Methodology

What a row is

A row is one programme as defined by the law that creates it. The dataset records eight fields at programme level (status, authority, legal basis, permit, minimum stay, permanent residence, citizenship position, family) and, for each qualifying route, the minimum amount in euros, the route type, the low-density variant where one exists and the conditions the amount carries. Programme rules as published by the responsible authority or, where the authority publishes no consolidated English page, as reported consistently by at least two licensed advisers. Amounts in euros. One row per qualifying route.

What "last verified" means

"Last verified" is the date on which every field in the row was read against its source and either confirmed or changed. It is not the date the rule was made and not the date the page was published. A row whose date is older than the latest change log entry for that country has not yet been re-read after that change and should be treated with care; on this site the two dates are kept in step at each review.

Official sources first

The order of preference is: the law as published in the official gazette^2,5; the authority's own programme page^1,3,4; a professional body's published note; a licensed adviser's guide. A figure is only entered when the highest available source states it. Where the law and the authority's page disagree, the law wins and the disagreement is noted in the row.

When secondary sources are used

Four authorities in the dataset publish their rules without one consolidated English page: Greece⁶, Malta⁷, Hungary⁸ and Cyprus⁹. For those rows the authority's general page is cited as the primary source and each figure is accepted only when at least two published secondary statements agree with it and with the authority's page. If two secondary statements disagree, the figure is left out until the authority settles it. One adviser's guide is linked on the whole site, on the Hungary page, because it is the clearest English statement of that programme's fund conditions; every other citation is to an authority, a gazette or a professional body.

Amounts and currency

All amounts are in euros, as stated by the authority, before government fees, professional fees and taxes. "Lowest amount" on the homepage is the smallest route minimum, and the country pages state what else must be paid where the rules fix it (Malta's contribution and fee, Latvia's state payments). No amount is converted, rounded or estimated. Where a route sets no capital figure, as with Portugal's job-creation route, the cell says so.

Vocabulary

• Status. "Open": the authority accepts applications under rules that are in force and not under passed amendment. "Changing": an amendment has been passed or formally announced but is not in force. "Closed": no new applications.
• Route type. Fund (units in a collective investment vehicle, whatever the vehicle holds), property (direct purchase or rental), company (share capital, equity or job creation), donation (capital that is not returned, including research support), bonds (government debt).
• Minimum stay. The presence needed to keep the permit, as stated by the authority. For the filter, "none" means no presence or visit is required; "some" means any stated presence, including a visit every two years. Registration duties do not count as presence.
• Permanent residence. Years of legal residence before a permanent status is available; "permanent from the start" where the programme grants it; "none recorded" where the dataset has no separate step.
• Citizenship position. The residence period in the nationality law and whether the programme alone leads there. No programme in the dataset grants citizenship by investment.

What is left out

Processing times, approval rates, application volumes, adviser fees and prices for property or fund units are not in the dataset because no authority in it publishes them in a form that can be verified. Portugal's government tariff is given as a range on the country page, with a direction to confirm it with AIMA, because the fee instrument is official but the amounts it produces are revised¹.

Reuse

Facts are not copyrightable. Reuse with a link to the source column. The CSV and JSON files on the homepage may be copied, quoted and loaded into other tools. A reuse that changes a figure should say so and should not attribute the changed figure to this site.

How to report an error

Quote the row id (for example "gr-800" or "pt"), the figure you believe is wrong, and the official source that contradicts it, and send it to corrections@goldenvisaeurope.info. A correction that cites the responsible authority or the gazette is applied at the next review and recorded in the change logwith its date. A correction that cites only an adviser's page is checked against the authority first. Reports of a rule that has changed since 3 September 2026 are the most useful kind.