Direct answer: Residency by investment still exists in Europe, but the map has shrunk. Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands have closed their schemes, Portugal dropped property in 2023, and Greece raised its property minimums in 2024. Portugal, Greece and Italy remain open with very different rules, and Hungary and Malta run their own programs.

What a European golden visa gives you, and what it does not

It gives you the right to live in one EU country, and the European Commission notes a residence permit lets you travel within the Schengen area; it does not give you EU citizenship, the right to live in other member states, or necessarily the right to work.

Portugal, Greece and Italy are all members of both the EU and Schengen (Portugal joined the EU in 1986 and Schengen in 1995, Greece in 1981 and 2000, Italy in 1958 and 1997). How long you can stay in another Schengen country on your permit is a question to check before you plan a long stay elsewhere.

For visitors without a permit, the Schengen rule is a maximum of 90 days in any 180 day period. Since 10 April 2026 the EU's Entry/Exit System is fully running at external borders, and ETIAS, the travel authorization for visa exempt visitors, was not yet in operation when we checked, with no start date published.

Programs that have closed or changed

Spain ended its golden visa on 3 April 2025, Ireland closed its investor program on 15 February 2023, and the Netherlands abolished its investor residence route in April 2024.

  • Spain: Ley Orgánica 1/2025 emptied the investor residence articles of Ley 14/2013 with effect from 3 April 2025. Applications filed earlier are decided under the old rules.
  • Ireland: the Immigrant Investor Programme closed to new applications from 15 February 2023.
  • The Netherlands: a decree published on 16 April 2024 (Staatsblad 2024, 83) abolished the wealthy foreign investor route, which required €1,250,000.
  • Portugal: property routes removed from 7 October 2023.
  • Greece: property minimums raised to €400,000 and €800,000 from 5 April 2024, with €250,000 kept only for conversions and listed buildings.

The direction of travel is set in Brussels. In 2019 the European Commission said investor residence schemes "pose equally serious security risks" as citizenship schemes, and in 2022 it asked member states to put "strong checks" on them. In April 2025 the EU Court of Justice ruled that Malta's citizenship by investment scheme broke EU law. That ruling was about citizenship, not residence, but it is part of why we never promise that any program will stay as it is.

Still open

Beyond our three countries, Hungary and Malta run investor residence programs; Cyprus and Latvia have programs we could not verify from official sources.

  • Hungary: a guest investor residence permit for at least €250,000 in a registered real estate fund held for five years, or a donation of at least €1,000,000 to a university.
  • Malta: the Malta Permanent Residence Programme, with an administration fee, a government contribution, a property purchase or rental, and asset requirements set in its regulations.
  • Cyprus and Latvia:

Portugal, Italy and Greece in brief

Greece is the property route, Portugal the fund route and Italy the business and capital route.

We focus on these three because they are where we live and where we can check things on the ground, and because together they cover the three main ways people want to invest. The side by side is on Portugal vs Greece vs Italy.

Residency is not citizenship

No EU country we cover sells citizenship; a golden visa can start the clock, but naturalization needs years of genuine residence, language and knowledge tests.

Today that means ten years in Portugal for most nationalities, seven in Greece, and ten in Italy. Anyone selling an "EU passport by investment" in these three countries is selling something the law does not offer.

Which golden visa fits you?

Seven short questions on budget, how much time you expect to spend there, family and what you want from the permit. You get a result for Portugal, Greece or Italy, and you decide what happens next.

Take the quiz →

Not ready yet? Join rule-change alerts and we will tell you when the rules change.

Sources

  1. Ley Orgánica 1/2025 and consolidated Ley 14/2013 (end of Spain's investor residence), Boletín Oficial del Estado. Official source. Last checked 28 October 2026.
  2. FAQs: closure of the Immigrant Investor Programme, Irish Immigration Service, Department of Justice. Official source. Last checked 28 October 2026.
  3. Staatsblad 2024, 83 (abolition of the foreign investor residence scheme), Officiële Bekendmakingen, Government of the Netherlands. Official source. Last checked 28 October 2026.
  4. Malta Permanent Residence Programme Regulations (S.L. 217.26), Legislation Malta. Official source. Last checked 28 October 2026.
  5. Press release on judgment C-181/23, Commission v Malta, 29 April 2025, Court of Justice of the European Union. Official source. Last checked 28 October 2026.
  6. Guest investor residence permit, National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing, Hungary. Official source. Last checked 28 October 2026.
  7. Investor citizenship and residence schemes in the EU (press release IP/19/526, 23 January 2019), European Commission. Official source. Last checked 28 October 2026.
  8. Commission recommendation on investor citizenship and residence schemes (press release IP/22/1731, 28 March 2022), European Commission. Official source. Last checked 28 October 2026.
  9. Short-stay calculator (90 days in any 180-day period), European Commission, Migration and Home Affairs. Official source. Last checked 28 October 2026.
  10. Entry/Exit System, European Commission, Migration and Home Affairs. Official source. Last checked 28 October 2026.
  11. European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), European Commission, Migration and Home Affairs. Official source. Last checked 28 October 2026.
  12. EU countries, European Union. Official source. Last checked 28 October 2026.
  13. Lei n.º 56/2023 (Mais Habitação), Articles 42, 53 and 55, Procuradoria-Geral Distrital de Lisboa. Official source. Last checked 28 October 2026.
  14. Law 5100/2024, codified Migration Code text including Article 100 (investor residence), Ministry of Migration and Asylum, Hellenic Republic. Official source. Last checked 28 October 2026.
  15. Decreto Legislativo 286/1998, Article 26-bis (entry and residence for investors), text in force, Normattiva, Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato. Official source. Last checked 28 October 2026.

This page is general information, not legal, tax, immigration or investment advice. Rules and fees change, so check the sources above and the date we last checked them. Applications are handled by our partners, not by us, and no approval, permit, return or timeline is guaranteed. We are paid for introductions; here is how.