The Portugal Golden Visa is still open, and this page tracks every change to it in date order, so you can see exactly what moved and what did not. It is a change log, not a rulebook. Each entry tells you what changed, when it changed, what it means in one line, and where to read the full rule. As of 2026, the program was not suspended and it was not cancelled. The route that ended was real estate, and the headline you may have seen about "ten years" moved the citizenship clock, not your five-year residency.
Read this page the way you would read a timeline. The newest change sits at the top, the older changes below it, and the October 2023 reform that reshaped the whole program anchors the bottom. Every entry links out to the guide that explains the rule in full, because the job here is to be the index of what changed and when, not to re-explain each rule. If your real question is whether the program is still available at all, that is answered in full at is the golden visa still available.
The latest: what changed most recently
The most recent change made the wait for citizenship longer, not the program harder to enter, and this is the point the headlines get wrong most often. In May 2026 Portugal extended its path to citizenship, so the "ten years" you have read about is real, but it moved the naturalization clock, not your five-year residency and not your ability to get the visa. Everything else that defines the program in 2026, the qualifying fund route, the light physical-stay requirement, and family inclusion, is intact.
Below is the master changelog: every change in date order, what it did in one line, and the guide that carries the full rule. This table is the core of the page, so start here and follow the links for depth.
| Date | What changed | Impact (one line) | Read the full rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2026 | Nationality law extended naturalization from about five to roughly ten years (seven for EU and CPLP nationals), counted from card issuance | Longer wait to a passport; the five-year permanent-residence milestone is unchanged | path to citizenship |
| 2025 | The citizenship reform passed through parliament; the AIMA backlog turned into organized legal action | Longer initial-permit waits; litigation by affected holders | processing timeline |
| 2024 | The qualifying-fund route settled in as the default way in | A 500,000 euro qualifying fund became the main qualifying investment | Golden Visa investment funds |
| Oct 2023 | Real-estate purchase and the 1.5 million euro capital-transfer routes removed | Property is no longer a qualifying route | Golden Visa investment funds |
| Late 2023 | AIMA replaced SEF as the residence-permit authority | A new agency now handles the Golden Visa permit stage | processing timeline |
Getting help with this The core task with a program that keeps changing is working out whether a given change actually touches your own file, which milestone moved, whether grandfathering applies to you, and how a change interacts with a live AIMA application. Applicants who follow the reforms closely and can read the law can track all of this themselves. In practice, the advantage of the assisted route is confirming whether a change is retroactive for your specific case and managing the residence-permit stage through the backlog. Roots Global tracks program changes and manages the AIMA stage for clients, remotely where possible.
If you are starting fresh rather than tracking a change to an existing file, the current application process is set out in how to apply.
What changed in 2026
The most recent change made the wait for citizenship longer, and it left the residency you actually apply for untouched. This is the single distinction that clears up most of the confusion around the 2026 news: the reform moved the naturalization clock, not the visa and not the five-year permanent-residence milestone.
Here is the regulated change, stated plainly. You can read the law at Diário da República. The full mechanics of the five, seven, and ten-year tracks, including the language requirement and how the counting works, sit in path to citizenship. This page records that the change happened and what it did; it does not re-explain the clock.
Now the reassurance, in the same breath, because the two are constantly conflated. Permanent residence after five years is unchanged. The residence-permit side of the program continues to run through AIMA. So the "ten years" headline is about a passport, not about your residency, and not about whether you can still get the visa.
A few real-world details sit around this change. The reform reached applicants who were already in the pipeline, which prompted legal action, and a court decision in late 2025 upheld the extended rule while leaving open questions for those mid-application. Grandfathering applies to nationality applications filed before the cut-in, so timing matters for anyone who was close to the old five-year mark. There has also been market activity aimed squarely at US buyers, including a fund launched in late 2025 positioned for American investors; the US-tax reality of any such fund is covered in Golden Visa funds for US citizens, and none of it changes the qualifying rules.
What changed in 2025
This was the run-up year, when the citizenship reform moved through parliament and the processing backlog turned from an inconvenience into a legal fight. Nothing about the qualifying investment changed in 2025; what changed was the political and practical backdrop that set up the May 2026 law.
The reform's legislative passage ran through 2025, which is why so much of the "portugal golden visa 2025" coverage reads as anxious speculation about a change that had not yet taken force. It took force in May 2026, and the 2026 section above records what it actually did.
The other 2025 story was the backlog. Processing of initial permits deepened over the year, and many investors waited well past the legal decision window for a first decision. That situation drew Ombudsman complaints, and several hundred Golden Visa holders began organizing collective legal action against the state. This is context, not a rule change, so treat it as the backdrop to the year rather than a change to the program. The practical depth on processing, current wait ranges, and how the backlog affects a live file sits in processing timeline. In practice, the point where the backlog most affects an application is renewal timing against the residency count, which is a question worth raising early with counsel.
What changed in 2024
This was the year the fund route settled in as the default, once property was no longer on the table. With the direct real-estate purchase route gone, the qualifying investment fund became the dominant way most new applicants entered the program. The legal backbone of the ARI regime sits at Diário da República.
There was no single new law in 2024 so much as a settling of the market around the fund route. This page records that shift and links out for the detail. The qualifying-fund criteria, meaning CMVM registration, the 60% in-Portugal allocation, the five-year maturity, and the ban on real estate, are covered in full in Golden Visa investment funds, and the total price of acquiring the visa is added up in full cost breakdown. This changelog does not explain the fund rules; it notes when the fund became the default and sends you to the guide that does.
The anchor change: October 2023 (Mais Habitação)
The single change that reshaped the whole program closed the property route that had defined the Golden Visa for a decade. Before it, buying Portuguese real estate was the classic way in; after it, property no longer qualified at all, and the program pivoted to investment funds and the other remaining routes.
Here is the anchor change, stated plainly. The law is at Diário da República.
Why it matters, in one plain paragraph: this is the root of nearly every later "is it still worth it" question. When people ask whether the Golden Visa was cancelled, they are usually remembering this reform, which removed the property route rather than the program. The Golden Visa continued; it simply became an investment-fund and other-qualifying-route program instead of a property play. What the qualifying fund route looks like now is covered in Golden Visa investment funds. This page records the removal; it does not re-explain the fund rules that replaced it.
AIMA replaced SEF (late 2023)
Around the same time, the agency that handles your residence permit changed hands, and a new authority took over the Golden Visa permit stage. This was an administrative succession rather than a change to the qualifying rules, but it matters because it is the body you now deal with for the residence-permit side of the program.
Here is the succession, stated plainly. The agency's own site is aima.gov.pt.
The handover coincided with the processing backlog that has shaped the applicant experience ever since. That backlog, not the rules, is the practical bottleneck: the qualifying investment is straightforward, but the wait for the residence-permit decision is where files stall. This is stated as an honest picture of the current experience, neither dramatized nor talked down. The depth on current processing and how to manage a file through the backlog sits in processing timeline.
What changed vs what did NOT change
Here is the split that clears up most of the confusion: the citizenship clock got longer, but the residency you actually apply for did not change. The headlines fold the two together, so the table below separates them cleanly. The single change clients most often misread is exactly this one, hearing "ten years" and assuming the whole program slowed, when only the naturalization clock moved.
| What changed | What did NOT change |
|---|---|
| Citizenship clock extended from about five to roughly ten years (seven for EU and CPLP nationals) | Permanent-residence eligibility after five years of lawful residence |
| The direct real-estate purchase route was removed (October 2023) | The light physical-stay requirement (about seven days a year on average) |
| The 1.5 million euro capital-transfer route was removed | The 500,000 euro qualifying-fund route is open and is the main way in |
| SEF was replaced by AIMA as the permit authority | Family inclusion for spouse, dependent children, and dependent parents |
| The citizenship clock now counts from residence-card issuance | Existing holders keep their path to permanent residence |
If you want the reassurance as a scannable list, here is what did not change:
- The program is open. It was not suspended or cancelled.
- Permanent residence is still reachable after five years.
- The physical-stay requirement is still light, roughly seven days a year on average.
- The 500,000 euro qualifying-fund route is active and is the main way in.
- Existing holders keep the path to permanent residence they already had.
The eligibility and stay rules behind that list are covered in Golden Visa requirements. And if your underlying worry is simply whether the program will stay open or is being wound down, that specific question is handled in full at is the golden visa still available.
See also
- Golden Visa investment funds (G3) for the qualifying-fund rules and how to evaluate a fund.
- Golden Visa requirements (G5) for eligibility, family inclusion, and the physical-stay rule.
- processing timeline (G8) for AIMA processing and the backlog in depth.
- path to citizenship (G9) for the five, seven, and ten-year citizenship clock.
- is the golden visa still available (S1) for whether the program is open, suspended, or ending.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most recent change to the Portugal Golden Visa? The most recent change is the May 2026 nationality law, which extended the wait for Portuguese citizenship from about five years to roughly ten (seven for citizens of Portuguese-speaking countries), counted from the date your residence card is issued. It changed the citizenship clock, not the visa itself and not the five-year permanent-residence milestone. The full clock is set out in path to citizenship.
Was the Portugal Golden Visa suspended or cancelled? No. The program is open in 2026. What ended, back in October 2023, was the real-estate route, not the Golden Visa. The confusion usually traces back to that reform, which removed property as a qualifying investment while the program continued through investment funds. The full "is it still available" question is covered in is the golden visa still available.
Can I still get permanent residence in five years? Yes. Permanent-residence eligibility after five years of lawful residence did not change. The 2026 reform moved the citizenship clock, which is a separate and longer milestone, not the permanent-residence one. If you have seen "ten years," that figure refers to naturalization to a passport, not to your residency. The distinction is explained in path to citizenship.
Does the ten-year citizenship rule apply to me or retroactively? It depends on timing. Grandfathering applies to nationality applications filed before the cut-in, so those keep the earlier rule, while applications after it fall under the extended period. The change did reach some applicants already in the pipeline, which prompted legal action, and a late-2025 court decision upheld the extended rule while leaving questions open for mid-application cases. The mechanics are in path to citizenship.
Is real estate still an option for the Golden Visa? No. Since October 2023, under the Mais Habitação reform, the direct real-estate purchase route and the 1.5 million euro capital-transfer route were removed. A 500,000 euro qualifying investment fund is now the main way in. The fund rules and how to evaluate a fund are covered in Golden Visa investment funds.
How often is this page updated? This is a living changelog. It is re-dated and re-topped within 72 hours of any confirmed change to the program, and the "Last updated" date at the top always reflects the current state. Each entry links to the owning guide, which is updated on the same cadence, so the depth behind any change stays current alongside this index.
Disclaimer
This article is for general information only and is not legal or tax advice. Visa, nationality, and tax rules change frequently, and this is a change log rather than a substitute for advice on your own file, so verify current requirements with the relevant authority or a qualified professional before acting. Last updated: July 2026.
About the author
Vanessa Mororó is Head of Legal, Portugal at Roots Global, where she advises HNWI and US cross-border clients on Portuguese nationality, residency, and immigration matters, including the Golden Visa program and the reforms that have reshaped it. Connect on LinkedIn.
