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Portugal Golden Visa takes longer than legally required, while Italy delivers on time

When Portugal’s Minister of Parliamentary Affairs António Leitão Amaro addressed the country’s golden visa backlog in October 2025, he made a candid admission: The government had deliberately processed wealthy investors last.

"Next year we will resolve the outstanding issues that, for reasons of social equity, we left until the end, which are those that pay the most, the ‘golden visas,’" Amaro said publicly.

The statement confirmed what thousands of applicants had experienced firsthand: Portugal’s golden visa program, which legally requires processing within 90 days, was taking years to deliver approvals.

A new analysis by , an immigration advisory firm, examined processing times across four major European golden visa programs using data from 127 client applications between January 2023 and February 2026. The that some countries dramatically exceed their stated timelines while others deliver on schedule.

The Gap Between Promise and Reality

Portugal’s golden visa backlog has reached crisis levels. Under Lei 23/2007 and Regulatory Decree 84/2007, the Portuguese Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) is legally required to process applications within 90 days. The actual average processing time, according to MovingTo’s data: 34 months—more than 12 times the legal requirement.

The slowest Portugal application in the dataset has been pending for 52 months and counting.

By contrast, Italy’s investor visa program consistently meets its commitments. The Ministry of Economic Development promises a 30-day decision on the initial Nulla Osta certificate. MovingTo’s data shows actual processing averaging 68 days from application to residence permit—roughly double the initial phase timeline but still within a predictable range.

Processing Time Comparison

• Portugal: 90 days required — 34 months actual (12x longer)
• Greece: No official timeline — 11 months actual
• Spain: 20 days required — 3.2 months actual (3-4x longer)
• Italy: 30 days required — 68 days actual (minimal gap)

Why Italy Works and Portugal Doesn’t

The divergence stems from structural differences in how each country handles investor applications.

Italy created a dedicated investor visa unit within its Ministry of Economic Development with clear documentation requirements and a functional digital application system. The program processes lower volumes than Portugal’s, but the infrastructure was designed to handle investor cases specifically.

Portugal’s golden visa applications flow through AIMA, the same agency processing asylum claims, work permits, and general immigration matters. When application volumes surged following favorable program terms, the system couldn’t scale.

The backlog grew to over 55,000 pending applications by early 2025, including initial applications, renewals, and family member cases. The Portuguese government allocated €5.97 million to clear the backlog by June 2025—a target it failed to meet.

Immigration Lawyers Push Back

The minister’s admission that golden visa holders were deliberately deprioritized drew sharp criticism from Portugal’s immigration bar.

André Miranda of Fieldfisher Portugal called Amaro’s statements “very offensive and shameless.” Madalena Monteiro of Liberty Legal noted that “applicants find it hard to believe in any promises after years of delays and unmet commitments.”

Some investors have begun challenging the delays at Portugal’s Constitutional Court, though outcomes remain uncertain and the legal process itself adds years to an already extended timeline.

Greece Offers No Accountability

Greece presents a different problem: The government publishes no official processing timeline at all.

The Migration Ministry website lists application requirements but makes no commitment on timing. This means applicants have no legal standard to enforce when processing drags.

MovingTo’s data shows Greece averaging 11 months from application to approval, with a range of 6 to 16 months. Industry sources that previously marketed Greece as a “3-6 month” program have quietly adjusted their estimates upward.

The delays coincide with a surge in applications following Portugal’s 2023 decision to eliminate real estate as a qualifying investment. Many investors who would have chosen Portugal pivoted to Greece, overwhelming a system that—like Portugal—lacks dedicated processing infrastructure for investor cases.

IMI Daily reported in late 2024 that at popular processing offices like Piraeus, appointment wait times alone could exceed 14 months before an application was even reviewed.

Spain Falls in the Middle

Spain’s UGE (Large Business and Strategic Collectives Unit) is supposed to process investor visa applications within 20 days under Law 14/2013 (Ley de Apoyo a los Emprendedores), Article 76.

Actual processing runs 2-4 months according to MovingTo’s data, with an average of 3.2 months. That’s 3-4 times longer than promised, but not catastrophic.

Spain represents what might be called “normal bureaucratic delay”—the kind of timeline slippage common in government services. It’s frustrating but manageable for planning purposes.

The more pressing issue for Spain is program availability. The country’s golden visa for real estate investment closes in 2025, leaving only fund and business investment routes.

What This Means for Prospective Applicants

The data suggests several practical considerations for anyone evaluating European golden visa options:

Timeline sensitivity matters. If residency is needed within a specific window—for tax planning, business relocation, or family reasons—Italy offers the only predictable timeline among major European programs. Portugal should be considered a three-plus-year commitment minimum.

Portugal means . Since Portugal eliminated real estate as a qualifying route in 2023, investors must now commit €500,000 to qualifying venture capital or private equity funds (see funds.movingto.com for current options). The three-plus-year processing timeline affects liquidity planning for these fund commitments.

Citizenship timelines compound. Portugal’s golden visa theoretically offers a path to citizenship after five years of residency. But if initial approval takes three years, the actual timeline from application to citizenship is closer to eight years.

Published timelines are unreliable. Official government claims bear little relationship to actual processing in most countries. Only Italy’s program delivers results close to stated expectations.

No timeline means no recourse. In countries like Greece that publish no official processing time, applicants cannot challenge delays or hold authorities accountable. The wait is simply what it is.

Methodology

This analysis draws from three source categories:

Government sources: Portuguese Lei 23/2007 and Regulatory Decree 84/2007; Italian MISE Investor Visa Operating Manual; Spanish Law 14/2013 (Ley de Apoyo a los Emprendedores), Article 76; Greek Migration Ministry publications.

Industry data: IMI Daily reporting (2024-2026); Schengen News visa processing reports; immigration law firm publications from Fieldfisher and Liberty Legal.

Client data: 127 golden visa applications processed through MovingTo between January 2023 and February 2026. Processing times measured from initial submission to residence permit issuance. Data anonymized and aggregated by country.

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