How to choose betweenEurope's golden visas

Five constraints decide the choice between Europe's open residency-by-investment programmes: how much you will commit, how many days a year you will spend in the country, whether family come with you, what kind of asset you are willing to hold, and whether you want a residence card, permanent residence or a passport at the end. Every other question (climate, tax, schools, language) matters for living somewhere, but none of them changes which programmes will accept you. The matrix on the homepage puts these five as radio buttons because each one, on its own, removes routes from the table.

1. Budget: the sum you commit at the outset

The cheapest open routes start at €250,000 and the dearest at €2 million, and the bands in the matrix (up to €300,000, to €500,000, to €1 million, above) fall where the programmes cluster. Under €300,000 the field is Portugal's cultural-heritage support, Greece's conversion and listed-building tier, Italy's innovative start-up, Hungary's real-estate fund, Malta's rental option and Cyprus.[1][3][4][5][6] Between €300,000 and €500,000 the mainstream routes appear: Portugal's fund and company routes, Greece's €400,000 tier, Italy's company equity and Malta's purchase option. Above €500,000 you add Greece's €800,000 zones and the two €1 million donations, and above €1 million only Italy's government bonds at €2 million.

Count what leaves your account, not just the headline. Malta's headline is a €375,000 property or €14,000 rent, but the programme also takes a €37,000 contribution, a €60,000 administration fee and a €2,000 donation, none of which comes back.[5] Portugal's culture and research routes are transfers, not investments, so the whole sum is spent.[1] A property or a fund can in principle be sold once the holding period ends; a donation cannot.

2. Physical presence: the days you will actually spend there

Greece, Malta and Hungary set no minimum stay, Italy states none, Portugal asks for 7 days in the first year and 14 days in each later period, and Cyprus asks for one visit every two years.[1][3][4][5][6] If you will not visit at all, Portugal and Cyprus drop out. If you can manage a fortnight every two years, everything stays in. If you intend to live in the country, presence stops being a constraint and becomes the reason citizenship becomes possible, which is why question 5 depends on this one.

3. Family: who comes with you

Every open programme admits a spouse and dependent children, so this question dims no rows; it changes which column you read. The differences are at the edges: Greece admits children under 21 and the parents of both spouses; Italy admits dependent adult children and parents; Malta admits dependent parents and grandparents; Portugal admits a partner of at least two years, dependent children and dependent parents; Hungary admits a spouse and dependent children only.[1][3][4][5][6] If a parent or an adult child is part of the plan, that column is the deciding one.

4. What you hold: property, fund, company or donation

The asset defines the programme more than the country does. Greece takes property and nothing else. Portugal takes anything except property: a fund, research or cultural capital, a company, or jobs.[1][3] Italy takes bonds, company equity or a donation; Hungary takes fund units or a donation; Malta takes a bought or rented home plus contributions.[4][5][6] Someone who wants a house they can use has two real choices, Greece and Malta; someone who refuses to hold property has Portugal, Italy and Hungary. A donation is the simplest asset to hold and the most expensive way to hold it, because nothing is returned.

5. What you want at the end: a card, permanent residence or a passport

If a residence card is enough, every open programme qualifies. If you want permanent residence, Malta and Cyprus grant it at the first approval, Portugal and Italy after 5 years of legal residence, and Greece and Hungary state no permanent step for these permits.[1][3][4][5][6] If you want a passport, only Portugal and Italy state a naturalisation period that the permit itself leads towards: Portugal counts 10 years from the grant of the permit under the 2026 nationality law, and Italy asks for 10 years of residence.[2][4] Greece's 7 years require actual residence and Greek; Malta's naturalisation is discretionary; Hungary's programme is not a citizenship route.[3][5][6]

Why these five and not others

Each of the five is a rule inside a programme, written in a law or a legal notice, and each one on its own can exclude a programme. Tax, cost of living, schooling and language are about how you will live, not whether you will be admitted, and they vary by person more than by programme. Processing time would be a sixth constraint if it were published reliably; it is not, so this site does not estimate it. Fees would be a seventh; they are sourced where an authority or a consistent set of advisers publishes them, and they appear on the profile pages rather than in the matrix.

Answer the five honestly, in the matrix, and read the profiles of what remains. If nothing remains, one answer is too tight, and the faded rows show which.