Golden Visa Europe 2026: Which Programmes Are Still Open

The golden visa market in Europe has shrunk. Spain closed its programme in April 2025, Ireland ended its in 2023, and Portugal removed real estate as a qualifying investment. What is still open in 2026 includes Greece (property from €250,000 to €800,000 depending on type and location), Portugal (fund and cultural routes), Italy, Malta, Cyprus and Hungary, each with different costs and conditions.

A golden visa is residence in exchange for investment, not a shortcut to a passport. Some routes require little or no time in the country, but that also means they don't count the way a working or nomad permit would toward citizenship. This guide separates open from closed, explains what you are actually buying, and flags the risks. It is research, not investment or legal advice.

Thresholds and rules change often. Each route links to its official government page: confirm there before you apply. Not legal advice.

Open vs closed: the quick status list

Our status comes from official or well-sourced reporting as of October 2026. Programmes change fast, so confirm on the government page before committing capital.

Closed

• Spain: the golden visa ended on 3 April 2025 under Organic Law 1/2025. Existing cases continue. See our Spain golden visa page for what replaced it.
• Ireland: the Immigrant Investor Programme closed to new applicants in 2023.
• United Kingdom: the old investor route was closed in 2022 (UK is outside our country set).
• Netherlands: has no investor residence route.

Open (with conditions)

• Portugal: property no longer qualifies. The remaining routes include investment fund units (about €500,000) and cultural or heritage donations (about €250,000). See Portugal's golden visa.
• Greece: €800,000 for property in high-demand areas (Attica, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini, and larger islands), €400,000 elsewhere, and a narrower €250,000 route for converted or restored buildings. See Greece's golden visa.
• Italy: an investor visa for investments in government bonds, companies, startups or philanthropy, with the lowest startup route around €250,000.
• Malta: a Permanent Residence Programme that stacks administration fees, a government contribution, a donation and a property commitment.
• Cyprus: permanent residence for a qualifying purchase (about €300,000 for new residential property) plus income and clean-record tests.
• Hungary: the guest investor permit through a real-estate fund share or donation; the direct real estate route was abolished in January 2025.

Figures for Italy, Malta, Cyprus and Hungary come from secondary summaries and should be verified on the governments' pages.

What you actually get

Golden visas give a residence permit for you and usually your spouse and dependent children. They typically allow living, studying and working in the host country, and Schengen travel (except Cyprus and Ireland, which sit outside Schengen). You do not get a European passport on day one.

Time-in-country rules vary. Portugal historically required only a few days a year, which is why it appealed to people who wanted an option rather than a move. Greece requires no minimum stay to keep the permit. Other programmes have residence expectations. Read the renewal rules.

Golden visa vs a normal residence visa

If you plan to live in Europe, an income-based route will usually cost far less than an investment. Compare the Portugal D7, the Portugal D8, Spain's non-lucrative visa or the EU Blue Card. A golden visa makes more sense if you don't want to meet an income test, want to keep optionality for children's schooling, or can invest without needing the money back soon.

The citizenship question

Do not treat a golden visa as a route to a passport. Portugal's nationality law was revised in 2026: for most non-EU nationals the required legal residence is now 10 years (7 for EU and Portuguese-language community nationals), and the clock starts from issuance of the residence title, plus language and culture tests. Whether time on a golden visa counts differently should be confirmed with the Portuguese authorities or a lawyer. Greece and other countries have their own residence periods, language tests and, in some cases, physical presence requirements. See the Portugal and Greece country pages.

Costs beyond the headline number

• Government fees, legal fees and due diligence
• Transaction taxes on property purchases (they can be several percent of the price)
• Ongoing property tax, maintenance and insurance
• Fund management fees on fund routes
• Exit costs. Property in some locations can be hard to resell at the price paid.

Greece restricts golden-visa properties from short-term rental under its sharing-economy framework, with penalties for breach, though long-term lets are allowed. This matters if you were counting on holiday-let income.

Risks and what to check

• Policy risk: programmes close or change terms with little notice, as Spain, Ireland and Portugal show. Don't rely on promised future rule changes.
• Investment risk: a fund or property is an investment that can lose value. Judge it as an investment first.
• Agent risk: the industry is sales-driven. Verify advisers are licensed locally, ask for full fee schedules, and be sceptical of guaranteed outcomes.
• US tax and reporting: foreign funds, companies and accounts can trigger FBAR, Form 8938, PFIC and other filings for Americans. Talk to a US expat tax professional before buying. See US expat taxes.
• Source-of-funds checks: expect detailed documentation.

How to choose between the open programmes

Start with what you want the residence for. If it is a holiday home with the option to stay long term, Greece is the programme most people compare, because the investment is a property you can use yourself, with the Athens and Thessaloniki markets at the center of demand. If you want to avoid property, Portugal's fund route trades a physical asset for a financial product with its own fees and lock-in period. Italy's investor visa suits entrepreneurs who will actually run a company or startup. Cyprus and Malta attract buyers who want permanent residence and an English-speaking environment, see Cyprus and Malta.

Ask each adviser the same five questions: what is the all-in cost, what is the minimum holding period, how do I exit, what does my family get, and what has changed in the last two years. If the answers are vague, walk away.

Are there cheaper routes to residency?

Yes. In practice many people who consider a golden visa are better served by:

1. A nomad or passive-income route, covered in digital nomad visas and retire in Europe.
2. An ancestry claim: see citizenship by descent.
3. A skilled-worker or business route such as the Dutch DAFT visa.

Browse every route in our visa tables or take the quiz.