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EU Citizenship Via Investment: What Nomads Must Know

Brian Kelly, founder of The Points Guy, published a detailed account on July 24, 2026, of his multi-year path to Portuguese citizenship through the country's Golden Visa program. Kelly invested roughly €350,000 in the Renaissance Hotel Porto and paid around €20,000 in legal fees. He obtained Portuguese residency in 2021, roughly six months after the initial investment, submitted his citizenship paperwork in 2025, and that application has since been accepted. A Portuguese language exam was a mandatory step before approval, and his investment manager Mercan handles a buyback at the original price once citizenship is granted. Kelly expects to receive his passport within one to two years.

The timeline is notable because it traces a path that no longer exists in exactly the same form. Real estate was removed from Portugal's Golden Visa eligible investment categories in October 2023, eliminating the residential and commercial property routes Kelly used. The minimum for the most common current route — investment funds accredited by Portugal's securities regulator — now sits at €500,000. Kelly's deal, struck under older rules, came in substantially below that threshold.

The residency clock has also lengthened. Under the framework Kelly entered, applicants needed to meet minimum-presence requirements in Portugal for five years before applying for citizenship. As of 2026, new non-EU applicants generally face a ten-year residency pathway before reaching citizenship eligibility, according to Global Citizen Solutions, which tracks Portuguese immigration policy. The day-count requirements per year remain relatively light — seven days in the first year, 14 days in subsequent years — but the overall commitment is now twice as long.

Spain, which ran a competing program, ended its Golden Visa entirely in 2025, according to The Points Guy's reporting. Greece still operates a version of the program, and other investment-residency schemes exist across Europe, but the landscape is thinner and more expensive than it was when Kelly began his research years ago.

What this means for remote workers and nomads

For nomads who rely on a series of renewable digital-nomad visas — Portugal's own D8, Spain's now-gone program, or options tracked in resources like our digital nomad visa guide — investment-based citizenship offers something those visas cannot: permanence. A Portuguese passport is Schengen-wide travel without applications or renewals, plus EU work rights and the ability to extend citizenship to immediate family members.

But the math has shifted considerably. Kelly's path required roughly €350,000 in capital plus around €20,000 in fees under pre-2023 rules, with a buyback provision that effectively returned the principal. The current minimum for a qualifying fund investment starts at €500,000, legal and advisory fees are additional, and applicants should budget for a ten-year horizon rather than five. That is a different decision than what Kelly made — more capital committed, longer timeline, and less flexibility in where the money goes.

The practical takeaway is one of timing asymmetry. Kelly's account is a useful window into what investment-based EU residency actually involves — the language exam, the biometrics appointments for family members, the multi-year cadence — but his cost basis and timeline no longer apply to someone starting today. Anyone evaluating this route should verify current requirements directly against AIMA, Portugal's immigration authority, since the program has continued to evolve. For nomads whose priority is flexibility at lower cost, renewable visa programs remain the more accessible entry point; for those willing to commit capital and a decade of minimum annual presence, Portugal's path to a permanent EU passport is still open.