Portugal’s two governing parties, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and CDS-People’s Party (CDS-PP), filed a proposal on November 6 — the deadline for amendments to the 2027 State Budget bill — that would rewrite which investments qualify for the Portugal Golden Visa. Twenty-one deputies signed it, led by PSD’s Hugo Soares and CDS-PP’s Paulo Núncio, and it now awaits a committee vote starting November 18.
Today, an investor qualifies by placing €500,000 in a Portuguese non-real-estate fund that invests at least 60% in companies headquartered in Portugal. The amendment would lift that floor to 80% and require the money to arrive through “the reinforcement of the share capital” of those companies — meaning new money exchanged for newly issued shares, not the purchase of existing shares on the market. As drafted, shares or bonds bought on the secondary market would no longer appear to count toward the quota, which could affect funds built on listed securities.
The proposal would also open a new route: €250,000 for building or restoring social care facilities for children, young people, the elderly, people with disabilities, or facilities integrating resident foreigners and international-protection beneficiaries, channelled through a closed list of public bodies and public-utility foundations. Research donations, currently requiring a €500,000 minimum, would be halved to €250,000. Pending applications would be grandfathered under the current rules.
Together, PSD and CDS-PP hold 91 of parliament’s 230 seats, short of the 116 needed for a majority, so the amendment cannot pass on their votes alone. It would likely need the Socialist Party (PS), with 58 seats, to abstain again as it did when the budget cleared its first vote on October 28, while Chega, with 60 seats, voted against. Investment migration advisers note the practical detail of how the capitalisation requirement will be applied is still open to discussion with the government, and have called for a transition period if the changes take effect alongside the budget on January 1.
