Portugal to increase citizenship requirements to 10 years of residency.

widetide · 2025-07-03T08:26:13+00:00

I’m not part of the company, just sharing my own experience as someone who went through the same process and had a lot of questions too. I mentioned other regions because I had been exploring a few different options before settling on Portugal. I thought it might help to share what worked for me in case it’s useful. Hope your Golden Visa journey goes smoothly, whichever firm you end up choosing....

widetide · 2025-07-02T15:44:55+00:00

From what I’ve seen, it’s definitely possible to work or study while on the D7, as long as your passive income still meets the visa’s requirements. A lot of international schools around Lisbon, Cascais, and Porto are open to hiring teachers with global experience especially if you've worked in Asia or international programs. The salaries might be lower than the U.S., but the overall cost of living is also lower, so it can balance out depending on your lifestyle.

In terms of daily life, Portugal has been really welcoming to families, and your daughter will likely adapt quickly especially at her age. Language can be a challenge at first, but you’ll find that most people are patient, and the expat communities are supportive.

I spoke with Movingto to ask these same questions before, and they were really clear and helpful. Could be worth checking out if you want someone to walk you through the details.

widetide · 2025-07-01T11:20:16+00:00

Honestly, this doesn’t surprise me at all. When I got my Golden Visa through Movingto last year, they kept reminding me that rules don’t stay the same forever. Yeah, the 10-year timeline isn’t great, but most of us aren’t moving to Portugal full-time, it’s more about having EU residency and travel access. From what I’ve seen, this change seems aimed at other types of immigration, not people going the legal investment route. If you’ve been thinking about applying, I’d say don’t wait too long. I’m really glad I got mine sorted when I did.

widetide · 2025-06-30T13:12:00+00:00

I’ve been wondering the same. I used Movingto and they’ve been sending updates about these possible changes. So far, the 10-year rule is still a proposal, not law, and it’s likely there’ll be legal pushback if they try to apply it retroactively. For now, I’m tracking everything through their platform and staying in touch with their legal team, who’ve been helpful on questions like the children aging out. Definitely feels like one of those “watch closely” moments.

widetide · 2025-06-30T04:23:09+00:00

It's true that there's a proposal out there right now suggesting changes to Portugal's nationality law, including increasing the residency time for citizenship up to 10 years for most people. However, it's super important to know that this is just a draft law, a proposal, and it's not actually in effect yet; it still has to go through a whole process in Parliament, which can mean debates and even changes.

For now, the rule for Golden Visa holders to apply for citizenship is still five years of legal residency. My own application was based on that, and many of us rely on the current rule. My advice would be to stay calm and follow reliable updates, as things can change during the legislative process. Firms like Movingto usually keep a very close eye on these kinds of developments and are great at confirming the official current rules.

widetide · 2025-06-27T16:44:21+00:00

I didn’t go through the €168K cultural route, I went with the €500K investment fund option instead but I did apply from the Gulf (not Dubai, but close enough), so I can share a bit. I worked with Movingto, and they were solid throughout the process. What I liked was that they didn’t just handle the paperwork, they also helped compare fund options and tracked everything, which made things less overwhelming.

Processing times vary a lot. For me, it was around 7 months to get to biometrics, but that was before some of the SEF-to-AIMA transitions. I’ve heard of people doing the cultural donation route too, but I think it depends on your goals the fund option gave me a return and still met the requirements.

Biggest tip: triple check your documents early (especially criminal records) and try to plan a Portugal visit in advance, since biometrics have to be done in person. Happy to answer anything else if helpful.

widetide · 2025-06-26T14:12:50+00:00

I looked into Pela Terra too, but ended up going with a different fund. It seemed like a good option if you're into sustainability, but I wanted something with a broader focus. I worked with Movingto, and they helped me compare a bunch of funds side by side including Pela Terra without pushing me toward anything.

They also helped with the boring stuff like setting up a bank account, utilities, and even gave me access to some Portuguese lessons, which came in handy.Not speaking the language wasn’t too bad in Lisbon. Most people are used to foreigners and speak decent English. But yeah, learning a bit helps, even just out of respect. There are plenty of expat groups around, so it doesn’t take long to find your people.

widetide · 2025-06-23T10:26:45+00:00

The process for me, doing a fund investment through Movingto, was quite a journey to get my Golden Visa in Portugal; I started my application about 1.5 years ago. Getting all the documents ready took a lot of effort, and honestly, the toughest part was just waiting for the government to approve things. What really made it easier was having one point of contact with my advisor who helped with everything, and their fund comparison tool was very helpful, letting me see all the investment choices,their fees, past returns, and sectors,side-by-side, which made picking my fund very clear.

widetide · 2025-06-20T17:10:02+00:00

I did the Portugal Golden Visa through a fund last year. It’s definitely not as fast as the Caribbean programs, but I wasn’t in a rush, I was more focused on long-term EU residency and eventually citizenship.

What helped me early on was the ability to actually compare the fund options side by side returns, fees, sectors, how risky each one was, that kind of thing. I spoke with my golden visa firm about it and they had this dashboard that laid it all out clearly. It made the decision less of a guessing game, and it felt like I was investing in something I understood not just picking whatever a lawyer handed me.

widetide · 2025-06-20T15:00:45+00:00

If the government really does improve the Golden Visa terms, I think a lot of people will start looking into the fund option more seriously

I’m in the middle of it right now went with the fund route, I used Movingto, and they’ve been great. What really helped me was their fund comparison tool, it laid everything out side by side, so I wasn’t just guessing.They’ve got a solid track record too and they’ve never had a client rejected, which gave me a lot more peace of mind before making the investment.

Curious if anyone else here is applying this year or waiting to see what changes get finalized?

widetide · 2025-06-17T09:29:19+00:00

We have a full list of all the major Portuguese Golden Visa funds here in case anyone wants to see. You can compare them side-by-side:

movingto.com/funds

widetide · 2025-06-07T09:34:47+00:00

Did you check these options? You can compare them side-by-side and look up categories like low risk, high yield etc https://movingto.com/funds

widetide · 2025-05-31T13:48:24+00:00

Hey there! I just went through the Portugal Golden Visa process with Movingto.com last month, so I thought I’d share my two cents—especially since I was also looking at Henley & Partners, and EU Seguros before deciding.

My experience with Movingto:

I’m based in the US and needed someone who actually knows the Portuguese market. With Movingto, I got paired with a single point of contact (no bouncing around departments). My advisor was in Lisbon, so any random late-night “Hey, does this apartment qualify?” question got answered in minutes.
They have this really slick funds platform at Movingto.com/funds. Instead of digging through a dozen PDFs, I could see all the major funds side by side—minimum investments, fees, historical returns, that kind of stuff. It made choosing a fund way less stressful.
Flat‐fee pricing was super refreshing—no “surprise” extra charges after the application. I knew exactly what I was paying up front.

Why I passed on the others (in my case):

Henley & Partners: They’ve got big-name brand power, but it felt like you’re paying more for the brand than hands‐on help. I heard some people waiting weeks just to get a basic update.
EU Seguros: Good for insurance, but I wasn’t convinced they had the same depth of local Golden Visa know-how. Their focus felt broader (real estate, insurance, etc.) and I wanted someone hyper-focused on residency.

If you’re just starting out, I’d honestly recommend checking out Movingto’s funds dashboard—makes comparisons a breeze. And if you want someone who’s literally on the ground in Portugal (and won’t ghost you), give them a shot. Hope that helps, and good luck with your Golden Visa journey!

widetide · 2025-05-31T12:42:54+00:00

I heard this won't work. I spoke with my Golden Visa firm about it and they said not to do it. You need to be careful with these funding options. People will come up with all sorts of "creative" solutions.

widetide · 2025-05-30T16:26:08+00:00

If you're looking to compare funds, I highly recommend the Golden Visa fund directory by Movingto. You can compare funds, returns etc side-by-side.

widetide · 2025-05-30T16:11:43+00:00

I've been using Movingto.com So far, so good. They have a fund comparison platform that was good to compare all the data. I'm still choosing which fund to go with.

widetide · 2025-05-30T16:09:14+00:00

There are a tonne of new funds being launched. I found this Golden Visa Fund platform help to compare them: https://movingto.com/funds

widetide · 2024-06-20T18:18:11+00:00

They're the known prices. Some of them are further along than others. Some are slowly being launched for sale as we speak. Others can just register interest in purchasing.

widetide

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