Greece vs Portugal Golden Visa (2026): Which Route Fits?

Since 1 September 2024 (Law 5100/2024), Greece's Golden Visa real-estate minimum is €800,000 in high-demand areas — the Attica region including Athens, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini, and islands with more than 3,100 residents — and €400,000 in the rest of the country. Standard purchases must be a single property of at least 120 m².

The widely advertised €250,000 tier still exists, but only for a commercial-to-residential conversion or the restoration of a listed building. It is not a general property route, and treating it as one is the most common mistake in Greece Golden Visa research.

Two further points ex-landlords should know:

• A Golden Visa property cannot be let short-term (sharing-economy platforms) or subleased; violations trigger permit revocation plus a €50,000 fine.
• Greece also has non-property routes: a €350,000 investment in Greek-focused UCITS or alternative funds, a €500,000 term deposit, €500,000 in Greek government bonds, or €800,000 in listed shares or corporate bonds. The fund option is the closest analogue to Portugal's route, at a lower ticket.

Portugal removed its real-estate and capital-transfer routes in October 2023 (Law 56/2023). For new applicants, the main capital route is:

• €500,000 into a fund regulated by the CMVM (Portugal's securities regulator).
• The fund must have a maturity of at least five years and invest at least 60% in Portuguese companies.
• Golden Visa-qualifying funds cannot hold real estate, directly or indirectly.

There is no property fallback, so the Portuguese decision is really a fund-selection decision: strategy, fees, liquidity, manager quality, and documentation. Start with the full index of Portugal Golden Visa investment funds, the fund fees comparison, and the CMVM-registered fund manager directory.

Greece: the investor permit is issued for five years and is renewable for as long as the investment is held. Greek law imposes no minimum-stay requirement, so absences alone do not, in practice, block renewal. After filing, a temporary certificate (the "blue paper") lets you reside while the card is processed. Be realistic on timing: Greece publishes no end-to-end processing guarantee — the two-month rule in art. 100 covers card issuance after a complete file, and practical timelines often run 6-12 months, with Athens sometimes longer.

Portugal: the ARI permit requires roughly 7 days of presence in the first year and 14 days in each subsequent two-year period, and the fund investment must be held for at least five years. Portugal's own processing backlogs are real; see the AIMA backlog tracker for the current picture.

Neither program forces relocation. The difference is that Greece asks nothing at all, while Portugal asks for about a week a year — and gives you something meaningful for it, which is the next section.

This is the comparison that decides most cases.

Portugal counts Golden Visa permit years toward naturalisation while you meet only the minimal-stay rule. Under Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2026 (in force 19 May 2026), naturalisation now takes 7 years for EU and CPLP nationals and 10 years for everyone else, generally counted from the issuance of the first residence permit; exactly how pre-2026 residence counts for holders who have not yet applied is still legally contested. Permanent residency at five years is unchanged.

Greece renews the investor permit indefinitely, but Greek naturalisation generally requires around seven years of genuine residence, with roughly 183 days a year of physical presence, Greek tax residence, and a B1 Greek language examination. Passive Golden Visa years do not count, so holding a Greek permit without actually living in Greece does not, in practice, build a citizenship case.

Put plainly: a Portuguese Golden Visa held from 2026 can lead to an EU passport around 2036 on a week a year of presence. A Greek Golden Visa without relocation leads to renewable residence, not citizenship. If a second passport is the goal, that asymmetry outweighs the entry-price difference; confirm your own timeline with counsel in either country. See also is the Portugal Golden Visa still worth it.

Greece tends to fit investors who want the lowest entry price outside the hot zones, are comfortable owning and running a Greek property (without short-term letting), want zero stay obligations, and do not care about citizenship.

Portugal tends to fit investors who want a passive, regulated investment instead of property management, want permit years building toward an EU passport, and can commit to about a week a year of presence.

The overlooked middle option: Greece's €350,000 fund route undercuts Portugal's ticket for a similar hands-off structure — but without Portugal's citizenship math. If that trade-off matters to you, compare the fund universes before the price: how to evaluate a Golden Visa fund applies to both.

For cost modelling, run both official-fee calculators: the Portugal Golden Visa cost calculator and the Greece Golden Visa cost calculator.