Portugal now asks for ten years. Is the Golden Visa still worth it?

For a decade, Portugal's Golden Visa came with a simple promise: invest, visit for about a week a year, and apply for a European passport after five years. That promise ended on 19 May 2026. The Golden Visa itself has not changed at all. What has changed is how long it takes to become Portuguese, and that changes who the programme suits.

What changed

Organic Law 1/2026 was signed on 3 May 2026 and came into force on 19 May 2026. Three changes matter to investors.

• Ten years, not five. Most applicants now need ten years of legal residence before they can apply for citizenship. Citizens of EU countries and of Portuguese-speaking countries need seven.
• The clock starts later. The years are now counted from the day your first residence card is issued. Since 2024 they had been counted from the day you applied, which protected applicants from processing delays. That protection has gone.
• More to prove. The Portuguese language test at A2 level stays. Added to it are a test on Portuguese history, culture and civic rights and duties, a formal declaration of commitment to democratic principles, and proof that you can support yourself. A serious criminal conviction rules an applicant out.

Who stays on the five-year rule

Citizenship applications that were filed on or before 18 May 2026 are still decided under the old five-year rule.

There is no wider protection. If you already held a Golden Visa on that date but had not yet applied for citizenship, the new timeline applies to you, however many years you had already completed. This is the part of the law that has drawn the most criticism, and it is the part existing investors most need to understand.

What did not change

The nationality law is about passports. It did not touch the residence programme.

The qualifying routes are the same as before: €500,000 in regulated Portuguese investment funds, €500,000 for scientific research, €250,000 for arts and heritage, or a company that creates at least ten jobs. Property has not qualified since October 2023. The stay requirement is still seven days in the first year and fourteen days in each two-year period after that.

The real timeline

Ten years is the legal minimum. The practical wait is longer, for one reason: the clock does not start until the immigration agency issues your first card, and the agency has a long backlog. Applicants have recently waited a year or more for that card, and often closer to two.

A realistic plan for someone applying in late 2026 looks like this.

The citizenship application itself then takes time to decide. Anyone who tells you that Portugal is still a five-year route to a passport is describing a law that no longer exists.

Portugal still offers one of the lightest residence permits in Europe. It no longer offers a short road to a passport.

Who it still suits

The Golden Visa remains a strong choice for a particular kind of family.

• You want a European base, not a deadline. The permit gives your family the right to live, work and study in Portugal, and to travel across the 29 Schengen countries, for about a week a year in the country.
• Permanent residence would be enough. After five years you can apply for permanent residence, which normally asks for basic Portuguese. For many families that delivers everything they wanted from Europe.
• You are planning for the next generation. Ten years is a long time for an adult and a short time for a child. A family that starts now can still reach citizenship while the children are young enough to benefit from it.
• You may move to Portugal one day. If the country is somewhere you would be glad to live, the longer wait matters much less.

Who should look elsewhere

If your only reason for choosing Portugal was a passport in five years, it is the wrong programme now, and no other European investment programme fills the gap. Citizenship by investment has ended inside the European Union: the EU's highest court ruled against Malta's programme in April 2025 and Malta repealed it that summer.

That leaves an honest question: do you need a passport, or do you need what a passport would have given you? If the answer is the freedom to travel in Europe and a secure second home, a residence permit already provides both. Greece, Malta, Italy, Hungary and Cyprus all offer one, each with a different cost, speed and family rules. Our guide Residency or citizenship: which do you need? works through the choice, and the Compare tool sets the programmes side by side.

Five questions to ask before you commit

1. When would my first card realistically be issued? Your ten years start there, not on the day you invest.
2. What does the fund charge, and when can I leave it? Ask for the fees, the lock-in period and how the exit works. The investment must be held for at least five years.
3. Is permanent residence enough for my family? If it is, the nationality law changes very little for you.
4. Who in my family is included, and until what age? Check this for adult children and parents before you apply.
5. What happens if the rules change again? They have changed three times since 2023. Build a plan that still works if they change again.

Our view

Portugal remains one of Europe's safest and most liveable countries, and the Golden Visa is still one of the least demanding ways to hold a residence permit there. Choose it for the residence. Treat the passport as a possibility ten or more years away, not as the reason to invest.