European Golden Visa: The 2026 Guide to Residency by Investment

A European golden visa is a residency-by-investment programme: you make a qualifying investment in an EU country and receive the legal right to live there, usually with the ability to travel the Schengen Area and, over a longer horizon, a possible path to citizenship. In 2026 the European landscape has changed enough that older guides are actively misleading — one flagship programme has closed, another lost its citizenship route by court order, and Portugal's naturalisation clock has been reset. This is a current, honest guide to the European golden visa programmes still open, what they cost as an indicative minimum, and exactly what each one does and does not lead to.

What a European Golden Visa Is — and Is Not

The single most important word is residency. A golden visa is a residence permit, not a passport. It grants the right to live in the country and, in Schengen states, to travel the zone; it does not make you a citizen on day one. Citizenship, where it is available at all, is a separate later step that depends on years of lawful residence and, in several countries, genuine physical presence and language ability. Throughout this guide we keep two columns in your head: what the investment buys immediately (residency), and what it might earn much later (citizenship). Conflating the two is how people end up disappointed. If a passport rather than a place to live is your real objective, you should weigh these against direct citizenship by investment routes instead.

European Golden Visa Countries Compared

The table sets out the active programmes and their indicative entry points. Every figure is an indicative headline minimum, not a quote; several of these programmes were revised between 2023 and 2025, and thresholds change frequently — confirm the current figure for your chosen route on a call before you rely on it.

Portugal Golden Visa

Portugal remains the best-known European route, but two facts must be current in your head. First, the popular real-estate option was removed in October 2023; the remaining qualifying routes are investment or venture-capital funds from €500,000, job-creating company investment, scientific research, or cultural and heritage support from €250,000. Second, and this is the point older articles get wrong, the path to a Portuguese passport is now ten years, not five — a 2026 nationality reform raised the residency requirement, with a shorter seven-year track for citizens of Portuguese-speaking (CPLP) countries. The physical-presence demand stays famously light at roughly seven days a year to hold the permit. The Portugal Golden Visa is still one of the strongest residency assets in Europe; it is simply a longer game to the passport than it once was. You can confirm status and requirements with Portugal's immigration authority, AIMA.

Greece Golden Visa

Greece is the natural comparison and often the more accessible entry point. The Greece Golden Visa runs on tiered real-estate thresholds — €800,000 in the priciest zones such as central Athens, Thessaloniki, Mykonos and Santorini, €400,000 across most of the rest of the country (with a minimum property size of 120 square metres on those tiers), and a narrower €250,000 route for converting commercial property to residential use or restoring a listed building. There is no minimum-stay requirement to hold the permit, which makes Greece popular with families who want an EU foothold without relocating. Citizenship is possible only after seven years of genuine residence (roughly 183 days a year), so the visa and the passport are very different timelines. We put the two heavyweights side by side in Portugal versus Greece Golden Visa.

Italy Golden Visa

Italy's investor visa, commonly called the Italy Golden Visa, offers tiered routes: €250,000 into an innovative start-up, €500,000 into an Italian limited company, a €1,000,000 philanthropic donation, or €2,000,000 in government bonds. The resulting residence permit runs for two years and is renewable in three-year periods with no minimum-stay obligation, which suits investors who want optionality in Italy without moving immediately. Be clear that this is residency: Italian citizenship comes by ordinary naturalisation after ten years of residence, not by the investment itself. Italy's passport is among the world's strongest, so the long game here is genuinely valuable — but it is a long game.

Malta: Permanent Residence, Not Citizenship

This point matters enough to isolate. Malta once offered a route to EU citizenship by investment, and you will still find agencies quoting a “Malta passport” price. Do not believe them. On 29 April 2025 the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled Malta's investor-citizenship scheme contrary to EU law, and it was wound down. What remains is the Malta Permanent Residence Programme (MPRP): a legitimate residency route reformed in July 2025, based on a flat government contribution of €37,000, a €60,000 administrative fee, a €2,000 NGO donation and €7,500 per dependant, plus a qualifying property — rent from €14,000 a year or buy from €375,000, held five years. The rental route lands all-in around €169,000. It grants permanent residence for life and Schengen travel; it does not, and cannot, sell you a Maltese or EU passport. The ruling is documented by the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Closed and Smaller Programmes: Spain, Hungary and Latvia

An honest guide has to name the doors that shut. Spain's golden visa ended on 3 April 2025 and is closed to new applicants — if a source still presents the Spain golden visa as open, it is out of date. Among the smaller active options, Hungary relaunched a Guest Investor Programme built around real-estate-fund and property routes at six-figure entry points, and Latvia continues a residence-by-investment route from around €250,000 in real estate plus state fees. These are lower-profile than Portugal or Greece and carry their own residency and renewal conditions, so treat them as candidates to be checked rather than shortcuts. For the broader menu of options and how they rank on cost, see our guide to European residency by investment.

Which European Golden Visa Fits You?

The right European golden visa depends on what you are actually optimising for. If you want minimal presence and a long-term EU residency asset, Portugal is hard to beat. If you want the lowest realistic entry cost, Greece's €250,000 route or Latvia deserve a look. If an eventual top-tier passport matters most and you can wait, Italy rewards patience. If lifelong EU permanent residence with Schengen travel is enough and citizenship is not the goal, Malta's MPRP is purpose-built for exactly that. Optimising for the single lowest entry figure, ignoring holding periods, taxes and where the programme actually leads, is the most common and most expensive mistake we see. This is general information, not legal or tax advice.

Program terms and thresholds change, so confirm current figures on a call. To match the right programme to your family, budget and timeline — and to get the current numbers rather than a stale headline — check your eligibility or book a free, confidential consultation with Jane Katkova and our team.