Portugal vs Greece Golden Visa 2026: €500k vs €250k

Choosing between the Portugal vs Greece Golden Visa is now one of the sharpest decisions in European residency by investment, because the two programmes have moved in opposite directions. Portugal closed its property route and pivoted to regulated funds; Greece raised its property thresholds but kept real estate at the core. For high-net-worth families weighing a European base, the right answer depends on capital structure, tax position and time horizon — not on which headline figure looks lower.

Key takeaways

• Portugal's Golden Visa requires a €500,000 investment in a CMVM-regulated fund, or a €250,000 cultural donation; real estate has been ineligible since October 2023.
• Greece's Golden Visa property route is now €800,000 in Attica, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and islands above 3,100 residents, €400,000 elsewhere, and €250,000 for commercial-to-residential conversions.
• Portuguese citizenship is available after 10 years of residence for non-EU nationals under the May 2026 Nationality Law (Lei Orgânica 1/2026); Greek citizenship after 7 years.
• Both passports are near-identical in mobility: the Henley Passport Index 2026 places Portugal and Greece jointly around 5th, each with visa-free access to roughly 184 destinations.
• Greece's Article 5A non-dom regime allows a flat €100,000 per year on all foreign-source income for up to 15 years; Golden Visa holders are exempt from the separate €500,000 investment test.
• Neither programme imposes a meaningful stay requirement — Portugal averages seven days a year; Greece has zero minimum stay.

Both routes deliver Schengen mobility and a five-year renewable permit. The real divergence is what happens at the destination: how you hold your capital, how you are taxed, and how long until a passport.

A Golden Visa is not the prize — it is the option to choose your jurisdiction before you are forced to.

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What is the difference between the Portugal and Greece Golden Visa in 2026?

The structural split is simple.

In late 2023, Portugal reformed the Golden Visa under the "Mais Habitação" law; concerned that real estate purchases were inflating property prices, the government eliminated all real estate-based investment routes for new applicants.

Today,

the minimum investment for the Portugal Golden Visa through fund investment is €500,000 in venture capital or private equity funds in 2026, and qualifying funds must be regulated by the CMVM.

Eligible funds must be regulated under Portuguese law, allocate at least 60% to companies headquartered in Portugal, hold a minimum maturity of five years, and must not invest in real estate.

A lower-cost cultural donation route also exists from €250,000.

Greece took the opposite path: it kept property but repriced it.

The Greek Migration Code was amended by Article 64 of Law 5100/2024, which repriced the Golden Visa real estate route and narrowed eligibility, with a later amendment extending the transitional closing deadline to February 28, 2025.

This is why the comparison is not "cheaper vs more expensive" — it is "passive fund vs tangible asset". If you want to understand the strategic logic behind residence rather than a passport, our explainer on the difference between Golden Visas and citizenship by investment sets out the framework we use with clients.

How much does each Golden Visa cost in 2026?

Greece's property thresholds are now strictly zone-based.

The thresholds are €800,000 for Attica (including all of Athens and the Athens Riviera), greater Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and islands above 3,100 population; €400,000 for everywhere else in Greece; and €250,000 for commercial-to-residential conversions and heritage restorations anywhere in the country.

Zone A purchases now require a single property of minimum 120 square metres, eliminating the previous option to combine units.

The table below compares all-in figures for a single applicant. Total estimates include fund or property cost plus typical government, legal and processing fees; verify current figures on official sources before committing capital.

Source: Portuguese CMVM / AIMA and Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum (Law 5100/2024); figures as at June 2026.

On timeline, the gap is wide.

New Portuguese cases require 12–36 months: roughly 6–18 months to pre-approval and a further 6–18 months for biometrics and card issue.

Greece is materially faster —

the processing time for a Greek Golden Visa in 2026 is approximately 6–9 months.

Which Golden Visa leads faster to citizenship?

This is where Portugal's 2026 reform reshaped the field.

Under Portugal's revised Nationality Law, promulgated in May 2026, the standard residence period required for naturalisation has been extended to 10 years for most non-EU, non-EEA nationals and to 7 years for EU nationals and citizens of Portuguese-speaking countries.

Crucially, the residency clock and the citizenship clock are now distinct:

even though the citizenship timeline has been extended to ten years for most nationalities, Golden Visa holders can still apply for permanent residency after five, giving them an independent, long-term right to live and work in Portugal and across the EU without maintaining their investment.

Greece is shorter on paper.

You may be eligible to apply for Greek citizenship through naturalisation if you have lived there for at least 7 years.

But "lived there" is the catch — Greek naturalisation requires genuine residence and language proficiency, whereas the Golden Visa itself demands no stay. For a passive holder spending a few weeks a year, neither country delivers a quick passport; both are residency-first strategies. We unpack this trade-off in our analysis of the Greece Golden Visa for families.

As Muzaffar Saydiganiev, Managing Director at VisaTier and a licensed investment-migration adviser, notes: "Clients fixate on the seven-versus-ten-year headline, but the binding constraint is almost always physical presence and language — not the statutory minimum. The right question is whether you actually intend to live there."

How are investors taxed in Portugal versus Greece?

Tax is often the deciding factor for HNW families, and here Greece has a distinct edge for the right profile.

Greece's Article 5A non-dom regime allows qualifying individuals who transfer their tax residency to Greece to pay a flat €100,000 per year on all foreign-sourced income, for up to 15 tax years.

Holders of a Greek Golden Visa are exempt from the €500,000 investment requirement, as their visa already proves qualifying investment.

Family members pay €20,000 each.

The arithmetic is striking at high incomes.

For someone earning €1 million abroad, the flat tax represents an effective rate of just 10%, compared with 44% under standard Greek taxation.

Importantly, you only trigger Greek tax residency if you spend more than 183 days a year there — so the regime is a deliberate choice, not an automatic consequence of holding the visa.

Portugal, by contrast, no longer offers its old NHR regime to new arrivals on the same terms, and Golden Visa holders are not required to become Portuguese tax residents at all. For investors who want EU residency without relocating their tax base, that neutrality is itself an advantage. We explore non-relocation structures in our guide to European residency without moving your life.

Which passport is stronger?

Effectively neither — and that is the point.

Greece shares 5th place in the Henley Passport Index 2026 with Austria, Portugal and Malta, all with 184 visa-free destinations.

Both confer full EU citizenship rights at the end of the road, including the right to live and work anywhere in the Union. Passport mobility should not be the tie-breaker between these two; cost, tax and asset preference should be.

Frequently asked questions

This article is general information, not legal or tax advice, and does not guarantee any approval, return or tax outcome. Eligibility, thresholds, timelines and tax treatment depend on individual circumstances and are subject to change. Figures reflect publicly available information as at June 2026; verify on official sources. Victory Meets Trust.