Golden Visa Alternatives in Europe: What Still Works in 2026

The residency-by-investment programmes still open in 2026, with every closure and status claim cited and dated.

You are looking for Golden Visa alternatives in Europe, and much of what you find online is out of date. Three closures explain the confusion. Spain accepted golden visa applications until 3 April 2025, when Organic Law 1/2025 repealed the investor residence articles of its 2013 framework (Boletín Oficial del Estado, January 2025). The UK’s investor route closed earlier, in February 2022 (UK Home Office, February 2022). Portugal kept its programme but removed property in October 2023, which left regulated funds as the main route (Law no. 56/2023, October 2023).

This article lists which programmes are open and which have closed, with a source and a date for every status claim. Residency rules change, sometimes at short notice. Everything here is current at the time of writing, August 2026, and you should reconfirm the detail with qualified counsel before acting on it. Four investment programmes remain open.

What closed, and when

Four European investor residence routes have closed since 2022, and some of the older guides still in circulation list them as open. The UK’s Tier 1 Investor route closed on 17 February 2022 (UK Home Office, February 2022). Ireland went next. Its Immigrant Investor Programme closed in February 2023 (Irish Department of Justice, February 2023), and the Netherlands ended its investor permit from January 2024 (Dutch government, announced October 2023).

Spain’s Golden Visa closed on 3 April 2025. The repeal was part of Organic Law 1/2025, a law mainly about the Spanish courts, and took effect three months after publication (Boletín Oficial del Estado, January 2025). Applications lodged before the deadline are still being processed under the old rules.

Portugal’s change was narrower, and it is often misreported. Law no. 56/2023 removed property purchase and property-linked capital transfers from the qualifying list in October 2023, and left the rest of the programme standing (Diário da República, October 2023). The programme itself never closed.

One closure concerns citizenship rather than residency. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the EU’s highest court, found Malta’s investor citizenship scheme contrary to EU law in April 2025 (CJEU, Case C-181/23, 29 April 2025). Malta’s residence programme was not part of that judgment.

Golden Visa alternatives in Europe that still operate in 2026

Four residency-by-investment programmes in Europe accept new applicants in 2026: Portugal, Italy, Greece and Malta. Portugal’s Golden Visa runs on a €500,000 subscription to an investment fund regulated by the CMVM, Portugal’s securities regulator. Italy’s Investor Visa needs one of four investments from €250,000. Greece’s Golden Visa runs on property, with a minimum of €250,000 to €800,000 depending on the location and type of property. Malta’s Permanent Residence Programme needs property plus contributions.

The table below shows the status of each programme in one place. Where a programme has closed, we say so and give the date, because many older guides still list closed programmes as open. Check the date on anything you read elsewhere.

Open means the programme was accepting new applications in August 2026. It says nothing about speed. Processing times vary by country and by year, so check the current position before you plan around a programme.

Portugal: the fund route is still open

Portugal’s Golden Visa is open in 2026, and the only route that closed, in October 2023, was property. The main route today is a subscription of at least €500,000 into an investment fund regulated by the Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários (CMVM), Portugal’s securities regulator. Smaller options for research, culture and job creation also qualify but are used far less often (Law no. 23/2007, as amended). The stay requirement is 7 days per year. Our Portugal Golden Visa guide explains each step of the application process in more detail.

The citizenship rule for Portugal changed in 2026. Under Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2026, in force since 19 May 2026, the position is eligibility to apply for citizenship after 10 years (7 for EU and CPLP nationals), counted from the issuance of the first residence permit (Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2026, May 2026). CPLP is the Community of Portuguese Language Countries. Many older web pages still say five years, and those pages are now out of date. That matters if you are planning a decade ahead. Our guide to the current citizenship law sets out the change in full.

Portugal has a documented backlog of pending golden visa applications. In October 2025 the migration minister said that AIMA, Portugal’s immigration agency, intends to resolve the outstanding cases during 2026 (Portuguese government statement, reported by IMI Daily, October 2025). Plan for delay if your timeline depends on Portugal, and our read on AIMA processing times covers where the queue actually stands.

Italy: approval first, capital second

Italy’s Investor Visa gives you an answer before you invest. Applicants first apply for a Nulla Osta, Italy’s pre-approval certificate (literally a certificate of no impediment). The investment falls due only after the pre-approval, the visa and arrival in Italy, within three months of entering the country (Investor Visa for Italy Committee, Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, 2026). Nothing is spent while you wait for an answer.

The four qualifying investments cannot be combined: €250,000 into an innovative start-up, €500,000 into an established Italian company, a €1,000,000 philanthropic donation, or €2,000,000 in Italian government bonds (Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, 2026). The committee’s official guidance states that its assessment is issued within 30 days of a complete file. You then have six months to request the visa. The first permit runs for two years, and renewal for a further three depends on the investment being maintained.

Italy has no minimum stay requirement. Permanent residency becomes available after five years of residence, and eligibility to apply for citizenship follows ten years of legal residence (reconfirm both with independent counsel, as provisions change). Citizenship also needs Italian at B1 level on the European language scale, a higher language bar than Portugal’s A2. One caution: very low presence in Italy affects what counts as legal residence for those later steps, so families with citizenship in mind should plan their time in the country with care. Our Italy Investor Visa guide covers the process stage by stage.

Greece: property, priced by location

Greece’s Golden Visa still runs on property, and the minimum depends on location. Since 1 September 2024, under Law 5100/2024, the minimum is €800,000 in the Athens region (Attica), Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and islands with more than 3,100 residents, and €400,000 everywhere else. In both cases the purchase has to be a single property of at least 120 square metres (Law 5100/2024, September 2024). Combining several cheaper flats no longer works.

There are two exceptions at €250,000. They are converting a commercial building to residential use, or restoring a listed building (Law 5100/2024). From January 2026 there is also a startup route. It is an investment of €250,000 into a startup registered with Elevate Greece, the state’s startup registry, capped at a 33% stake and with job-maintenance conditions (Forbes, January 2026). The permit runs for five years. It renews while the investment is held, and its validity is now counted from the issue date rather than the application date (Law 5275/2026, February 2026).

Greece has no minimum stay requirement to keep the permit. Citizenship is different. Naturalisation (becoming a citizen by application) in Greece generally needs seven years of genuine, permanent residence plus language and integration requirements (Greek Nationality Code; reconfirm with counsel). Years of owning a property without living in Greece do not count towards that. The government’s processing target is four to six months, faster than the nine to twelve months many families experienced (Greek government target, reported by Global Citizen Solutions, 2026).

Malta: permanent residence on approval

Malta’s Permanent Residence Programme grants permanent residence, not a temporary permit. The other three open programmes, Portugal, Italy and Greece, issue temporary permits that have to be renewed. Malta issues permanent residence once an application is approved and the qualifying conditions are met (Residency Malta Agency; Legal Notice 146 of 2025). There is no minimum stay requirement.

The current terms apply to applications from January 2025 (Legal Notice 146 of 2025). The applicant needs a qualifying property, either purchased for at least €375,000 or leased for at least €14,000 a year. Three payments come on top of the property: a €60,000 administration fee, a €37,000 government contribution, and a €2,000 donation to a registered Maltese non-governmental organisation (NGO). Applicants also have to show assets of €500,000, of which €150,000 liquid, or €650,000 with €75,000 liquid. Liquid means cash or assets you can sell quickly.

Expect three to seven months of due diligence (background checks) before approval in principle, i.e. provisional approval (Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates, 2026). The fee, contribution and donation are not returned. The property, on the other hand, can be sold once the five-year holding period ends.

The April 2025 ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) concerned Malta’s citizenship-by-investment scheme, which has since closed to new applicants. The residence programme was not part of that case and is still operating (CJEU, Case C-181/23, April 2025). For citizenship, Malta now offers no dedicated investor track. Naturalisation (becoming a citizen by application) runs on ordinary discretionary rules and expects genuine residence, so treat the programme as a residence solution rather than a citizenship plan.

EU residency by investment: the four programmes side by side

The table below puts the entry terms of the four open programmes side by side. In the table, CMVM is the Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários, Portugal’s securities regulator, and CPLP is the Community of Portuguese Language Countries. None is cheaper in any simple sense. A €500,000 fund subscription, a €250,000 startup stake, an €800,000 Athens flat and a €14,000-a-year Maltese lease differ in how much of the money comes back to you, and when. Weigh what you can recover against what you cannot, and weigh both against what your family intends to do with the residence.

We do not rank these programmes, and we would be wary of any page that does. The right route depends on where you want to spend time, which passports your family holds, whether you prefer property or funds, and a tax position only your own advisers can assess. Elite Golden Visa coordinates Portugal and Italy, so those are the two programmes our team knows from daily work. That is a preference, and we state it openly.

Second residency in Europe without the investment

Second residency in Europe does not always need capital, and two non-investment routes deserve a mention. Portugal’s D7 visa suits people with stable passive income, such as a pension, dividends or rent, at broadly the level of the Portuguese minimum wage (Portuguese immigration law; confirm current thresholds with counsel). It expects genuine residence in Portugal rather than a week a year. Italy’s Elective Residence Visa works on a similar logic: passive income, no working in Italy, and a real move. Both cost far less than any investment route. They also ask far more of your time, because you are expected to live there.

The investment programmes cost more and ask for very little presence: minimal time in the country, family inclusion, and time to decide how much of your life moves to Europe. The income routes ask for a real move. If you already know you want to live in Lisbon or Turin full time, an investment permit may be solving a problem you do not have, and the simpler routes are worth discussing first.

Residency rules change. Every claim here is tied to a law, a ministry or a dated report, and was accurate on the day it was written. The closures of the past four years are a reason to check again before you commit. If Portugal or Italy is on your shortlist, get in touch and we’ll talk it through, with no obligation on either side. Here is how we’re paid. Elite Golden Visa receives placement or introductory fees from some funds, and a separate client service fee.

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Elite Golden Visa provides immigration consultancy services. We do not provide financial or legal advice. All legal services are delivered by independent, qualified immigration lawyers. All investment decisions should be made with independent financial advice.

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice or an offer to invest. Any investment carries risk, including the potential loss of capital. Past performance is not indicative of future results.