On 6th November 2026, Portugal’s two governing parties filed an amendment to the 2027 State Budget that would tighten the Golden Visa’s fund route, create a new €250,000 social investment route, and halve the minimum research donation. None of it is law yet. Committee votes run from 18th to 23rd November, the final budget vote is on 24th November, and as drafted, applications already in the queue would carry on under today’s rules.
Rumours about changes to the Portugal Golden Visa have been circulating for months. Now there is finally something concrete to read: a formal amendment to the 2027 State Budget, filed on 6th November 2026 by PSD and CDS-PP, the two parties of Portugal’s governing coalition. Twenty-one deputies signed it, led by PSD’s Hugo Soares and CDS-PP’s Paulo Núncio.
Before anything else, the important bit: this is a proposal, not law. The governing parties hold 91 of parliament’s 230 seats, so they cannot pass anything on their own votes. But proposals from the parties in government tend to tell you where policy is heading, and this one deserves attention if Portugal is on your shortlist.
The fund route: same €500,000, much tighter rules
The investment fund route is how most Golden Visa applicants qualify today: €500,000 into a qualifying Portuguese fund that must invest at least 60% in companies headquartered in Portugal.
The amendment keeps the €500,000 threshold but changes what the fund must do with the money in two ways. First, the Portuguese-companies requirement rises from 60% to 80%. Second — and this is the bigger one — the investment would have to go in as new capital: subscribing newly issued shares, so the money actually lands on the companies’ balance sheets. Buying existing shares on the stock exchange would no longer appear to qualify.
The amendment’s explanatory note says the aim is for fund investment to genuinely capitalise Portuguese companies rather than simply change hands. If that wording survives, funds built around listed shares and bonds would struggle to fit, while closed-ended funds that put fresh capital into private companies sit closest to the model. Fund managers quoted in the trade press read it the same way, and most expect the practical detail to be refined before anything is final.
A new €250,000 social route
The second change is a brand-new route at half the fund threshold: €250,000 directed to building or restoring social care facilities — for children and young people, the elderly and people with disabilities — as well as facilities that support the integration of resident foreigners and refugees.
The money would be channelled through a defined list of public bodies, public-utility foundations and misericórdias, Portugal’s centuries-old charitable institutions. The drafting reads as a contribution channelled through public institutions rather than a recoverable investment, though exactly how it would work in practice is one of the details the final text will have to settle.
If it passes, it would be the lowest-cost route into Portuguese residency by some distance.
The research route halves
The third change is simple: the minimum for the scientific research route falls from €500,000 to €250,000. It has always been the least-used route, and halving it is a clear signal of where Portugal wants investor capital to go: research, social infrastructure and genuine company funding.
Will it pass? The parliamentary arithmetic
The two governing parties hold 91 seats; a majority needs 116 votes. The realistic path runs through the Socialist Party’s 58 seats: when the overall budget passed its first vote on 28th October, it did so because the PS abstained, and a repeat abstention at committee stage would let this amendment through on the governing parties’ votes alone.
The PS has filed proposals of its own, including a call for a formal study of the Golden Visa, so nothing is guaranteed. Industry voices broadly expect the amendment to be refined before final approval rather than thrown out. Either way, the calendar is short: committee votes on budget amendments run from 18th to 23rd November, and parliament’s final vote on the budget is on 24th November. We will know the answer in weeks, not months.
What it means if you’re weighing up an application
Nothing has changed today. The current rules — including the €500,000 fund route exactly as it stands — remain in force, and as drafted the amendment protects applications already in the pipeline, which would continue under the rules they were filed under. Grandfathering is only ever as good as the final text, but that is what the proposal says.
If the changes pass with the budget, they could in principle apply from 1st January 2027 — a short runway, and fund managers are already arguing for a transition period. What it certainly means is that which fund you choose matters more than ever: a fund already built around putting fresh capital into Portuguese companies looks far more future-proof than one holding listed securities. My guide to choosing a Golden Visa fund covers the questions to ask.
I will be covering this live at my Portugal Golden Visa webinar on Wednesday 18th November — the same day the committee votes begin — including what the amendment would mean for anyone mid-decision.
