The Golden Visa map has shifted hard over the past two years. Spain closed its program. Portugal kept the door open but stripped out real estate. Malta’s investor citizenship route was struck down by the European Union’s top court. Meanwhile, the UAE keeps adding eligibility categories, and Vietnam has been signaling a future program for high-value investors.

If you’re considering residency or citizenship by investment, the landscape today is genuinely different from what it was 18 to 24 months ago. This guide cuts through the marketing and lays out what each program is, what it costs, and what to expect on timelines, based on official guidance and reputable secondary reporting as of mid-2026.

One caveat up front: investment minimums, fees, and processing times shift frequently. Always verify current rules with the relevant government agency or a licensed immigration advisor before you act. Nothing here is legal or investment advice.

What a Golden Visa actually is

A Golden Visa is, in plain terms, residency by investment. You commit capital to a country’s economy, and in return you (and usually your immediate family) gain the right to live there.

Most programs offer some mix of:

• Residency rights for the investor and immediate family
• Travel access (EU programs unlock Schengen movement)
• Tax treatment that varies country by country
• A pathway, eventually, to permanent residency or naturalization

The qualifying investment varies by country: real estate, government bonds, business creation, fund investments, or, in some programs, recognized skills.

Programs that closed or tightened

Spain: closed to new investors

Spain’s investor visa launched in 2013 and, for a decade, was one of the most accessible EU residency routes: about €500,000 in real estate in exchange for residency for the family and Schengen mobility.

Organic Law 1/2025 was published in the Official State Gazette on January 3, 2025, and took effect three months later. As of April 3, 2025, Spain no longer issues new residence permits to non-EU foreigners who buy property of €500,000 or more.

The legislation includes transitional protection: applications submitted before April 3, 2025 are still processed under the prior rules, and existing visa holders can renew as long as they continue to meet the original requirements.

The government framed the closure as a response to housing affordability concerns. Whatever the politics, the practical result is the same: Spain is no longer an option through investment for new applicants.

Portugal: open, but restricted and slow

Portugal’s Golden Visa is technically still active, but the program looks very different from the one that built its reputation. Real estate investment was removed in October 2023 under the Mais Habitação reform.

What’s still on the table:

• Investment in qualifying venture capital or private equity funds
• Job creation in Portugal
• Research, scientific, and cultural project investment

The program retains some attractive features. Minimum stay is roughly 7 days per year on average across the residence cycle, and there is a path to citizenship after five years of legal residence.

The bigger story is the backlog. Portugal’s immigration agency AIMA had over 55,000 applications outstanding entering 2026, with some investors who applied in 2021 still waiting for biometric appointments. AIMA committed in late 2025 to resolving the backlog through 2026, prioritizing standard residence applications and processing Golden Visa cases last. Average processing time has run around 34 months, an order of magnitude over the 90-day statutory limit. Renewals moved to AIMA’s online portal in February 2026, which has helped on the renewal side.

If you’re considering Portugal, plan for years of waiting and choose your fund or project carefully. Those are the only investment routes left.

Malta: investor citizenship ended

Malta long held a unique position in the market: it was the one EU country offering citizenship through investment, not just residency. That changed on April 29, 2025, when the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Malta could not operate its citizenship-by-investment scheme.

The Court found that granting citizenship in exchange for a financial contribution did not establish a genuine link between the investor and the Member State, and that doing so undermined the foundational concept of EU citizenship as a shared status.

Malta has since formally ended its citizenship-by-investment program. It has been replaced with a merit-based naturalization route reserved for exceptional contributions to Malta, not financial contribution alone.

If your goal was an EU passport through investment, that direct path no longer exists. The next-fastest legal routes to EU citizenship now run through residency programs (Greece, Portugal, others) followed by naturalization, which generally requires five or more years of legal residence and additional eligibility tests.

Where the practical options are now

With Spain closed and Portugal slow, applicants have shifted toward a smaller set of programs. Three are worth knowing well today.

Greece: the most active EU residence-by-investment program

Greece’s Golden Visa now operates on a tiered real estate threshold, set by the 2024 reforms:

• €800,000 in Attica (Athens), Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini, and other islands with a population over roughly 3,100
• €400,000 in all other regions
• €250,000 for two special cases: properties converted from commercial to residential use, and properties of historical or cultural value where the investor fully restores the building

For the €400,000 and €800,000 tiers, the investment must be in a single property of at least 120 square meters. Multiple-unit purchases are only allowed in the €250,000 conversion or restoration category.

Other practical features:

• No minimum stay requirement to maintain residency
• Family included (spouse, dependent children, dependent parents)
• EU residence with Schengen access
• Path to long-term EU residence and eventually naturalization, subject to physical residence and other tests

For investors who had been weighing prior Spanish or Portuguese real estate plans, Greece is currently the most direct EU equivalent. Verify current minimums and the zoning of any specific property with the program operator and a Greek-licensed advisor before committing capital.

UAE: the fastest non-EU option

The UAE Golden Residence has expanded steadily since 2019. The program issues 5- and 10-year residencies that renew automatically and don’t require a sponsor.

Common pathways for investors and entrepreneurs (per the UAE government portal):

• Real estate: AED 2,000,000 or more in property value, supported by a DLD certificate or formal valuation. The previous upfront-payment requirement was removed in early 2026; mortgaged properties from approved UAE banks and approved off-plan properties qualify.
• Public investments and deposits: AED 2,000,000 or more.
• Entrepreneur: an innovative project valued at AED 500,000 or more, with the appropriate approvals.
• Tax-paid pathway: AED 250,000 or more in annual tax paid in the UAE.

Beyond pure investment, the program also covers specialized talents and professionals (scientists, doctors, engineers, top students), pioneers in humanitarian work, frontline healthcare workers, and a growing list of categories added in 2025 and 2026 including content creators, educators, qualifying nurses, Waqf donors, and e-sports professionals.

The UAE program does not unlock European travel rights. Its appeal is fast processing (typically weeks to a few months), no personal income tax, and the operating environment for entrepreneurs and remote-business owners.

Vietnam: proposed, not yet launched

Vietnam has been moving toward a long-term investor visa, but as of mid-2026 the 10-year investor track is still pending government approval. A separate talent visa for skilled professionals has been moving forward, and the government has signaled pilot deployment in major economic centers: Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, and Phu Quoc.

Public reporting suggests qualifying investment may land in the $250,000 to $400,000 range, with a path to permanent residency after several years. None of those numbers are final until implementing regulations are issued, so this is a watchlist item rather than an active option.

If Vietnam ships a coherent program, it could attract investors looking for a tech-friendly Southeast Asia base at a lower price point than UAE thresholds. Treat any concrete number you read as provisional until you see it in a published regulation.

Reality check: timelines and costs

The numbers below summarize publicly reported guidance and are subject to change. Treat the table as a starting point, not a quote.

What this means for your decision

A simple way to think about today’s options:

• EU residency, fastest: Greece, via the tiered real estate program. Processing has been the most predictable among active EU programs in recent years.
• EU residency, with funds rather than property: Portugal, with realistic expectations about wait times and the move away from real estate.
• Tax efficiency, no EU access: UAE, which has been adding categories rather than removing them and tends to process applications in weeks to a few months.
• EU citizenship through investment: no longer available. Existing routes go through residency and naturalization, not direct citizenship purchase.
• Watchlist: Vietnam, if and when the investor visa is finalized.

If you have a target country, talk to a licensed immigration advisor in that country before transferring funds. Programs change quickly: Spain’s closure was telegraphed for months but still caught late-stage applicants off guard, and the Malta ruling was unexpected by most observers until the day of the judgment.

The bigger picture

The Golden Visa map reflects two trends running in opposite directions. In Europe, governments and EU institutions are pulling back, citing housing affordability and concerns about citizenship’s link to the country granting it. In the Gulf and parts of Asia, governments are competing for capital and skilled migration with simpler, faster programs.

For most readers, the right starting question is not which program has the lowest fee. It is where you actually want to spend time, and what you need that residence to do for you. Numbers matter. Lifestyle, tax exposure, family situation, and physical-presence requirements matter more.

If you’d like help comparing programs against your specific goals, talk to our team. We track program changes across these jurisdictions and work with licensed local advisors in each market.