Donation Golden Visa
Donate to Culture.
Get Residency.
Gain a Path to Citizenship.
Europe's lowest-cost residency route with a path to citizenship.
A €200,000 donation to a government-approved cultural project.
Why it works
Why Portugal's Donation Golden Visa
Residency in Portugal.
Live, work and study in Portugal with a renewable residence permit.
Schengen access.
Travel visa-free across the Schengen Area.
Lowest entry point.
€200,000, the lowest cost of any European residency route with a path to citizenship.1
Path to citizenship.
Citizenship after 10 years, with only 7 days stay per year.2
Government-approved projects.
No project eligibility risk.
Your family included.
Spouse, children, parents and parents-in-law.2
No hidden costs, no capital at risk.
No management fees, no lock-up, no market risk.
Cultural impact.
Contribute to local culture and communities, and be recognised for it.
1 The legal minimum for a cultural donation is €250,000, reduced by 20% to €200,000 for projects in low-density territories (Portaria 208/2017). Every Cascais Ventures project is in a low-density territory. The low-density territories in English.
2 Ten years of legal residence from the first residence card (7 for nationals of Portuguese-speaking (CPLP) countries), plus Portuguese language and civic tests. Stay rule: 7 days in the first year, then 14 days in each following two-year period. Children under 18, or older if unmarried, dependent and studying; parents and parents-in-law if dependent on you or your spouse.
Donation or fund?
No fees, no lock-up, no market risk.
The same residence permit is also available through a €500,000 investment in a Portuguese fund. Here is how the two compare.
| Donation Golden Visa | Investment fund route | |
|---|---|---|
| Capital committed | €200,000, donated once | €500,000 in fund units |
| Management fees | None | Typically €65,000 to €95,000 over 8 years, plus performance fees |
| Lock-up and market risk | None | Held for around 6 to 8 years from subscription, until permanent residence; value moves with the fund |
| Government fees | Same on both routes | |
With €500,000, you can put it all in a fund for the residence permit. Or you can donate €200,000 and invest the other €300,000 as you choose: at about 6.6% a year, it grows back to €500,000 in eight years, a fund's typical term.3
Donation or fund: the full comparison3 Illustrative, not a forecast. Fund fees from 2025 to 2026 market data; each fund's prospectus governs.
Where your donation goes
Your donation builds something that lasts.
Your donation goes to the beneficiary entity behind a government-approved cultural project: a foundation or an eligible public body. Cascais Ventures creates and produces those projects. The donor pays nothing to Cascais Ventures on top of the donation.
Donors are recognised in the work they make possible: depending on the project, on a donor wall, in the credits, with signed prints and invitations to premieres.
BOSK
A thousand trees in Évora's main square for European Capital of Culture 2027, and a permanent forest left behind.
Janes
A feature documentary on Alberto Janes, the poet and composer behind some of fado's most enduring songs, immortalised in the voice of Amália Rodrigues.
The process
How it works
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Choose your project.
A government-approved cultural project from our portfolio.
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Make your donation.
Paid to the project's beneficiary entity.
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Receive your documentation.
Official proof of your cultural contribution.
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Apply for residency.
File your Golden Visa application with AIMA.
The timeline
Indicative. AIMA processing times vary.
From filing to residency card in 12 to 18 months. The application is filed about a week after the donation.
Track record
The results
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150+
Donations successfully completed by donors from all over the world.
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500+
Donors and family members who have successfully applied for the Golden Visa through our projects.
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0
Application rejections to date, across every donor and family member we have supported.
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€30M+
Raised in donations for Portuguese culture: heritage rehabilitation, film and documentary, artistic programmes.
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10
Cultural projects successfully approved by the Ministry of Culture.
All projects -
Almost30%
Of all programme donations made in Cascais Ventures projects.
About the programme
Who we are
Cascais Ventures creates and produces the government-approved cultural projects behind Portugal's Donation Golden Visa: heritage rehabilitation, film and documentary, artistic programmes.
See our projects →
Free guide
The Complete Guide to Portugal's Donation Golden Visa
The route, the costs, donation vs fund, and the projects. Free.
- How the route works, and what changed in 2026
- Government fees, with a family-of-four example
- GEPAC's figures, and the projects
Questions