Updated November 2021
Overview of the Portugal Golden Visa process
We’re excited to share that we’re on our way to obtaining Portugal’s Golden Visa! Why? Freedom! Freedom to live and travel throughout most EU countries. Flexibility to be able to have two passports in case of sh*t hitting the fan at home. Opportunity to fulfill our dreams of owning a vineyard and winery in Burgundy. The list goes on!
What is the Golden Visa? What is the Schengen area? Check out our full post here.
Why Portugal?
Compared to other countries in the Schengen zone, Portugal has some of the most favorable Golden Visa requirements:
- Low costs (relatively) – starting as low as 280,000 euros for property purchase.
- Physical time requirement – only need to spend 1 week per year in the country minimum.
- Tax regulations – very lenient. Plus they don’t tax sales of cryptocurrency, if that’s your jam.
On top of that and perhaps most importantly, Portugal is awesome!! Jesse has spent several months driving around the entire country and loves it. The food is some of the best in Europe (best octopus in the world). The politics are democratic and locals seem pretty happy. The cost of living is low, the weather is great and is home to incredible, unique spots like Sintra, Porto, Douro Valley and the Azores islands.
Steps to obtain a Golden Visa for Portugal
Portugal’s Golden Visa is slightly complicated; we spent over two years researching this with countless of interviews, calls and time online before making a decision.
1. Pick a property type
Do you want a property in a city or outside? One that can be rented out or one to live in full-time? Lots of options and decisions which will vary based on your needs. Portugal’s Golden Visa was historically a 500,000 euro minimum purchase price. However, there are discounts available for purchasing a home requiring substantial renovations (150,000 less) and purchasing a property in a densely populated area (20%).
You can combine both discounts to scrape together a 280,000 euro minimum, but be advised: there are some risks in purchasing a property that require substantial renovations along with those that have yet to be fully built.
Note: there are talks about Portugal eliminating LIsbon and Porto from qualifying locations for the Golden Visa. However, nothing has been passed into law yet. If you’re considering these locations, be aware of these rumors.
2. Find the property
We recommend hiring a real estate agent for the search. Much like the process in the US, only the seller is responsible for paying the commission, so there is no financial downside on the buyer side. We worked with Diana Petkovics from Aureia Consulting and had a really great experience. If you are the DIY type, the best site is idealista.pt — functions very similarly to Zillow.
We opted for a vineyard property in the beautiful Douro Valley. Book a stay at the Quinta on Airbnb!
3. Hire a lawyer
While the real estate agent is optional, a lawyer is mandatory. The lawyer will be able to sign on your behalf (assuming you are working on the golden visa remotely and functions as your translator, fiscal and legal representation throughout the process. We are working with Leonor Monteiro from the Martinez-Echevarria law firm. We chose this route as they were professional, responsive and based in Porto (which is close to where we purchased our property).
4. Get the paperwork ready
This part is not fun, so be prepared. You’ll need marriage certificates, birth certificates, criminal background checks, employment info, passports etc.. basically Portugal doing their due diligence on who is admitted into the country. Hopefully you live near a place that notarizes, apostilles and DHL ships, because you’ll need a combination of all three of those multiple times.
5. Get your biometrics
Once the property is purchased and paperwork in order, you are ready for your appointment with the Portuguese government to get fingerprinted. In exchange you’ll receive a residency permit, good for up to one year before requiring a renewal. At this point, if you wanted to stay in Europe beyond the 90-day Schengen visa, you could legally do it–just as long as you entered and exited through Portugal and stayed within the Schengen bounds for any travel in-between.
However, if you want actual EU citizenship and an EU passport to live anywhere in Europe (not just Portugal), you have a few more steps..
6. Stay a little longer
From the moment you get the Portuguese resident card, there is a 5-year clock to when you are eligible to receive your EU passport. In this time, you’ll need to hold on to your property (or a property that meets all Golden Visa requirements).
7. Learn the language
Você fala português? There’s a language test at the end of the 5 year timer, so start practicing. Portuguese is pretty similar to Spanish and follows most of the latin language rules. Check out our handy guide to learn any language quickly.
Work in progress
We’ll continue to provide updates as we move along in the process. Feel free to reach out with any questions via our contact page, instagram or hello@thewinescribes.com
