Hotels are becoming more popular for golden visa investments in Portugal, because these are refundable passive investments. What’s important here, many GV investors prefer this route as they dont want to waste any money during Covid, plus qualify for EU passport after 5 years.
Today we will show you the actual costs for golden visa investments. The bottom line is, you can get Portugal GV for less than 50,000 euros if you invest in four or five star hotel properties around Porto and major cities in Portugal. It can be the cheapest investment to secure a golden visa leading to EU citizenship after some years.
We will show you one example explaining true costs for investing in hotels for acquiring PGV. We will not go into residential properties here. If you are struggling to understand the actual golden visa costs, take a look below.
Please remember hotels are commercial investments, which are exempted from new rule change which apply from 2022. Please see full list of hotels available for investment in Portugal.
Before you invest, the first step to apply for golden visa is apply for tax number and open a bank account in Portugal.
1. Single Applicant
Here the full breakdown of fees for Portugal GV. In this example all the taxes except stamp duty is paid by developer.
1. First application(two year-card)
Investment: €280,000 euro (Share in a Portugal hotel fully refunded by developer after 6 years)
Property tax:(IMT):13,650€ (paid by developer 6.5% of property)
Stamp duty:1,680€
IMI: Free during construction
VAT:16,100€ (paid by developer)
Immigration SEF costs: 533*1+5325*1= 5, 858€ (residence permits)
Legal fee: 6000 €
Accountancy / Tax representation fee: 500€
Notary, Land registry fee, municipality fee etc.: 1000€ (approx)
Total: 295,000 € (first year)
2. Second application(two year-card)
Renewal Legal fees:1500€
Accountancy / Tax representation: 500€
Immigration SEF costs:533*1+2663*1= 3,196€
3.Third application(two year-card)
Renewal Legal fees:1500€
Accountancy / Tax representation: 500€
Immigration SEF costs:533*1+2663*1 = 3,196€
Grand Total: 323,000€ (3 applications for 6 years)
Investment buyback: 280,000 € (sixth year guaranteed by developer)
Actual costs: 43,000€
Since you get the full investment back, the net costs for golden visa in only 43,000 euros single application.
Note1: For some hotel projects there are returns 3%-5% paid by developer but IMT payable by client
Note 2: For some hotel projects, IMT and VAT are paid by developer but no returns paid.
2. Family of 4
Here the full breakdown of fees for Portugal GV.
1. First application(two year-card)
Investment: €280,000 euro (Share in a Portugal hotel fully refunded by developer after 6 years)
Property tax:(IMT):13,650€ (paid by developer 6.5% of property)
Stamp duty:1,680€
IMI: Free during construction
VAT:16,100€ (paid by developer)
Immigration SEF costs: 533*4+5325*4=23,432€ (residence permits)
Legal fee: 6000 €
Accountancy / Tax representation fee: 500€
Notary, Land registry etc.: 1000€ (approx)
Total: 312,612 €
2. Second application(two year-card)
Renewal Legal fees:1500€
Accountancy / Tax representation: 500€
Immigration SEF costs:533*4+2663*4= 12,784€
3.Third application(two year-card)
Renewal Legal fees:1500€
Accountancy / Tax representation: 500€
Immigration SEF costs:533*4+2663*4=12,784€
Grand Total: 342,180€ (3 applications for 6 years)
Investment buyback: 280,000 € (sixth year guaranteed by developer)
Actual costs: 62,180€
Since you get the investment back, the net costs for golden visa in only €62,180 euros for a family of four.
Note1: For some projects there are returns 3%-5% paid by developer but IMT payable by client
Note 2: For some hotel projects, IMT and VAT are paid by developer but no returns paid.
Please note Best citizenships does not charge any fee to clients. Our services, as online platform are free of charge. We explain the true costs with full disclosure and transparency.
SEF Family fees
SEF immigration office requires the following fees paid to the government. Note the increase in fees goes up with more family members
First year fee (application + residence cards)
| Family members | SEF Application fee (€) | Residence permit fee (first year €) | Total € |
| 1 | 533 | 5325 | 5858 |
| 2 | 533 | 5325 | 11716 |
| 3 | 533 | 5325 | 17574 |
| 4 | 533 | 5325 | 23432 |
| 5 | 533 | 5325 | 29290 |
| 6 | 533 | 5325 | 35148 |
| 7 | 533 | 5325 | 41006 |
SEF Renewal fees
This applies from second year onwards every time you renew your residence permit.
| Family members | SEF Application fee (€) | Residence permit fee (first year) | Total (€) |
| 1 | 533 | 2663 | 3196 |
| 2 | 533 | 2663 | 6392 |
| 3 | 533 | 2663 | 9588 |
| 4 | 533 | 2663 | 12784 |
| 5 | 533 | 2663 | 15980 |
| 6 | 533 | 2663 | 19176 |
| 7 | 533 | 2663 | 22372 |
Citizenship application
Portugal is the only country that will offer EU citizenship after 5 years without compulsory living. All other countries will require you immigrate and permanently live for citizenship.
After 6 years, you may apply for Portuguese nationality and the charges are additional charged by law firms for filing citizenship application. You must pass A2 language test, have no criminal record and have spent 14 days in Portugal (7 days in the first year).
Processing times
Due to last minute rush before the new rules apply from Jan 1, 2022, the processing times average around 10 months.
Important: Please study and evaluate the investment risks before you invest in hotels during covid. This above is general information only and does not constitute investment advice. Best Citizenships is an online platform, we cannot provide any investment or investment advice to clients. Please seek required advice from qualified persons.
