Portugal Golden Visa

Portugal Golden Visa. Portugal residence permit for investment. Citizenship

If you want to invest in Portugal and become a resident, you can apply for a Residence Permit for Investment Activity (ARI), commonly known as the Portugal Golden Visa.

Criteria for obtaining an investment visa in Portugal:

1. Be over 18 years of age.
2. Make a significant investment that will contribute to the development of the Portuguese economy.
3. Have no criminal record
4. Be a citizen of a country that is not a member of the EU, EA or Switzerland.
5. Invest your own funds.
6. Commit to maintaining any of your investments for a minimum of five years (from the date of application).
7. Spend at least 7 days a year in Portugal.

When applying for a Portugal Golden Visa, you can include your family members in your application:

1. Spouse
2. Children under 18 years of age.
3. Dependent children under 26 years of age (if they are full-time students in an educational institution, depend on you financially and are not married).
4. Parents (of the main applicant or the spouse of the main applicant) are over 65 years of age.
5. Dependent parents (of the main applicant or the main applicant’s spouse) over 55 years of age. You must provide documentation proving that they are dependent on you.
6. Siblings (of the main applicant or the main applicant’s spouse) who are under 18 years of age and for whom you (or your spouse) have legal custody.

Investment options for obtaining a Portugal Golden Visa

• Creation of 10 jobs (Minimum investment amount: none

A minimum of 10 new full-time jobs must be created in a Portuguese business owned by the main applicant).

• → Company registration + creation of 5 jobs (Investment of at least EUR 500,000 in the creation of a commercial company or in strengthening the share capital of an existing commercial company. The investment must lead to the creation or retention of at least five full-time jobs).
• → Investments in funds (Making capital transfers of EUR 500,000 or more intended for the acquisition of participation interests in investment funds or venture capital funds, if the funds are not related to real estate. To qualify for participation in the Golden Visa program, at least 60% The value of the fund’s investments must be in commercial companies based in Portugal).
• → Research funding (Minimum investment amount: from 500,000 euros (one-time non-refundable contribution).

Investing in research activities conducted by public or private research institutions.

• → Support for cultural heritage or restoration of national heritage. (Minimum investment amount: from 250,000 euros (one-time non-refundable contribution).

The Portugal Golden Visa application process involves several steps. The processing time for a Golden Visa application once submitted can vary on average till 6 months. Once your application is approved, you will automatically be issued a resident card.

When applying for a Portugal Golden Visa, you must complete the following steps:

• √ Selecting an investment option
• √ Applying for a Tax Identification Number (NIF) You will need a NIF (Número de Identificação Fiscal), which can be obtained from Tax and Customs. To obtain a NIF number, you must provide government-issued identification (such as a passport) and proof of address.
• √ Opening a bank account

Before investing, you must open a Portuguese bank account and obtain a tax number. Your bank account must be with a financial institution authorized by Banco de Portugal. You may have to open a bank account in person and provide the bank with relevant documents, including:

— Passport

— NIF number

— Portuguese phone number

— Proof of country of residence

— Confirmation of source of income

• Completion of Investment (Once you have selected an investment and opened a bank account, you can complete the investment. Please note that you cannot begin the Golden Visa application process until the investment has been made).
• Application Preparation (There are several steps involved in preparing and submitting your visa application). You need:

a. Register your application in the ARI portal.

b. Attach the required documents (documents must be in PDF format. Each document must have a maximum size of 4 MB).

c. Make the required payment.

d. Apply.

e. Wait for confirmation from SEF.

f. Visit SEF to formalize your visa application and submit your biometrics (fingerprints). If you are unable to attend an in-person meeting, you may give your legal representative power of attorney to submit the application on your behalf.

A residence permit in Portugal under a Golden Visa is issued immediately for 2 years with the right to extension. You will need to renew your resident card every two years.

After five years, you will be able to apply for Portuguese citizenship or permanent residence. Permanent residence is valid for five years and you can renew it an unlimited number of times.

If you decide to obtain Portuguese citizenship after 5 years, you will need to prove your knowledge of the Portuguese language.

The Portugal Golden Visa program requires a minimum period of stay in the country. During the first 2-year period, you must be physically in Portugal for 14 days. And 21 days over the next three years. That is, in order to obtain citizenship after 5 years, it is enough to stay in the country for 35 days.

Portugal allows dual citizenship, so there is no need to renounce your first citizenship.

Once you obtain permanent residence or Portuguese citizenship, you no longer need to support investments under a Golden Visa.

Conditions for obtaining Portuguese citizenship

Basic conditions and requirements for a foreigner who wants to become a Portuguese citizen:

1. The applicant must be an adult.
2. Be a legal resident of Portugal for at least five years.
3. Possibility of independent financial support, availability of a legal source of income for yourself and your family members.
4. Owning or renting housing.
5. Successfully pass a test on knowledge of the Constitution, traditions and customs of Portugal.
6. Knowledge of the national language at A2 level.
7. Impeccable personal reputation (no criminal record, no bans on entry to Portugal, no deportations).
8. Pay taxes correctly and, when applying for citizenship, provide certificates of absence of debts on tax and utility payments.