Portugal or Greece:fund and future passport, or property and no stay

Portugal or Greece: the asset

Portugal's golden visa cannot be bought with property since 7 October 2023, so its cheapest route is €250,000 to cultural heritage and its mainstream route is €500,000 in a qualifying fund; Greece's golden visa can be bought with nothing but property, at €250,000 for a conversion or a listed restoration and €400,000 or €800,000 elsewhere.[1][2][4] A reader who wants a home has one of these two; a reader who refuses to hold property has the other.

Portugal or Greece: physical presence

Portugal's golden visa requires 7 days of presence in the first year and 14 days in each later period; Greece's requires none, but Greek citizenship needs 7 years of actual residence, so neither permit alone leads to a passport for someone who stays away.[1][4] The difference in the stay rule is a fortnight every two years; the difference in what that fortnight buys is the next line.

Portugal or Greece: the end state

Portugal grants permanent residence after 5 years of legal residence and counts 10 years from the permit grant towards naturalisation under Lei Orgânica 1/2026; Greece states no permanent-residence step for the investor permit and its 7-year naturalisation rule turns on physical residence and Greek, so the golden visa on its own does not reach it.[1][3][4] The Portuguese path is long, and longer than it was before May 2026, but it exists on paper; the Greek path exists only for someone who moves.

Portugal or Greece: family and permit length

Greece admits a spouse, children under 21 and the parents of both spouses on a 5-year permit; Portugal admits a spouse or partner of at least 2 years, dependent children and dependent parents on a 2-year permit renewed while the investment is held.[1][4] Greece's permit is longer and its parent clause wider; Portugal's family rule includes adult children still in education.

The trade-off

Choose Portugal if the asset must not be property and a European passport a decade away is part of the plan, and accept a short annual visit, a 2-year renewal cycle and a backlog the authority is still clearing. Choose Greece if the asset should be a home you can use, if you will not commit to any presence, and if a renewable residence permit is the end of the ambition. The programmes do not compete on price: they compete on what you hold and what you want at the end, and no reader should be choosing between them on the amount alone.