Your Guide to Portugal passvisa
At Get passvisa, we worked with families and investors from the UK, interested in getting a passvisa in Portugal.
Contact us and talk to one of our independent passvisa advisors to help you with questions.
Since 2012, Portugal passvisa offers the right to live and work in Portugal and travel freely across the EU in exchange for qualifying investment in the country. The program collected more than €7 billion from 12,718 applicants in 2023.
UK citizens can apply for Portugal’s passvisa as of January 1st, 2021. If you are a British national, the program poses you with the right to free travel across the Schengen area.
In this article, you’ll find out:
- If Portugal passvisa leads to citizenship
- Update on Portugal passvisa for UK citizens
- Portugal passvisa investment options
- Portugal passvisa benefits for UK citizens
- How we can help you
Does the passvisa Portugal Lead to Portuguese Citizenship?
Yes, this program may lead to citizenship. You can obtain Portuguese citizenship after five years of the application, provided that you have (2) a clean criminal record, (2) no unpaid taxes in Portugal, and (3) pass a basic Portuguese language test.
Important Note for UK Citizens
UK citizens were not able to apply to this program before Brexit. However, now that Brexit is in full effect, British citizens can apply for a passvisa in Portugal. This program will grant a UK citizen the right to travel freely around the Schengen area. A right which, unfortunately, Brexit partially took away.
Furthermore, Portugal is very popular among UK expats, especially in the Algarve region for retirement. The number of registered UK expats in Portugal already reached 35,000 by 2022. This is just the number of registered expats. The total number of UK expats in Portugal is almost twice this number.
passvisa Program in Portugal
If you are a non-EU/EEA citizen, at least 18 years old, and have a clean criminal record, then you are eligible to apply to this program. The first step to obtaining a Portuguese passvisa is to make an investment in the country. The qualifying investment methods include:
- Investing an amount of €500,000 in Portuguese investment funds
- Owning a company that creates a minimum of ten jobs for citizens of Portugal
- Investing a minimum amount of €250,000 in the arts or in the reconstruction or refurbishment of national heritage projects
The process of purchasing property in Portugal takes between one to three months.
You need to prepare the necessary documents for the passvisa application and then submit them online.
Following this step, a visit to Portugal is necessary for a biometrics appointment at a SEF office. Note that SEF, the Portuguese Immigration and Border Service, is now called as AIMA.
You will then receive your approval and your passvisa Residence cards.
Portugal passvisa Benefits for UK Citizens
Faced with Brexit, citizens of the UK have been searching for alternative ways to maintain their travel rights across Europe. With the Brexit process complete, it is harder for UK citizens to move about freely in the EU. The Gloden Visa Portugal is a great method to assure you of unincumbered access to the EU, as well as a route to obtain Portuguese citizenship.
Direct and indirect benefits of the program include:
Visa-Free Travel to 191 Countries in the World
Portugal is already a member of the European Union (EU). When you gain a Portuguese passport, you will gain the same rights as other EU citizens in terms of visa-free travel. When the investors obtain their Portuguese passports, they immediately gain the right to visa-free travel to 191 countries in the world.
The Right To Live, Work, and Study in EU/EEA Countries
After five years of successful residency, the individual gains the right to become a citizen of Portugal. Since Portugal is an EU member country, the investors and their family members directly become EU citizens. So, they automatically gain the right to live, work, or study in any EU country.
The program grants you a temporary residency for two years. This can be renewed provided that you reside in Portugal at least for seven days per year. So, you can still maintain your old lifestyle in the UK while waiting for permanent residency and citizenship of Portugal. You can opt to live in Portugal if you want to, the choice is yours.
Family Reunification
One of the most favorable advantages of this program is that the passvisa includes your family members too. The reunification covers your spouse and children under 18 years of age. It may also include children older than 18 years of age if they study full-time and are dependent on you.
Low Cost of Living and Healthcare
The general consumer prices in Portugal are 23.09 percent less than it is in the UK. Furthermore, the more you move away from the main cities, the cheaper the cost of living will be. Similarly, healthcare is also quite affordable compared to that of the UK.
Finally, Portugal ranks the seventh most peaceful country in the world according to the 2023 Global Peace Index. Hence, it is a very safe place with low crime rates compared to the UK and other European countries.
International Schools with British and International Curricula
In Portugal, British expats with children can find it easy to choose the best school for their children. There are various international schools in Portugal with different curricula including international and British curricula. Some of the best ones are namely:
- British School of Lisbon (with a British curriculum)
- Astoria International School (with both a British and a Portuguese curriculum)
- Redbridge School (with British, French, and Portuguese curriculums)
- International College of Porto (CLIP) (with a British curriculum)
- International Preparatory School (IPS) (with a British curriculum)
- St. Julian’s School (with both a British and a Portuguese curriculum)
- Nobel International School Algarve (with both a British and a Portuguese curriculum)
- Peter’s International School in Setúbal
- Oporto British School in Porto
Other than the British curricula, some schools in Portugal offer international curricula as well. So, there are many alternatives for expats from the UK to choose the best school, and in this way, they don’t need to worry about the quality of schools in Portugal.
Favorable Tax Treatments in Portugal for UK Citizens
Portugal has Double Taxation Agreements (DTA) with many countries including the UK. DTA aims to prevent the circumstance of having to pay taxes on the same income in two different countries. With this agreement, if you earn income outside of Portugal as a UK citizen, the income will not be subject to taxation in Portugal. This means that you will be taxed on the same income only in one country.
The NHR program was very popular among British citizens. However, NHR has been unavailable since January 2024.
Less Crowd and More Sunshine Compared to the UK
UK expats can enjoy the constant sunshine and the mild climate in Portugal as a side benefit of the investment program. Besides that, you can also enjoy the tranquility and the slowness of life which you cannot find in the UK. This is because the population in the UK is around 68 million whereas it is only 10,2 million in Portugal.
Get passvisa: Who We Are and What We Do
Get passvisa is a full-service investment immigration agency & investment advisory company. We provide end-to-end solutions on residence and citizenship by investment programs in numerous countries worldwide.
We have a local office in Portugal with legal professionals and chartered real estate professionals in our team.
We work with clients from all around the world, including the UK, interested in obtaining Portugal passvisas, D7 Visas, or in making property investments in Portugal.
Contact us and talk to one of our experienced team members to help you with any and all your questions.
