How to invest for Portuguese Golden Visa • The Passport

The core of the Golden Visa – the investment

The Portuguese Golden Visa is an investment program. And as the name implies, the applicant needs making an investment in order to get the benefits that the program offers. What investments are available to the investor in order to obtain Portuguese Golden Visa? How much money is required to transfer to Portugal? What real estate is acceptable under the Portuguese law? How to qualify for reduced investment threshold? We will try to answer all these questions, so please make sure to read thoroughly all our articles in addition to the explanatory part of our website.

Real estate or other investment?

This is probably the most important question the investor should ask himself before starting the journey to obtain Portuguese golden visa. The hype for EU real estate in recent years is indeed huge. But the Portuguese golden visa program has even more to offer to the residence and citizenship candidates. It’s all about choice after all, isn’t it.

What investments are available under the program?

There are basically three main investment options under the Portuguese Golden Visa program. These are namely: capital investment (transfer of liquid assets), real estate and creation of business in Portugal. Let’s dig in into each of these below. You can also check the investment requirements, as they are stipulated in the Portuguese foreigners’ law.

Transfer of capital to Portugal

Bank account or other approved liquid investment – 1 500 000 EUR

The first and most straightforward option is the opening of bank account in Portugal with a balance of 1 500 000 EUR or more. This money can be also used to buy certain debt instruments (ie bonds), instead of simply letting it sit on the account. Portugal has solid credit ratings of BBB by S&P and Fitch and Baa2 by Moody’s. This means that it is extremely unlikely that any of the country’s banks will fail. Still it’s worth noting that the EU bank deposits are guaranteed by the state only up to an amount of 100 000 EUR per bank.

It is very important to be able to prove that the above amount is originating from the applicant’s account abroad. This money needs to be transferred to the applicant’s Portuguese bank account. It is possible to use joint accounts, observing the share quotas and even company accounts.

Other than bank account, the investor can also opt for Government bonds, savings certificates or treasury bills. Still, bank accounts are most often used, as they are best known and easiest to comprehend.

Investment fund or venture capital fund – 500 000 EUR

The applicant has to buy investment or venture capital fund, committed to capitalization of Portuguese companies. The lifespan (maturity) of the fund must be at least 5 years. Additionally, at least 60% of the investment portfolio must be in companies, registered in Portugal.

Investment in research – 500 000 EUR

Investment in research activities in the public or private sector of the national scientific and technological system of Portugal.

Investment in real estate in Portugal

There are three different investment thresholds that the investor may choose from. These are 500 00 EUR, 350 000 EUR and 280 EUR. Below are the particular requirements.