Key Takeaways
- Portugal’s Golden Visa now relies on a minimum €500,000 investment into qualifying funds, so asset quality, sector, and location play a central role in risk management and capital preservation.
- Asset-backed funds that own and improve hospitality businesses in Portugal can offer greater transparency and downside protection than funds focused mainly on financial instruments or early-stage companies.
- Portugal remains one of the few European options where investors can pursue eventual citizenship without relocating, although a 10-year residence period now applies to most applicants.
- A structured plan with legal support is essential, from investment selection and application submission to renewals and an eventual citizenship application under the updated rules.
- VIDA Capital advises families on Portugal Golden Visa strategies built around asset-backed hospitality investments through the VIDA Fund, giving hotels a second life while supporting residency goals. Contact VIDA Capital to discuss your Portugal Golden Visa plan.
The Stakes: Building a Stable Foundation for Your Portugal Golden Visa
For many families, a Portugal Golden Visa is a way to secure long-term residency rights in Portugal, diversify geography, and create a structured “Plan B” without disrupting current careers or education. The program now excludes investments in personal properties, which places more weight on the selection of qualifying funds.
Portugal ranked among the safest countries in the world in 2025, and the Golden Visa only requires an average of 14 days in Portugal in each two-year period. This light stay requirement contrasts with countries such as Greece, where at least seven years of residence and tax residency are needed for citizenship, and Spain, which no longer offers a Golden Visa program. Portugal is currently one of the only European options where investors can work toward citizenship without relocating, subject to the new 10-year residence rule.
Regulation changes in October 2023 and the citizenship framework approved in October 2025 increased the importance of robust, long-term investments. Most Golden Visa investors now need 10 years of legal residence before applying for citizenship, while citizens of Portuguese-language countries and EU nationals face a seven-year requirement. The new law should apply to all Golden Visa applicants except those who have already submitted their citizenship application before its publication.
The Golden Visa grants residency rights only in Portugal. During the residency period, you and your family can live, study, and work in Portugal, and travel visa-free within the Schengen Area for up to 90 days in any 180-day period.
How To Compare Golden Visa Fund Structures for Risk and Security
Not all Golden Visa-eligible funds provide the same level of security, transparency, or alignment with a long holding period. A clear framework helps you compare options and focus on capital protection.
Key points to evaluate include:
- Asset tangibility: whether the fund owns physical assets, such as operating hospitality properties, or mainly holds financial instruments and minority stakes.
- Sector focus: whether the strategy targets a resilient sector with clear demand drivers, such as tourism-related hospitality.
- Geographic focus: whether underlying assets sit in markets and cities with stable tourism flows and solid economic fundamentals within Portugal.
- Operational control: whether the fund can directly improve and manage assets, or mainly depends on third parties and market conditions.
- Risk profile: how the fund seeks to balance upside potential with capital preservation over at least the five-year residency period and an expected 10-year citizenship timeline.
Portugal also requires qualifying funds to keep at least 60 percent of their portfolio invested in Portuguese companies, with a minimum maturity of five years. These rules favor strategies built around long-term, asset-backed commitments to the local economy.
Venture capital and some private equity funds can offer higher growth potential but may concentrate risk in startups or highly cyclical sectors. Asset-backed hospitality funds, by contrast, typically anchor the investment in identifiable properties and operating businesses, which can provide clearer downside protection.
Asset-Backed Hospitality Funds in Portugal and the VIDA Fund Approach
Tourism has been a major contributor to Portugal’s economy, with visitor numbers and revenues reaching record levels in 2024. Projections for events such as the 2030 FIFA World Cup and forecasts that tourism could represent more than 22 percent of national GDP by 2035 support a long-term case for well-located hospitality assets.
The VIDA Fund focuses on buying existing hotels and hospitality properties in Portugal and giving them a second life. The strategy centers on:
- Acquiring undervalued assets, often older or under-managed hotels in strong or improving locations.
- Light refurbishment and design upgrades that refresh the guest experience without the time and risk of ground-up construction.
- Operational improvements, including revenue management, staffing, and positioning that align each property with demand patterns in its specific micro-location.
This approach aims to create value by improving both the underlying asset and its cash-flow potential, rather than relying only on broad market appreciation. Any reference to the VIDA Fund’s past performance or returns does not guarantee future results.
Capital Preservation and Tangible Security
Hotel properties offer intrinsic value through land, buildings, and fixtures. Even when market conditions soften, these physical components and the ongoing potential to generate income can help support capital values more effectively than many purely financial instruments. For Golden Visa investors who must maintain their investment through the residency period, tangible hospitality assets can be a more comfortable fit than highly speculative strategies.
Transparency and Control
VIDA Capital, as an advisory firm, provides investors with detailed information about each property acquired by the VIDA Fund, including its location, planned improvements, and operational strategy. The fund follows an owner-operator model, where specialist hospitality teams manage day-to-day performance and asset transformation rather than leaving execution entirely to third parties.
This structure gives investors a clearer view of how their capital is being used to upgrade specific hotels and hospitality businesses, and how those changes aim to support capital preservation over the Portugal Golden Visa timeline.
Navigating the Portugal Golden Visa Process with Legal and Investment Support
A well-chosen, asset-backed fund forms only one part of a successful Portugal Golden Visa strategy. A structured process and specialized legal support are essential from the beginning.
Typical steps include:
- Selecting a compliant fund and completing the €500,000 subscription.
- Preparing documentation for all family members, including marriage certificates or proof of relationship for a partner, and confirming that dependent children are full-time students, not working, and unmarried throughout the program.
- Submit the online application through a Portuguese lawyer who follows the evolving regulations and coordinates with the authorities.
- Attending biometric appointments in Portugal once the application is pre-approved.
- Receiving the initial temporary residence permits, valid for two years, then renewing them for two further two-year periods while maintaining the investment and minimum stay requirements.
The Golden Visa process usually spans 12 to 18 months from investment to the first residence card. As the approval card issuance usually takes a year, you will most likely only need to do a single renewal instead of two in the five-year period before you can apply for permanent residency. Throughout this time, you must keep your qualifying investment in place and spend at least 14 days in Portugal during each two-year period.
After five years of temporary residency and renewals, investors can apply for permanent residency. Under the new rules from October 2025, most applicants will only be able to apply for citizenship once they have completed 10 years of legal residence. Once citizenship is granted and a Portuguese passport is issued, you and your family gain the right to live, work, study, and access public healthcare and education across the European Union and Schengen Area.
Family members who can be included in a single Golden Visa application typically include a spouse or partner, dependent children who meet the criteria above, and financially dependent parents. A lawyer plays an essential role in confirming eligibility for each family member and structuring documentation correctly.
Frequently Asked Questions About Asset-Backed Hospitality Funds and the Golden Visa
How asset-backed funds differ from other Golden Visa-eligible funds
Asset-backed funds hold tangible properties such as hotels that can be inspected, valued, and operated. These funds aim to preserve capital by combining the physical value of the asset with active management. Many venture capital or growth equity funds, by contrast, invest in startups or fast-growing companies where outcomes can be more volatile and less tied to underlying assets.
The VIDA Fund focuses on acquiring and transforming hospitality properties in Portugal, which gives investors exposure to both the upgraded asset and its operating performance rather than to purely financial instruments.
Why location inside Portugal matters for hospitality investments
Location affects occupancy, average daily rates, and resale potential. Cities and regions with strong tourism demand, international connectivity, and supportive local infrastructure tend to offer more stable revenue and more resilient property values. Portugal’s safety record and tourism performance, together with events like the 2030 FIFA World Cup, support demand in carefully chosen areas.
A fund that concentrates on strategic Portuguese locations can better align Golden Visa investors with the program requirement to invest in Portuguese companies while also focusing on markets with long-term tourism appeal.
Conclusion: Focus on Tangible, Well-Located Assets for Your Golden Visa
The shift to fund-based Portugal Golden Visa routes places asset quality, sector strength, and location at the center of any long-term plan. Asset-backed hospitality funds that buy and transform existing hotels in Portugal can provide clearer downside protection and transparency than more speculative alternatives, while still aligning with the country’s tourism growth.
For families planning over a 10-year citizenship horizon, a carefully selected fund, a realistic understanding of timelines, and strong legal guidance form the core of a resilient Plan B. VIDA Capital supports this process by advising on Golden Visa strategies built around the VIDA Fund’s approach of giving hospitality assets a second life.
