Greece Golden Visa vs Portugal Residence Options: 2026 Decision Framework
Reducing these routes to a single “cheapest residency” question is a mistake. Greece’s official Golden Visa page describes the permanent investor-residence route; the current Ministry-hosted text sets €800,000 or €400,000 bands for standard property cases by area, with limited €250,000 exceptions. In Portugal, the national-visa system identifies a route for people living on their own income, while AIMA maintains a separate page for residence authorisation for investment activity (ARI). These are not interchangeable products.First decision: what is funding the move?
Greece Golden Visa is legally a file built around a qualifying investment and investor residence. In Portugal, first separate the applicant story: own income, remote/professional activity, or a qualifying ARI investment. Presenting an income file as though it were an investor file—or the reverse—adds avoidable process risk.
Second decision: capital, asset, and residence objective
| Question | Greece | Portugal |
|---|---|---|
| Core logic | Investor residence; investment category matters | Income/professional visa or ARI; route must be chosen upfront |
| First verification | Property area, type, and legal threshold | Income source, proof of means, or ARI eligibility |
| Bad starting point | Paying a deposit on old €250,000 marketing | Merging different visa categories into one story |
Prepare the file before committing money
For Greece, verify the threshold, property classification, and contract conditions with a qualified local adviser before capital is committed. For Portugal, plan the consular and AIMA steps as one document chain; the official means-of-subsistence page says proof of sufficient means is mandatory for a long-term visa application.
These sources are in force: Greece’s Law 5100/2024 has applied since 5 April 2024; the cited Portuguese visa and AIMA pages were accessed on 24 July 2026. We do not present a proposed or consultation-stage change as current law. Recheck the individual file before any acquisition or application.
Primary sources: Greek Ministry of Migration Golden Visa; Law 5100/2024 art. 100; Portugal Ministry of Foreign Affairs visa portal; AIMA ARI. Accessed 24 July 2026.
