the top ultimate goals for most Golden Visa applicants. One of the many benefits of the Portugal Golden Visa is that you can apply for Portuguese citizenship after 5 years. Check here for all the other benefits of the Portugal Golden Visa.

Portugal allows dual citizenship, so the only catch is if your home country doesn’t allow dual citizenship. And even so, some applicants denounced their home citizenship and opt for the Portugal citizenship.

Getting your Portuguese citizenships doesn’t come with much downside as there are:

• No obligatory army training
• No stringent inheritance law or tax law for citizen

Check out 20 reasons why Portugal is the ideal country for your second passport

Apply requirements for Portuguese Citizenship

• Pass the A2 level Portuguese language test or complete a recognized Portuguese course of A2 level or higher. For more information, please refer to the SEF site.
• Clean criminal record in Portugal and from your home and residing country

Stay requirement for renewal of Portuguese Citizenship

Nil

Who can apply for Portuguese Citizenship?

The main investor, spouse, and dependents over 18 of age

For children under 18, they are able to 
- apply for citizenship if they live/ study in Portugal, or
- get a EU family card for the time being, and apply for citizenship at the age of 18

Application fee for Portuguese Citizenship

~21€ per application

Who would typically choose this option?

Getting the Portuguese citizenship means you would also become an EU citizen and you can live, study, and work in all 27 EU countries. It has all the benefits, and no downside. Once, you get the citizenship, it is for life, and you don’t have to worry about any stay requirement, income requirement, investment requirement any more.

You can also see the cost of application/ renewal is so much cheaper than the other options.

We recommend this option unless you have other concerns (such as the dual citizenship issue).

Conclusion

After you get the Portuguese citizenship, it is permanent. You become a Portuguese citizen and an EU citizen. You just have to renew your citizenship card when the card validity expires, but there is no longer any requirements for renewal. This is no more worries, no more counting the stays, and no more visits to the SEF. In fact, the application of citizenship is not even handled by the SEF.

Catch?

We can’t think of any.

Same as option 2 & 3, children over age of 18 don’t need to meet any special requirement (be dependent, a student, and unmarried) at the time of application.

There is an additional benefit other than all the points we have mentioned above. When you get your citizenship, you no longer need a NIF tax representative to represent you. Another saving to not having to pay for NIF tax representative.

Comparison Table of the 4 Options

With all the options to choose from, catering different needs and situation, Portugal Golden Visa is one of the Best Plan B in the world. To help you compare the different options, here is a comparison table of the 4 options at a glance –

• Portuguese Citizenship
• Portuguese Permanent Residence
• Portuguese Permanent Residence by Investment
• Temporary Residence by Investment.

A Closer Look into the Portuguese Citizenship by Investment (Portuguese Golden Visa)

The Golden Visa in Portugal started in 2012, counting the 5 years to the end of 2020, only applicants that applied from 2012-2015 are eligible to apply for citizenship.  And counting on the application/ approval time of citizenship which may take 1 – 2 years, it is most probable that only those part of the applicants that applied in 2012 – 2014 have gotten their citizenship or permanent residence.

From the statistics above, you can see that over 80% of the initial applicants from 2012-2014 were from mainland China, and then the rest are from Russia, Brazil. 

There is an interesting uprise of Americans taking interest in the Portugal golden visa starting from 2019/2020, where Americans became one of the top 5 countries applying for the Portuguese Golden Visa.

You can check the statistics of the Portugal Golden Visa by year with this link from SEF.

This also means that if you want to find a company that has the experience of going thru the whole journey for clients from golden visa application to citizenship, you most probably have to find someone who had handled those clients back in 2012-2014.

About The Golden Portugal

Founders of The Golden Portugal started businesses with the Hong, Kong, China and Taiwan market, and now growing into other markets such as the US, Indian, UK, and so on. 

One of our lawyers specializes in immigration, and has started helping clients with the Portuguese Golden Visa back in 2013. 

Here are more reasons why The Golden Portugal.

Talk to us today and start your journey to the EU!

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