What a Portugal Golden Visa actually costs
The €500,000 is the smaller surprise. Government fees run to roughly €17,800 per person over the first five years, and every family member pays the same as the investor.
Three separate buckets. The qualifying investment, which you keep. The government fees, set by ordinance and payable per person at grant and at every renewal. And the private costs: fund fees, legal work, translations and the rest. Only the second bucket has published numbers, and they are the ones most often quoted out of date.
- €773.74Analysis of each application, grant or renewal, per person
- €7,730.11Grant of the permit, per person, family included
- €3,865.79Each renewal, per person
- €10,822.14Permanent residence permit at year five, per person
One you keep, one is published, one is negotiable
Confusing the three is how people end up quoting a cost that is out by tens of thousands of euros.
€500,000 you still own.
On the fund route the subscription is an asset, not a cost, and it carries real investment risk. It is not a fee, it is not a donation, and it does not disappear. The only route where the money is genuinely spent is the €250,000 cultural support route.
Law 23/2007, Article 3(1)(d)Published, per person, and steep.
Set by Ordinance 307/2023. There is an analysis fee on every application, a grant fee, and a renewal fee every two years. Reunited family members pay exactly the same amounts as the investor, which is what makes a family application expensive.
Ordinance 307/2023, consolidatedVariable, and worth negotiating.
Fund subscription and management fees, legal fees, translations and apostilles, a Portuguese tax number and bank account, health insurance, and travel for biometrics. These are not published anywhere because they are commercial. Ask for them in writing, itemised, before you commit.
Ventures.euThe official fee table, per person
Exactly as Ordinance 307/2023 sets them, in its consolidated version. These apply per applicant, and family members reunited with an investor pay the same as the investor.
- Receiving and analysing the application
- €773.74. Charged on a grant application and again on each renewal, and on family reunification applications too
- Granting the permit
- €7,730.11 for the investor, and €7,730.11 for each reunited family member
- Renewing the permit
- €3,865.79 for the investor, and €3,865.79 for each reunited family member, every two years
- Permanent residence at year five
- €10,822.14 to grant, €5,411.90 to renew, per person
- Replacing a lost card
- Second copy €3,865.79, being 50% of the grant fee. Third and subsequent copies €7,730.11. A replacement because your details changed is €1,932.53
Five years of fees, worked through
Assuming a grant plus two renewals inside the five year holding period, and no lost cards. Government fees only.
- One applicant, at application
- €773.74 analysis plus €7,730.11 grant, so €8,503.85
- One applicant, at each renewal
- €773.74 analysis plus €3,865.79 renewal, so €4,639.53, twice across five years
- One applicant, five year total
- €17,782.91 in government fees, on top of the €500,000 investment
- A family of three, five year total
- €53,348.73. The fees are per person and identical for family members, so a couple with one child pays three times the single figure
- Then permanent residence
- A further €10,822.14 each, so €32,466.42 for that family of three, if they take that step at year five
The number that moves most is the one nobody publishes
Government fees are fixed and knowable. Fund fees are not, and over five years a difference of one percentage point in annual management fee on €500,000 is €25,000. That is larger than the entire government bill for a single applicant. Spend your negotiating energy there, and ask for the total expense ratio rather than the headline management fee.
Common questions
The ones we answer on almost every call, and the ones the market most often gets wrong.
Do children pay the same fees as the investor?
Yes. Ordinance 307/2023 sets the grant fee for family members reunited with an investor at the same €7,730.11 as the investor, and the renewal at the same €3,865.79. There is no reduced rate for children.
Are the fees refunded if my application is refused?
The analysis fee is charged for receiving and analysing the application, so it is spent whatever the outcome. The grant fee is charged on the grant. Anyone promising a refund of government fees on refusal is promising something the ordinance does not provide for.
Is the €250,000 cultural route the cheapest option?
It is the lowest investment threshold, and in a low density territory it falls to €200,000. But it is support rather than an investment, so the money does not come back. On the fund route you keep an asset. Compare the cost of capital, not the headline.
How often do these fees change?
They are set by ordinance and updated from time to time. The figures here are from the consolidated text of Ordinance 307/2023 as at 10 September 2026. AIMA also publishes a fee table on its site, which is the place to check before you transfer anything.
What about the costs nobody itemises?
A Portuguese tax number and bank account, document translation and apostille, criminal record certificates, health insurance, the fund’s own subscription and management fees, legal fees, and travel to Portugal for biometrics and for your minimum stay days. None of these are published, all of them are quotable in advance, and you should ask for them itemised.
Talk to us
We advise founders, investors and executives on both sides of this: the tax position and the residency route, together rather than separately.
Book a call with Fernando
Fifteen or thirty minutes, by Microsoft Teams. Fernando Ferreira, General Partner at Ventures.eu.
