The €280,000 Golden Visa no longer exists
It was real, it was the cheapest entry into the Portuguese Golden Visa, and it closed in October 2023 along with every other property route. Nothing has replaced it at that price: the qualifying threshold today is €500,000 into a regulated fund. This page explains what the €280,000 option actually was, why it went, and what the honest alternatives are at or near that budget.
What it was
€280,000 bought a rehabilitation-eligible property in a low-density interior area: the €350,000 refurbishment threshold with the 20% low-density discount applied on top.
When it closed
October 2023, when the Mais Habitação reform removed real estate from the Golden Visa entirely, direct purchase and property-exposed funds alike.
What replaced it
Nothing at that number. The surviving routes start at €500,000 in a CMVM-regulated fund, with cultural contribution routes at lower amounts but very different conditions.
How €280,000 was ever a Golden Visa number
The old programme priced property by type and by geography, and the €280,000 figure sat at the bottom of a ladder that most summaries flattened into a single number.
| Old threshold | What it required | Status now |
|---|---|---|
| €500,000 | Residential or commercial purchase, any location | Closed |
| €400,000 | The €500,000 route in a low-density area | Closed |
| €350,000 | Property over 30 years old, or in an urban regeneration area, with rehabilitation works | Closed |
| €280,000 | The €350,000 rehabilitation route in a low-density area, a further 20% reduction | Closed |
Low density meant fewer than 100 inhabitants per square kilometre or a GDP per capita below 75% of the national average, in practice the interior, away from the coastal strip where most buyers actually wanted to live. That trade-off is why the cheapest tier was never as popular as the headline suggested: the discount was real, and so was the distance from Lisbon.
◇ A footnote worth keeping straight: residential purchases in Lisbon, Porto and the coastal municipalities were already excluded from the programme from January 2022, before the whole property route closed in 2023. Pages still marketing "€280,000 Lisbon Golden Visa apartments" were wrong twice over.
What €280,000 buys in Portugal today
Property, without residency
It buys a good apartment in Porto, a house in the Silver Coast or the interior, or a small place in the Algarve away from the prime strip. What it does not buy, at any price, is a Golden Visa. If the property is the point, the market is worth reading on its own terms.
Residency, without €500,000
If residency is the point, the cheapest serious route in Portugal is not an investment at all: the D7 asks for €920 a month of passive income and a lease, and the D8 asks for €3,680 a month of remote earnings. Both lead to permanent residency at year five, the same as the Golden Visa.
Golden Visa, at the real number
€500,000 into a qualifying regulated fund, which is the route that survived the reform and the one most capital now uses.
Property-led residency elsewhere
Investors set on buying property as the qualifying act generally look at Greece, where the programme still allows it in tiers, or Spain, though the Spanish programme has been under political pressure of its own.
The projects that qualified at this threshold
These are the developments we placed clients into while the route was open. They are kept here because the detail is still useful, structure, buyback terms, operator, location, and because several are still available as property. None of them produces a Golden Visa today.
The €280,000 Golden Visa: frequently asked questions
Can I still get a Portugal Golden Visa for €280,000?
What is the minimum Golden Visa investment now?
Is any property route still open?
What was a low-density area?
Is there a cheaper way to move to Portugal?
I bought under the old rules. Am I affected?
Where this comes from
- Lei n.º 23/2007, Article 90-A, the residence permit for investment activity and its qualifying categories, as amended by the 2023 Mais Habitação reform. dre.pt (English)
- Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2026, the current naturalisation timetable, for anyone weighing what the residence permit eventually leads to. diariodarepublica.pt
- AIMA, applications, renewals and the treatment of permits granted under the earlier rules. aima.gov.pt
Last reviewed 19 August 2026. Programme terms are set by the relevant government and can change; confirm any figure before acting on it.
