Portugal news - Portugal’s Golden Visa becomes Green as the new route towards residency is via investment funds focused on sustainable alternatives. Here is how to obtain Portuguese residency through investment routes that provide Golden Visa benefits:
Even though Portugal’s Golden Visa via investment in real-estate was axed, there are now greener pastures with the same tax perks. The new, less well-known path towards obtaining Portugal’s Golden Visa is now via investment funds focused on sustainable agricultural projects or on national cultural heritage projects - click here for a list of other investment options to obtain Portuguese residency with tax incentives.
Portugal’s new Golden visa alternatives are leading to the rise of a new class of immigrant entrepreneurs who invest in sustainable agriculture, in artistic production or even in the field of education.
In Portugal, the number of Golden visas granted through Investment funds is rising significantly since 2022. These funds, that invest mostly in Portuguese companies, granted 352 Residence Permits for Investment (ARI) in 2023, that accounted for foreign investments of more than 125 million euros. This represents an increase of 45.4% compared to the total amount directed to investment funds to qualify for a Golden visa throughout 2022.
The minimum investment to obtain Portuguese residency is 500,000 euros in qualifying investments funds that are certified by Portuguese stock market regulator CMVM with the requirement to visit Portugal for only 7 days per year.
Over the past five years, investment funds have led to the obtention of Golden visas through the delivery of 723 Residence Permits for Investment (ARI) and attracting almost 261 million euros in Portugal’s investment fund industry. This pathway is gaining popularity since it is the only EU Golden Visa that doesn't require relocating, and many new Portuguese residents who used investment funds to obtain Golden visas come from the US, the UK and Brazil.
There are traditional investment funds such as Oxy Capital that channel investor resources entirely to domestic companies for the obtention of a Golden Visa, or Indico Capital that has a new fund that is compatible with the Golden visa that invests in startups. Portugal’s largest investment fund, IMGA, has assets under management reaching 208 million euros, out of which 90% of the fund’s value, that is 186.5 million euros, are under the Residence Permits for Investment (ARI) program.
Meanwhile, innovative Portuguese investment fund Pela Terra is getting international recognition as one of the green pathways towards obtaining Portuguese residency. It is a sustainable agriculture investment fund with 100% of the capital invested in rural, under-developed regions of Portugal and that helps regenerate around 1,000 hectares of farmland in the Alentejo region in southern Portugal.
According to investment fund Pela Terra, farmland is the low-risk, high-return Golden visa asset. Since investment in farmland is critical for food production, the demand remains stable across economic cycles. With the shift towards sustainable and organic farming practices, farmland has become an appealing investment that offers steady returns and acts as a hedge against inflation for long-term and low-risk investments.
Foreign investment projects that benefit the people are in line with Portugal’s new values that aim at curbing the negative impacts of investments causing rising real-estate prices and social instability and instead re-directing investments towards greener, more ethical, and sustainable alternatives.
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