8 pros and 3 cons of the Portugal Golden Visa fund route in 2026 – a private equity perspective

1. Minimal stay requirements – real flexibility

To maintain your Golden Visa residence status, you only need to spend around 7 days per year in Portugal on average (spread over each card’s validity). That is radically different from the D7 or digital nomad visas, which effectively require you to live in Portugal for most of the year. If your career, business or family life is still centred in the US, UK, India or elsewhere, the fund route lets you build an EU track record without relocating now.

2. A genuine “Plan B” you can activate quickly

The Golden Visa is effectively a pre-built emergency door. If politics, safety or taxation deteriorate in your home country, you already have a legal right to live in Portugal. If you wait and only start a visa process when something goes wrong, you may have to spend months gathering documents, and you risk getting stuck in the same backlogs as everyone else.

3. Works well for families with different timelines

With the Golden Visa, each family member gets their own residence card. One spouse might spend most of the year in Portugal, while the other continues to work abroad. Children can start by visiting on school holidays and later use the status to study in Portugal or elsewhere in the EU. Even if each person uses Portugal differently, time spent with the card can count towards long-term options.

4. A route to EU citizenship over the long term

The Golden Visa is a residency programme, not an instant passport. But if you renew your permits, comply with stay requirements and pass the A2 Portuguese language test, you may eventually be able to apply for permanent residence and citizenship, subject to future rules. In a world where many golden visa schemes offer residence only, Portugal’s potential EU passport outcome remains a major differentiator.

Our article Portugal: Economy of the Year – The Economist & Golden Visa Funds explains why getting long-term exposure to Portugal now can be strategically valuable.

5. Possibility of residency without automatic tax residency

Under Portuguese rules, you are generally tax resident if you spend 183+ days in the country or if Portugal becomes your “centre of vital interests”. For many Golden Visa investors who keep their main life and business elsewhere and stay under that threshold, it is possible to hold Portuguese residency without becoming a Portuguese tax resident. This needs careful planning with your tax advisers, but it is a key element of the programme’s appeal.

6. Access to EU healthcare and education ecosystems

As residents, Golden Visa holders can register with Portugal’s SNS public healthcare system and also use the country’s competitive private health insurance market. Children can attend Portuguese or international schools and, over time, may access EU-university fee structures that are often far lower than international student fees in North America or the UK.

7. EU/OECD-compliant framework, not a “golden passport” scheme

The EU and OECD have put heavy pressure on citizenship-by-investment schemes, particularly those offering quick passports with light checks. Portugal’s Golden Visa is different: it is a residence programme in a core EU economy, not a Caribbean passport product. That does not eliminate risk, but it puts Portugal in a more politically sustainable category compared with many offshore alternatives.

8. Investment via regulated private equity & real-asset funds

The shift away from simple real estate purchases has pushed the Golden Visa towards regulated investment funds. For investors who already work with private equity, this is a more natural habitat: institutional governance, audited reporting, independent custody and defined strategies around tourism platforms, residential and mixed-use projects, and corporate investments.

Our guide on 10 mistakes to avoid when investing in a Portugal Golden Visa fund explains how to separate serious managers such as Explorer from more opportunistic offerings.

1. High cost and real investment risk

The Golden Visa is not cheap. The fund route requires at least €500,000 in capital, plus government fees, legal costs, and travel expenses. The underlying fund is a real investment, not a refundable deposit. It can go up or down, management fees apply and liquidity is usually limited until the fund term ends. Only investors who can afford to lose capital and still sleep at night should proceed.

2. Legislative and political uncertainty

Portugal has already changed the rules several times – removing real estate as a route, ending the NHR tax regime for new entrants and debating changes to citizenship timelines. While there is usually some form of transitional protection, the message is clear: no investor can lock in a 10-year future with today’s rules. Anyone using the Golden Visa has to accept this as part of the risk profile.

3. Operational friction: backlogs, biometrics and timelines

Immigration backlogs at AIMA have improved, but they are not fully resolved. Families can still face long processing times, staggered biometrics appointments and delays between investing, filing and actually holding the card. A good legal team and realistic expectations are essential – and even then, the experience will not be “friction-free”.