Skip to main content
Savory & Partners

Comparison first

Golden visa programs: verified terms, compared

Golden visa is a marketing term, not a legal category. This page treats it as what it is: a set of investor residence permits with very different obligations behind similar branding.

Countries use the phrase for permits that share only one feature, capital in exchange for residence. Everything else, the amount, the asset, the stay requirement, the renewal test, whether the program still exists, differs. Several European schemes have been closed or restructured in recent years, and headline lists online are frequently out of date.

So this page leads with the comparison and states a reviewed date on every fact.

Facts on this page reviewed 2026-08-06 by the Savory & Partners advisory desk

What to compare, in order

Price is the least useful first filter. In practice the ranking that predicts satisfaction is: program status, stay requirement, renewal condition, family definition, capital recoverability, then cost.

  • Status: open, restricted, or closed to new applicants.
  • Stay: days per year required to keep the permit valid.
  • Renewal: whether the asset must still be held, and for how long.
  • Family: age ceilings, parent eligibility, and derivative permits.
  • Recoverability: contribution, hold-period asset, or refundable deposit.

Why programs change

Golden visa schemes are politically exposed. Housing pressure, supranational scrutiny and changes of government have all closed or narrowed routes at short notice, usually with a transition window for applications already filed. Treat an open program as an opportunity with a date on it, and never build a plan around a route that has been announced but not yet legislated.

Our verification method

Every figure in the comparison is taken from the issuing authority's published terms or the governing statute, recorded with the date we checked it, and re-checked on a fixed cycle. Where a route is under review we mark it rather than quietly removing it. Where we cannot verify a claim, we do not publish it.

From the catalogue

Programs in this category

Each page itemises our professional fee separately from every government and third-party charge.

View every program

Questions

Frequently asked

Which golden visa is the cheapest?
The lowest qualifying amounts sit with Gulf and selected Asia-Pacific and Latin American permits, but the lowest total cost depends on family size and whether the capital is recoverable. Use the comparison table with your actual household rather than the headline figure.
Does a golden visa give me a passport?
No. It gives residence. Citizenship, where available at all, comes later through naturalisation and normally requires real presence and language ability.
Can I keep my golden visa if I live elsewhere?
For low-stay programs, yes, subject to the renewal condition. For programs designed around genuine residence, extended absence puts renewal at risk.
How current is this information?
Each program carries a reviewed date. If a route has changed since that date, the change appears at the next scheduled review, and we flag material changes in our insights feed.

Next step

Ask us what has changed this quarter

Program terms move. We will confirm the current position for the routes you are considering before you spend anything.

Your details stay with our licensed advisory team. We never share client data with third parties, and no fee is payable until you sign an engagement letter.

CallWhatsAppEnquire