Portugal Eyes More Global Investors With Planned Golden Visa Upgrades

Portugal is preparing to enhance its Golden Visa Program to attract more foreign investors, according to the country’s Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Amaro said the government is exploring ways to make the program more appealing to international applicants. The Golden Visa currently offers Portuguese residency in return for qualifying financial investments, such as capital transfers or job creation.

In 2024, interest in the scheme surged, with visa approvals increasing by 72% compared to the previous year, according to Portugal’s immigration agency AIMA. A total of 4,987 more applications were approved in 2024, setting a new record. American investors represented a significant share of this growth, driven partly by the limited availability of such residency-by-investment options in other EU countries.

While exact details of the new changes have yet to be released, Amaro indicated that potential benefits may include a 20% flat tax on local income and a 10-year exemption on most foreign income. He also clarified that Portugal has no plans to end the Golden Visa Program, countering speculation about its future.

The minister added that the government is working to resolve a significant backlog of approximately 45,000 pending applications.

Portugal Restarts Golden Visa Processing — But Slowly

Earlier this year, AIMA President Pedro Portugal Gaspar confirmed that the agency has resumed processing Golden Visa applications, albeit at a slower pace than many applicants had hoped.

“Some of these applications are being processed. They are not at a standstill,” Gaspar told Público. However, the pace remains limited due to capacity constraints.

As of now, over 50,000 investors and family members remain in the queue, with some applicants waiting more than three years.

In response to Portugal’s housing crisis, the government recently removed real estate investment as a route to qualify for the Golden Visa. However, other investment pathways — such as fund investments and job creation — continue to attract strong interest from international investors.