Residency In Portugal

U.S. and Canadian citizens are automatically granted a 90-day tourist visa when entering the country for business or personal travel. This is a short-stay Schengen visa, allowing you 90 days within the Schengen Zone at large, not just Portugal.

Portugal has two good residency options, but they have conflicting pluses…

The proof-of-income option is low, but it requires you to stay 183 days in the country per year. As long as your plan is to spend six or more months of the year in Portugal, that downside shouldn’t be a problem for you. To qualify for this one, you’ve simply got to prove an income that’s equivalent to the minimum wage in the region you intend to live in (the amount varies across the country, but the average is 665 euros, one of the lowest in the eurozone). So while there’s no universal set amount for this, it’s typically going to be around 1,200 euros per month.

With a five-year minimum investment, applicants for the Golden Visa receive a special visa that allows them to come and go as they please, as long as they spend at least 14 days in Portugal during each period of two years after receiving their residency card.

In 2023, the Portuguese government announced changes to the Golden Visa program (which took effect on Oct. 7, 2023), excluding real estate investments.

Portuguese venture capital/private equity funds are now the most popular choice, as they offer a wide range of investment options and do not require active management or a donation to the government. Qualifying funds with incentives, such as fixed returns and upfront interest payments, are gaining quick interest. 

• Cultural Heritage Support: Donating 250,000 euros or more to support arts or cultural heritage. If funding a qualifying initiative in a low-density region, this amount can be reduced to 200,000 euros.
  

• Venture Capital/Private Equity Fund: Transferring at least 500,000 euros to acquire units in venture capital funds, as long as they are not connected to real estate. This amount can be distributed among multiple funds.

• Company Creation: Creating a company or adding to the share capital of an already existing one, employing at least 10 locals (or 8, if done in a low-density area) alongside a capital transfer of 500,000 euros. If you are a business owner or entrepreneurs in your home country, this option will let you build a European operation.

• Donation to Research Activities: Transferring at least 500,000 euros for research done by either public or private scientific research institutions.

On the other hand, the investment option (the Golden Visa Program) has a high capital requirement, but only requires one week a year in the country. Going this route, you’d have to spend between 280,000 and 500,000 euros on real estate (purchase amount varies per region) or make another eligible investment.

When you obtain a visa under Portugal’s Golden Visa program, you become eligible for permanent residency and Portuguese citizenship after five years. As an additional benefit, the Golden Visa program allows you to include family members.

Plus, anyone who is newly applying for residency in the country (has not been resident there in the last five years) can apply for the Non-Habitual Resident (NHR) status. While the NHR program doesn’t compare to the affordability and benefits of the pensioner visas offered in Latin America, this is one of the best programs in Europe, as it allows you to receive many types of foreign income tax-free for 10 years and taxes pensions at a flat 10% rate. Thanks to these tax breaks, Portugal’s is possibly the most attractive residency option in Europe.