Redemptions jump in Portugal golden visa funds

Redemptions from Portuguese investment funds eligible for the country’s golden visa programme rose to €94.7 million between January and May, more than double the total for all of 2025 and nine times the level seen a year earlier.

According to data from the Portuguese investment funds association APFIPP, cited by Expresso, subscriptions into these funds reached €283 million by May, well above redemptions but slower than in the same period last year. The funds eligible for golden visa applications are non-real-estate vehicles that invest at least 60% in companies based in Portugal.

The main trigger for the increase in withdrawals has been Portugal’s new nationality law, whose changes took effect on May 19. Under the new rules, the minimum period of legal residence required to apply for naturalisation rose from five to seven years for citizens of Portuguese-speaking countries and the European Union, and to 10 years for others.

For investors who entered these funds through the golden visa route, the waiting period for nationality no longer starts from the date of application and instead begins only when the residence permit is actually issued, potentially delaying cases by several years.

This week 1,260 people filed a complaint with the ombudsman after being excluded because of delays at AIMA, Portugal’s migration agency, and at least 500 investors have been preparing possible legal action against the state.

Originally published at Eco.pt