Choosing between the Portugal Golden Visa and the D7 visa comes down to one honest question: are you actually going to move to Portugal? If you are, the D7 is almost always the better route, because it is far cheaper. If you are not, the Golden Visa exists precisely so you can hold European residence without relocating. Everything else in this comparison follows from that single fork.
Here is the split in plain English. The D7 is a passive-income visa: it asks for no investment, only proof that you can support yourself, but it expects you to genuinely live in Portugal and become a Portuguese tax resident. The Golden Visa is an investment route: it asks for EUR 500,000 into a qualifying fund, but it needs only about seven days a year on the ground, so most holders never become tax residents. Both routes reach permanent residency at five years and, later, a Portuguese passport.
This page compares the two routes and answers which one fits you. The deep cost math lives in the Golden Visa cost breakdown, the tax detail in the Golden Visa tax implications, and the full year-by-year citizenship timeline in the Golden Visa citizenship path. Here the job is the head-to-head.
Golden Visa or D7: which should you choose?
Choose the D7 if you are moving to Portugal, and choose the Golden Visa if you are not. That one line resolves most of the decision, because the two routes are built for opposite situations. The D7 is a residence visa for people who will actually live in the country on stable passive income. The Golden Visa is an investment residence route for people who want European access and optionality without relocating their life.
The Golden Visa itself runs under the ARI regime (Lei 23/2007), and the D7 is a national residence visa handled by the same immigration authority, AIMA, which replaced SEF in late 2023. The full program overview, including who can apply and every route, sits in the Portugal Golden Visa complete guide.
Here is the whole comparison at a glance, before we take each row in turn.
| What | Golden Visa | D7 visa |
|---|---|---|
| Investment / cost | EUR 500,000 into a qualifying fund (recoverable capital) plus fees | No investment; you show income and savings instead |
| Physical presence | About 7 days a year; no relocation | Genuine residence, broadly 183+ days a year |
| Tax residency | Usually not a Portuguese tax resident | Portuguese tax resident on worldwide income |
| Who it suits | Non-EU investors wanting EU access without moving | Retirees and remote-income earners who will live there |
| Path to PR and citizenship | PR at 5 years, then citizenship (about 10 years, or 7 for EU/CPLP) | The same: PR at 5 years, then citizenship on the same timeline |
| Family inclusion | Spouse and dependents included | Spouse and dependents included |
The single most useful thing you can do before comparing fees is to answer the relocation question honestly. Clients who will genuinely live in Portugal almost always belong on the D7, and clients who want European optionality without moving almost always belong on the Golden Visa.
Getting help with this The core task here is choosing the residence route that actually fits your relocation plans and your budget, then running the application for whichever one you pick. An organized applicant who has clearly decided whether they are moving can compare the two routes and file alone. In practice, the advantage of the assisted route is an honest fit assessment before you commit, relocation and income evidence for the D7 versus a EUR 500,000 fund position for the Golden Visa, so you do not build a plan around the wrong visa. Roots Global assesses which route fits and prepares and files the application for either the Golden Visa or the D7.
How much does each route cost?
The D7 is far cheaper. It asks for no investment at all, only proof that you can support yourself; the Golden Visa asks for a EUR 500,000 capital commitment. That gap is the headline, and for most people it is decisive.
On the Golden Visa side, the qualifying route since the October 2023 reform is EUR 500,000 into a CMVM-regulated investment fund. This is capital you invest, not a fee you pay: it stays your money, invested for the holding period, and is recoverable when you redeem, subject to fund performance and terms. On top of the capital sit government processing fees and legal fees. The full breakdown of those fees, and the per-family-member math, is in the Golden Visa cost breakdown; how the funds themselves work is in the Golden Visa investment funds.
On the D7 side there is no investment. Instead you prove a steady, passive income and some savings. The income floor tracks the Portuguese national minimum wage rather than a fixed figure, so it rises a little each year. The main applicant shows recurring passive income at least equal to that minimum wage, which was about EUR 870 a month in 2025, and you add roughly 50 percent for a spouse or other adult dependent and 30 percent for each child. Consulates also expect you to hold savings of around twelve months of that minimum in a Portuguese bank account, on the order of EUR 10,000 for a single applicant. The full standalone walk-through of the D7 is the Portugal D7 visa guide.
| Money question | Golden Visa | D7 visa |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront capital | EUR 500,000 into a qualifying fund | None |
| Is the capital recoverable? | Yes, on redemption, subject to fund terms | Not applicable; there is no investment |
| Government and legal fees | Yes, on top of the capital | Yes, but modest by comparison |
| Income requirement | None | Passive income at least the national minimum wage, plus increments for dependents |
| Savings requirement | None specific | About twelve months of the minimum wage |
The more accurate way to frame the contrast is not cheap versus expensive. The Golden Visa locks recoverable capital, while the D7 asks for a genuine change of life. The real cost of the D7 is the move itself, not the fees.
Do you have to live in Portugal?
For the D7, yes: you must genuinely live in Portugal. For the Golden Visa, no: about seven days a year is enough. This is the second big difference, and it drives the tax outcome that many people only notice later.
The Golden Visa keeps a famously light presence rule. An average of about seven days a year, roughly fourteen days across each two-year permit period, keeps the residence alive, and spending only that much time in Portugal does not by itself make you a Portuguese tax resident. That is the whole point of the route for an investor who wants EU access without moving.
The D7 is the opposite. It is designed for people relocating, so it requires real residence: broadly, spending at least 183 days a year in Portugal or making it your habitual home. Because Portuguese tax residency turns on exactly that test, spending 183 days a year or keeping a permanent home in Portugal, a D7 holder becomes a Portuguese tax resident and is taxed on worldwide income. The 183-day and permanent-home test is set out by the tax authority (portaldasfinancas.gov.pt).
Becoming a tax resident is not automatically a bad thing, and it is a normal part of relocating. It simply needs planning. The old NHR regime is closed to new entrants, and its successor is IFICI, which can reduce the tax on certain income for those who qualify. The full picture of the Portuguese tax consequences of each route, and how they interact with US filing for American clients, is in the Golden Visa tax implications.
The tax consequence is the part clients most often overlook when they compare the two routes on price alone. The D7 makes you a Portuguese tax resident on your worldwide income, which is precisely what the Golden Visa is structured to avoid for an investor who is not actually moving.
Who is each visa right for?
The Golden Visa suits investors who want a Plan B without moving; the D7 suits people who will actually live in Portugal and want the cheapest route. Once you know which of those describes you, the decision is essentially made.
The Golden Visa fits non-EU investors, typically American and British, who want European optionality or a Plan B, who can commit EUR 500,000 to a fund, and who do not want to relocate or become tax residents. It buys residence, and eventually a route to a passport, while your life stays where it is.
The D7 fits retirees living on a pension and remote-income earners living on rent, dividends, or royalties, who intend to make Portugal home and want a low-cost route in. If you are an active remote worker earning a salary from an employer or clients rather than passive income, the sibling route is the D8 digital-nomad visa, which is beyond the scope of this comparison. The two lists below sort most people quickly.
Choose the D7 if:
- You will genuinely live in Portugal for most of the year.
- Your income is passive and steady: a pension, rental income, dividends, or similar.
- Budget matters more to you than tying up a large sum of capital.
- You want the lowest-cost route to residence.
- You are comfortable becoming a Portuguese tax resident and planning around it.
Choose the Golden Visa if:
- You are not planning to move to Portugal full time.
- You want EU optionality or a Plan B rather than an immediate relocation.
- You can lock EUR 500,000 into a qualifying fund for the holding period.
- You want to stay outside Portuguese tax residency.
- You value the minimal-stay flexibility of about seven days a year.
Where do both routes lead?
Both routes end in the same place. After five years of legal residence you can apply for permanent residency, and a Portuguese passport comes later. The finish line does not depend on which visa got you there.
Since the 2026 nationality reform, five years of legal residence on either route earns permanent residency, and citizenship generally takes about ten years, or seven years for nationals of EU and Portuguese-speaking (CPLP) countries, counted from the date your first residence card is issued. The important thing for this comparison is that the timeline is identical for the two routes, so citizenship speed is not a reason to pick one over the other. The full year-by-year path, the reform, and the card-issuance clock are in the Golden Visa citizenship path.
Both routes also let you include family. A spouse, dependent children, and dependent parents can be added to either application, so a family reaches residence together on the D7 just as it does on the Golden Visa.
One practical caveat applies to both. The D7 and the Golden Visa are both processed by AIMA, and both face the appointment and card-issuance backlog that built up after AIMA replaced SEF, so the wait for a first residence card can run longer than the legal maximum. That backlog is the same on either route, and the depth on it is in the Golden Visa processing timeline. Whether the Golden Visa is worth its cost at all, backlog included, is the subject of the is the Golden Visa worth it essay.
See also
- Golden Visa cost breakdown (G6) for the full fee and per-family-member math.
- Golden Visa tax implications (G13) for tax residency, NHR/IFICI, and the US angle.
- Golden Visa citizenship path (G9) for the year-by-year path and the 2026 reform.
- Portugal Golden Visa complete guide (G2) for the full program overview.
- is the Golden Visa worth it (G11) for the decision essay and alternatives.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Golden Visa or the D7 cheaper? The D7 is far cheaper. It requires no investment at all, only proof of stable passive income and some savings, plus modest government and legal fees. The Golden Visa requires EUR 500,000 into a qualifying fund on top of its fees. The EUR 500,000 is recoverable capital rather than a fee, but it is a large sum to commit, which is why the D7 wins on pure cost.
Do I have to live in Portugal for the D7? Yes. The D7 is a residence visa for people relocating, so it requires genuine residence, broadly at least 183 days a year or making Portugal your habitual home. Because of that, D7 holders become Portuguese tax residents on their worldwide income. The Golden Visa is the opposite: about seven days a year is enough, and holders usually do not become tax residents.
Which is faster to citizenship? Neither. The timeline is the same on both routes. Five years of legal residence earns permanent residency, and citizenship comes later, generally at about ten years, or seven years for EU and Portuguese-speaking (CPLP) nationals, counted from when your first residence card is issued. Because the clock is identical, citizenship speed is not a reason to choose one visa over the other.
Can I switch from the D7 to the Golden Visa, or the other way? In principle yes, but it is a fresh application rather than a simple conversion, and the two visas have different requirements. People sometimes move from the D7 to the Golden Visa if their plans change and they stop living in Portugal, or the reverse if they decide to relocate. The main thing to weigh is your legal-residence record, because a clean, continuous record is what carries the clock toward permanent residency.
Which is better for a US retiree? Usually the D7, if the retiree genuinely intends to live in Portugal, because it is far cheaper and a pension is exactly the kind of passive income it is built around. The Golden Visa is the better fit for a US retiree who wants a Plan B or EU optionality without moving. Tax is the deciding detail either way, and the US cross-border angle is covered in the Golden Visa tax implications.
Do Golden Visa holders pay Portuguese tax? Usually not, at least not as residents. Spending only about seven days a year in Portugal does not make you a Portuguese tax resident, so a Golden Visa holder who is not living there is generally taxed only on Portuguese-source income, if any. A D7 holder, by contrast, lives in Portugal and is taxed on worldwide income. The full detail is in the Golden Visa tax implications.
Does the D7 lead to an EU passport like the Golden Visa? Yes. The D7 reaches permanent residency at five years and citizenship on the same timeline as the Golden Visa, so it leads to a Portuguese and EU passport just the same. The difference between the two routes is entirely in what they ask of you along the way, cost and physical presence, not in where they end up.
What about the D8 digital nomad visa? The D8 is a separate route for active remote workers who earn a salary or fees from an employer or clients abroad, rather than the passive income the D7 is built around. If you are working remotely rather than living on a pension or investments, the D8 may fit better than either route compared here. It is a sibling visa and is not covered in depth in this article.
Disclaimer
This article is for general information only and is not legal or tax advice. Visa, residence, and tax rules change, and the D7 income figures track the annual minimum wage, 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 residency and immigration matters, including the Golden Visa, the D7, and the route to permanent residency and citizenship. Connect on LinkedIn.
