The residence permit for investment (ARI), in 7 steps: which investments still qualify, what it costs, how many days you need in Portugal, and how we can help at each step.
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The Portugal Golden Visa, officially the residence permit for investment activity (ARI) and sometimes called the D9 visa, lets citizens of countries outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland live in Portugal in return for an investment they keep for five years.
Since October 2023, real estate no longer qualifies. In 2026 the routes start at €250,000 in culture, and most need €500,000, in a Portuguese fund, a company or research. This guide takes you through the requirements, the costs and the 7 steps, up to your residence card.
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The Golden Visa in 6 numbers (2026)
Yes to all five? The Golden Visa can be your route to Portugal.
Planning to live in Portugal full time on a pension or rents? The D7 asks far less. A doubt on one point? Ask us in a free call.
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The Golden Visa is not a visa but a residence permit: the ARI, Portugal’s residence permit for investment activity. You apply for it directly with AIMA, the immigration agency, on its online ARI portal: no consulate and no residence visa.
You enter Portugal legally, without a visa if your nationality is exempt for short stays (see our Schengen visa guide) or with a Schengen visa. The “D9 visa” you may read about is the same permit under an informal name: the consulates’ list of residence visas has no investment visa.
The ARI is open to citizens of countries outside the EU, the EEA, Switzerland and Andorra. To get it, you need:
AIMA can also ask for proof of a home and of your means of subsistence, and checks both at every renewal.
Our guides to moving to Portugal from the US, the UK, Canada and Brazil set the Golden Visa beside the other visas open to you.
Five routes remain. Each must be kept for at least five years, and none may go into real estate, directly or indirectly.
| Route | Minimum | Low-density area |
|---|---|---|
| Investment fund | €500,000 | Same |
| Company with 5 jobs | €500,000 | Same |
| Research | €500,000 | €400,000 |
| Arts and heritage | €250,000 | €200,000 |
| Job creation | 10 jobs | 8 jobs |
Low-density areas are those with under 100 inhabitants per km², or a GDP per head under 75% of the national average. What each route asks:
Yes, the Golden Visa is still open in 2026, through the five routes above. What closed on 7 October 2023 is buying property (€500,000, or €350,000 with renovation) and the €1.5 million capital transfer. You can still buy a home in Portugal, but it no longer counts toward the ARI.
Permits granted on those routes before that date can still be renewed.
The law asks for units of a Portuguese non-real-estate fund, set up under Portuguese law, with a maturity of at least five years when you invest and at least 60% of its investments in companies based in Portugal.
AIMA asks the fund manager to certify exactly these points, with a certificate that the units are yours and free of liens. Check them before you subscribe.
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Yes, and on better terms than with most permits. Your family can apply at the same time as you, on the ARI portal once your analysis fee is paid, or later. Since October 2025, most residents wait two years before they can bring family; families of Golden Visa holders are exempt from that wait.
Who counts:
Each family member gets their own residence card and pays the same AIMA fees as you; their permits depend on yours being granted. For each, you add a criminal record, the no-debt certificates, proof of the family link and your signed term of responsibility.
More on the rules for families in our guide to family reunification in Portugal.
From your first decision to your Portuguese residence card. Each step says what to do and what it costs. In a free AnchorLess account, you tick them off one by one and get expert help where you need it.
A fund, a company, research, culture or jobs: pick the investment that suits you. Then check the rest: your nationality, a clean record, and 7 days in Portugal in the first year.
Take the 30-second checkOr ask us in a free callYour Portuguese tax number: the bank and AIMA’s ARI portal both ask for it. You can get it from abroad.
Get my NIFAIMA wants a declaration from a bank authorized in Portugal that your investment money really arrived. Open the account before you transfer.
Open my accountBuy the fund units, set up or fund the company, or make the transfer, before you apply: AIMA checks that the investment is done. You then keep it five years from your permit.
Get a company quotePassport, criminal record (less than 3 months old, apostilled or legalized, translated into Portuguese), health insurance, no-debt certificates, the bank’s declaration and the proof of your investment: the full checklist is below.
Translate my documentsRegister, upload every document in PDF, add your family, and pay the analysis fee by DUC. AIMA then emails you: application accepted, or errors to fix.
Check my AIMA file (€259)AIMA emails you a date at a Loja AIMA: one trip to Portugal, to hand in your documents and give your biometrics. The permit fee is €6,314.20 per person, and your first card lasts 2 years.
Ask a tax lawyer (€249)Besides the investment itself, AIMA charges per person, family members included. Its 2026 table:
| Fee | When | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Analysis of the application | When you apply, and at each renewal | €632.10 |
| Grant of the residence permit | When AIMA approves it | €6,314.20 |
| Renewal of the permit | Every two years | €3,157.80 |
| Permanent residence (ARI) | After five years | €8,840 |
These amounts include the 25% reduction for applications made online; without it, they are €842.80, €8,418.90, €4,210.30 and €11,786.70. In all, a first permit costs €6,946.30 per person in AIMA fees, or €27,785.20 for a couple with two children.
Add the translations and apostilles of your documents, your health insurance, and the fees of the fund, lawyer or accountant you work with.
By law, AIMA has 90 days to decide on a residence permit, which it can extend by 30 in complex cases. In practice, ARI files take longer: AIMA publishes no processing time, and its own FAQ tells applicants who were accepted but never scheduled to write and ask for an appointment.
A doubt about your application? AnchorLess offers a free consultation to clear it up.
You upload everything to AIMA’s ARI portal, in PDF. What every applicant needs:
From the US, your criminal record is the FBI Identity History Summary: 18 USD to the FBI, plus the cost of having your fingerprints taken. Have it apostilled by the US Department of State (20 USD per document), then translated into Portuguese, which AIMA requires. It must be less than 3 months old when you apply.
AnchorLess has documents officially translated for €79, in less than a week.
Everything starts online, on AIMA’s ARI portal. You, or a representative you give a power of attorney, register, choose your investment route, upload the documents and add your family.
Email geral@aima.gov.pt with the subject “Pedido de agendamento ARI”: your full name, nationality, date of birth, phone, email, ARI case number, and whether family members are included.
Can’t make your date? Only a serious, proven reason gets you a new one, and missing that one without good reason can get the file archived. AIMA fees are paid by DUC, or by card at the desk; no cash.
Our AIMA guide explains how the agency works.
The ARI asks for a stay, not a move: 7 days in Portugal in the first year, then 14 days in each following two-year period, in a row or not. AIMA can ask you to prove them when it has a well-founded doubt, so keep proof of your days in Portugal.
| Stage | Minimum stay in Portugal | Card valid |
|---|---|---|
| First permit | 7 days in the first year | 2 years |
| Each renewal | 14 days in every two years | 2 years |
| Permanent ARI, after 5 years | Not cancelled for absences | No limit |
Renew at least 30 days before your card expires. Cards that expired between 22 February 2020 and 31 December 2026 are renewed on AIMA’s renewal portal, where you also pay and upload.
You show that you still hold the investment, met the minimum stay, have health cover, a home and means of subsistence, and owe no tax or social security. AIMA has 60 days to decide on a renewal; the fees are €632.10 and €3,157.80 per person. More in our AIMA renewal guide.
After five years with your permit, you can ask for permanent residence: basic Portuguese (an A2 certificate, for example), means of subsistence, a home, and no prison sentence over one year in the last five years. Golden Visa holders get a permanent ARI, which, unlike other permanent permits, is not cancelled for long absences.
Ten years after your first residence permit is issued (seven for nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries), you can apply for Portuguese citizenship. AIMA lists naturalization among the rights of the ARI, and the nationality law counts legal residence under any permit. Your years of residence, in a row or not, must fall within 12 years (9 for nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries).
Ten years of legal residence, and a test or certificate showing that you know Portuguese (level A2 under the current regulation) and, since the 2026 law, Portuguese culture, history and national symbols, citizens’ rights and duties and how the State is organized. You also declare your adherence to the rule of law, show you can support yourself, and must have no conviction that bars it. The new test is still to be set by regulation.
Your residence permit doesn’t decide where you pay tax: Portugal’s tax rules do, starting with the days you spend in the country and where your home is.
Our guides to Portuguese income tax (IRS) and to IFICI, the NHR’s successor, explain them. For your own case, a 40-minute call with a tax lawyer costs €249.
If you can commit €500,000 (or €250,000 to culture) for five years and want a foothold in Portugal without moving full time, the Golden Visa is built for you, family included.
If you plan to live in Portugal full time, a residence visa asks far less capital: the D7 on a pension or passive income, the D8 for remote work, the D2 to start your own business.
The rules, amounts and fees in this guide were checked on 22 October 2026 against the law and the official portals:
Written by Brenda L., relocation expert at AnchorLess.
Be a citizen of a country outside the EU, the EEA, Switzerland and Andorra; make a qualifying investment before you apply (€500,000 in a Portuguese non-real-estate fund, a company with 5 jobs or research, €250,000 in culture, or 10 jobs) and keep it five years; have no conviction punishable in Portugal by more than a year in prison; enter Portugal legally; have health cover and no tax or social security debts in Portugal; and spend 7 days in Portugal in the first year, then 14 in every two years.
€250,000, in arts or national heritage (€200,000 in a low-density area). The fund, company and research routes need €500,000 (research: €400,000 in a low-density area), and the jobs route asks for 10 jobs (8 in a low-density area) rather than an amount.
No. Since 7 October 2023, buying property no longer qualifies, and no route may go into real estate, directly or indirectly, funds included. Permits granted on property before that date can still be renewed.
By law, AIMA has 90 days to decide, extendable by 30. In practice it takes longer, and AIMA publishes no processing time for the ARI. Your first card then lasts 2 years, and each renewal 2 more.
Besides the investment, AIMA’s 2026 fees are €632.10 for the analysis and €6,314.20 for the permit, per person (€842.80 and €8,418.90 without the reduction for online applications). Each renewal costs €632.10 plus €3,157.80.
7 days in the first year, then 14 days in each following two-year period, in a row or not. AIMA can ask you to prove them.
Yes!
Your spouse or partner, your minor children, adult children who study and depend on you, and dependent parents can apply with you or later, without the two-year wait other residents face. Each pays the same AIMA fees.
Yes, after ten years of legal residence counted from your first residence permit (seven for nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries), with a test of Portuguese language and culture and the other conditions of the 2026 nationality law. Permanent residence is possible after five years.
Yes: “D9” is an informal name for the Golden Visa. It is not a consular visa: you enter Portugal legally, without a visa or with a Schengen visa, and apply for the residence permit for investment (ARI) directly with AIMA.
Yes, if you are a US citizen or lived in the US for more than a year: AIMA asks for that criminal record, issued less than 3 months before, apostilled and translated into Portuguese. For the US, it is the FBI Identity History Summary.
Can't find the answer you're looking for? Contact our team of experts.
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