Portugal Golden Visa for Indian Nationals: The 2026 Guide

The Portugal golden visa for Indians is open in principle: the ARI rules exclude only Portuguese, EU, EEA, Andorran and Swiss nationals (checked September 2026). The main route is EUR 500,000 in Portuguese non-real-estate funds, about INR 5.46 crore. Two Indian rules shape the decision: the LRS limit, and the fact that naturalising ends Indian citizenship.

This guide is general information about Portugal’s residence permit for investment (ARI) and the Indian rules that interact with it. It is not legal, tax or immigration advice. It gives no Indian foreign exchange or tax advice and does not recommend any fund. Rules are stated as checked against official sources in September 2026 and can change. Obtain independent professional advice from your authorised dealer bank, an Indian tax adviser and Portuguese counsel before investing.

On this page

• Can Indian nationals get the Portugal golden visa?
• What Indian investors need to invest
• Funding from India: LRS, OPI and TCS
• Family: who comes with you
• Portuguese citizenship after 10 years
• Portugal vs other programmes popular with Indian investors
• Frequently asked questions
• The bottom line

Can Indian nationals get the Portugal golden visa?

Portugal’s ARI rules do not exclude Indian nationals (checked September 2026). The residence permit for investment, or ARI, sits in Law 23/2007, art. 90-A, and is administered by AIMA, Portugal’s migration agency. It is closed only to Portuguese, EU, EEA, Andorran and Swiss nationals. Indians need a Schengen visa to enter Portugal.

What the ARI gives you

The ARI is a residence permit, not citizenship. The stay requirement is light: at least 7 days in the first year and at least 14 days in each later period. Since 16 February 2026, renewals go exclusively through AIMA’s online Renewals Portal. For an Indian family that wants a European base without moving, that low presence rule is most of the point.

What Indian investors need to invest

The EUR 500,000 fund route and its three statutory tests

The route most investors use is EUR 500,000 in Portuguese collective investment undertakings. The law sets three tests for the fund:

1. Not real estate. It must not be aimed, directly or indirectly, at real estate.
2. Five years to maturity. It must have at least 5 years to run at the time you invest.
3. Portuguese companies. At least 60% of the portfolio must be in companies seated in Portugal.

A fund’s marketing is not the test. The statute is. Check each point against the fund’s own documents with Portuguese counsel.

The two other AIMA routes

AIMA also lists EUR 500,000 in research activities, and EUR 500,000 invested in a company together with the creation of 5 jobs. Both are the same size as the fund route.

Costs in rupees

Converted at ECB euro reference rates of 28 September 2026 (EUR 1 = INR 109.2095 = USD 1.1378), rounded to the nearest 100. EUR figures are the legal amounts; rupee and dollar amounts are illustrative and move with the exchange rate.

Not included and not estimated: AIMA application and card fees, fund subscription and management fees, legal costs, and advisory fees, which are quoted per engagement.

Worked example: an Indian family of four

Two resident Indian parents, children aged 10 and 15, fund route.

• Investment. EUR 500,000, about INR 5.46 crore or USD 568,900. One investment supports the family’s reunification applications, and ARI families do not face the new 2-year wait.
• LRS view. Two parents holding the units jointly can remit up to USD 500,000 between them in one financial year. At this rate that is about USD 68,900 short of the minimum, and para 7(d) says forex beyond USD 250,000 is not for earning immigration eligibility through overseas investment (quoted below). Whether the investment can be funded from India at all is a question for your authorised dealer bank and Indian counsel. We make no recommendation.
• TCS view. Each parent’s remittance above INR 10 lakh attracts TCS at 20%. On USD 250,000 (about INR 2,39,95,800), that is about INR 45,99,200 per parent. How it is credited is a question for your Indian tax adviser.
• Stay. 7 days in year one and 14 days in each later period.

The example shows how the rules meet. It is not a funding plan.

Funding from India: LRS, OPI and TCS

These are the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rules as written, for residents of India. They are stated, not interpreted.

Fund units are overseas portfolio investment inside the LRS

Under the RBI Master Direction on Overseas Investment, units of a “duly regulated” overseas fund count as overseas portfolio investment (OPI), and resident individuals make OPI within the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) limit. So a Portuguese fund subscription is not a separate channel: it uses your LRS headroom. Whether your bank accepts a specific Portuguese fund as “duly regulated” is the bank’s decision, fund by fund.

EUR 500,000 against USD 250,000 per person

The LRS allows a resident individual USD 250,000 per financial year (April to March), current and capital account combined, a limit unchanged since 26 May 2015.

The arithmetic is simple. EUR 500,000 was about USD 568,900 on 28 September 2026, more than two people’s combined limit in one financial year.

Two rules frame what happens next. Under paragraph 4, family members may pool remittances for capital account transactions only where they are co-holders of the investment. And paragraph 7(d), on emigration, says forex beyond USD 250,000 is “not for earning points or credits to become eligible for immigration by way of overseas investments in government bonds; land; commercial enterprise; etc.”

TCS at 20% above INR 10 lakh

For LRS remittances for investment purposes, Tax Collected at Source (TCS) is nil up to INR 10 lakh in a financial year and 20% on the amount above. From 1 April 2026 the provision is s.394(1), Table Sl. No. 7, of the Income-tax Act 2025, and the Finance Act 2026 left the 20% rate unchanged. Your Indian tax adviser can explain how TCS is credited.

Checks your bank will run

• No loans. Banks may not extend credit for LRS capital account remittances.
• PAN. Mandatory.
• Account history. The account should have been held for a year before capital account remittances; for a new customer, the bank must carry out due diligence.
• FATF. Portugal is not on the FATF grey list or call-for-action list (19 June 2026), so the LRS bar on capital account remittances to countries the FATF identifies as non-co-operative (paragraph 14) does not apply to it.

This section states the RBI rules. It is not a plan for moving money; take advice from your authorised dealer bank and an Indian tax adviser.

Family: who comes with you

Law 61/2025 (22 October 2025, in force the next day) introduced a 2-year wait before family reunification (art. 98(1)). Article 98(3)(c) exempts the family of ARI holders, so qualifying family members do not face that wait.

AIMA sets which family members qualify for reunification, so confirm the list for your household with Portuguese counsel before you invest. One point is unsettled: Law 61/2025 art. 101 adds integration duties for reunified family members, such as Portuguese language and constitutional values training, to be set out in a regulatory decree. The article contains no ARI exception, so they may apply to ARI families. Ask Portuguese counsel.

Portuguese citizenship after 10 years, and what it means for your Indian passport

10 years for Indians, counted from the first card

Organic Law 1/2026, published 18 May 2026 and in force from 19 May 2026, sets naturalisation at 10 years of legal residence. The 7-year track is only for nationals of EU states and Portuguese-speaking countries, so Indians fall under the 10-year rule. The clock runs from the first residence card, and separate periods can be added up within a 12-year window.

The other conditions include a Portuguese language and culture test or certificate, knowledge of rights and duties, a declaration of adherence to the democratic rule of law, no prison sentence of over 3 years for listed crimes, no security threat, no UN or EU restrictive measures, and means of subsistence. For the full timeline, see Portugal golden visa to citizenship.

The pending-application rule

Only nationality applications already pending on 19 May 2026 stay under the old 5-year rule. An ARI held since earlier does not bring the old rule with it.

Naturalising ends Indian citizenship; OCI is not dual citizenship

Section 9(1) of India’s Citizenship Act 1955 ends Indian citizenship on the date an Indian voluntarily acquires another citizenship. Holding or travelling on an Indian passport after that is an offence under the Passports Act 1967.

The ARI itself does not trigger this. A residence permit is not citizenship, so an Indian can hold a Portuguese ARI for years and keep the Indian passport. The question arises only at year 10, if you apply to naturalise.

Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) is sometimes described as dual citizenship. It is not: it gives no vote and no right to hold agricultural land or plantation property, and it is unavailable if you, or a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent, is or was a citizen of Pakistan or Bangladesh.

Portugal vs other programmes popular with Indian investors

• Hungary. EUR 250,000 in MNB-registered real estate fund units, or a EUR 1,000,000 donation. There has been no property route since 30 December 2024. Naturalisation after 8 years. See the Hungary golden visa for Indian nationals, or compare the two in Hungary vs Portugal golden visa.
• Malta. Permanent residence through a EUR 375,000 purchase or a EUR 14,000 a year lease, plus a EUR 37,000 contribution, a EUR 60,000 administrative fee and a EUR 2,000 NGO donation. See the Malta golden visa for Indian nationals.
• Greece. One property from EUR 250,000 (conversions and listed buildings) to EUR 800,000, a 5-year renewable permit, and a family that includes children under 21 and the parents of both spouses.

All six European options, in rupees and against the LRS, are in our golden visa for Indian citizens guide.

Frequently asked questions

Can Indians apply for the Portugal golden visa?
Portugal’s ARI rules exclude only Portuguese, EU, EEA, Andorran and Swiss nationals, so they do not exclude Indians (checked September 2026). The routes are EUR 500,000 in qualifying funds, research, or a company with 5 jobs, subject to AIMA’s checks.

How much is the Portugal golden visa in rupees?
The fund route is EUR 500,000, about INR 5.46 crore at the ECB rate of 28 September 2026. Fund costs, legal fees and AIMA charges come on top.

Can I invest EUR 500,000 under the LRS?
One resident can remit USD 250,000 per financial year, and fund units are overseas portfolio investment inside that limit. EUR 500,000 is about USD 568,900. Pooling needs co-holders, and para 7(d) applies. Ask your authorised dealer bank.

How many days must I spend in Portugal?
At least 7 days in the first year and at least 14 days in each later period, per AIMA. Renewals have been online only since 16 February 2026.

When can an Indian get Portuguese citizenship?
After 10 years of legal residence counted from the first ARI card, under Organic Law 1/2026, plus language and other conditions. Taking Portuguese citizenship ends Indian citizenship automatically under s.9(1) of the Citizenship Act 1955.

Can my family join me?
Family of ARI holders is exempt from the 2-year reunification wait introduced by Law 61/2025. Which family members qualify is set by AIMA, so confirm your household with Portuguese counsel.

The bottom line

For Indian investors, the Portugal golden visa is a residence decision first. The EUR 500,000 fund route sits well above one person’s LRS limit and above two co-holders’ combined limit in a single year, and para 7(d) says forex beyond the LRS limit is not for earning immigration eligibility through overseas investment. The payoff is a European residence permit that asks for 7 days in year one and 14 later, and keeps your Indian passport. Citizenship is 10 years away and would end Indian citizenship. Start with your bank on the funding question, then with Portuguese counsel on the fund. For the programme detail, read our guide to Portugal golden visa investment funds.

Advisory fees are quoted per engagement.