Where to apply,from yourconstraints
Answer the five questions. Each answer fades the routes that fail it, and whatever stays lit is the shortlist. Every row links to a profile that says who the programme suits and what it asks of you.
Rules as at , taken from the sources at the foot of the page.
The decision matrix
17 routes fit the answers given so far.
A faded row fails at least one of your answers; a row at full strength passes all of them. Nothing is removed, so you can still read why a route drops out. Budget is the sum you commit at the outset, including Malta's non-refundable contributions; the family question dims nothing, because every open programme admits a spouse and dependent children, but it brings the family column forward. Cyprus has no profile here, so its row goes to the Cypriot authority.
Five open programmes, one distinguishing fact each
Portugal
No property route at all. €500,000 in a qualifying fund, or €250,000 to cultural heritage, buys a permit that asks for 7 days of presence in the first year and 14 in each later period, and the years count towards naturalisation after 10.[1][2]
Read the Portugal profileGreece
Property only: €250,000 for a conversion or a listed restoration, €400,000 in most of the country, €800,000 in Attica, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and the larger islands. No minimum stay, and no passport through the permit itself.[3]
Read the Greece profileItaly
The widest spread of amounts, from €250,000 in an innovative start-up to €2 million in government bonds, with no stated minimum stay and permanent residence after 5 years.[4]
Read the Italy profileMalta
Permanent residence from the first approval, for €99,000 in non-refundable contributions plus a home bought for at least €375,000 or rented for at least €14,000 a year.[5]
Read the Malta profileHungary
A 10-year permit, renewable once, for €250,000 in an approved real-estate fund. No stay requirement and no citizenship route.[10]
Read the Hungary profile
Head to head
Three pairings, each on the same eight lines, with a verdict that names the trade-off rather than a winner.
- Portugal vs Greece
A fund with a light stay rule and a long road to a passport, against a property with no stay rule and no passport.
- Portugal vs Italy
Two non-property programmes at €500,000 that differ on presence, permit length and how the citizenship clock is counted.
- Greece vs Malta
Both take property and neither asks you to stay; one gives a renewable permit, the other permanent residence at once for a higher fixed cost.
How to choose explains why these five questions decide the matter, and what each answer rules in or out.
What closed or changed
Programmes that no longer exist, or that changed shape, still fill search results and adviser brochures. This list saves the time.
Spain closed its investor visa. Ley Orgánica 1/2025 left articles 63 to 67 of Ley 14/2013 without content, with effect three months after publication, so no new applications are accepted. Existing holders keep their permits and their renewal rights.[8][9]
Hungary removed the €500,000 direct property route from the Guest Investor Programme. The fund and donation routes remain.[10]
Malta's revised Permanent Residence Programme rules took effect: a €375,000 purchase or €14,000 annual rent, a €37,000 contribution, a €60,000 administration fee and a €2,000 donation.[5]
Greece raised its property thresholds to the current €800,000, €400,000 and €250,000 tiers and set the 120 m2 minimum size.[3]
Portugal removed property purchase and the €1.5 million capital transfer from the ARI. The remaining routes may not be directed at real estate, directly or indirectly.[2]
Latvia is in flux. Parliament passed amendments on 11 June 2026 that would remove the property route from 1 January 2027; the President returned the law on 19 June 2026 and it is not in force. Check PMLP before relying on any Latvian route.[7]
Sources for this page
Bracketed numbers in the text point here. Authorities and gazettes come first; anything else is marked.
- AIMA, residence permit for investment (article 90-A), AIMA. Checked 2026-09-03.
- Lei 56/2023, Mais Habitação, which removed the property routes, Diário da República. Checked 2026-09-03.
- Hellenic Ministry of Migration and Asylum, permits for investors, Hellenic Ministry of Migration and Asylum. Checked 2026-09-03.
- Investor Visa for Italy, programme site, Ministero delle Imprese e del Made in Italy. Checked 2026-09-03.
- Residency Malta Agency, Malta Permanent Residence Programme, Residency Malta Agency. Checked 2026-09-03.
- Civil Registry and Migration Department of Cyprus, Regulation 6(2) permits, Civil Registry and Migration Department, Cyprus. Checked 2026-09-03.
- PMLP Latvia, residence permits for investors, Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs, Latvia. Checked 2026-09-03.
- Ley Orgánica 1/2025, final provision 21, repealing the investor visa, Boletín Oficial del Estado, BOE-A-2025-76. Checked 2026-09-03.
- Ley 14/2013 consolidated, with articles 63 to 67 left without content, Boletín Oficial del Estado. Checked 2026-09-03.
- International Bar Association note on the Guest Investor Programme, International Bar Association (secondary source). Checked 2026-09-03.