Portugal golden visa delays spark legal challenge for investors
Processing of Portugal's golden‑visa applications now averages five years, extending citizenship wait and has led to legal action by 12,000 investors.
The short version
- Citizenship now requires ten years of residence, twice the previous requirement.
- Temporary residence permits, which should be issued within 90 days, are now taking up to five years.
- About 12,000 golden‑visa applicants, including some from the United States, are facing the delays.
- A petition signed by 1,200 people has been submitted to the Justice Ombudsperson, and a class‑action suit is being prepared.
- The government says the rules for permanent residency are unchanged, but investment funds remain locked until that status is granted.
Origins and popularity of the scheme
Portugal introduced the golden‑visa programme in 2012 to draw foreign investment. Since then, high‑net‑worth individuals, some alleged to have links to organised crime in Russia and China, have bought property through the scheme. The rise in demand has lifted house prices in Lisbon, Porto and other cities.
One example is 55‑year‑old American Luke Strzegowski. Four years ago he sold his home in the United States, moved his family to Portugal and purchased a house near Sintra for €350,000. He applied for a golden visa to obtain permanent residency after five years and later Portuguese citizenship for his wife and two daughters.
Extended processing times and citizenship delay
The law requires an initial temporary residence permit within 90 days of application, but the average wait is now close to five years. Strzegowski is still waiting for this permit; the delay stops him from travelling for work. American investor Servet Tasman, who spent €350,000 on two homes in Évora, now sees his citizenship date shift from 2028 to 2037.
The government says golden‑visa holders can still apply for permanent residence after five years, but the new citizenship law extends the naturalisation period to ten years for most non‑EU nationals. Investors therefore need to keep their capital in Portuguese property until at least 2030, which reduces liquidity and impacts long‑term financial plans.
Applicants mount legal challenge
Immigration lawyer Madalena Monteiro estimates that about 12,000 people face the same situation as Strzegowski. She has collected more than 500 signatures on a petition and, together with a separate 1,200‑signature appeal to the Justice Ombudsperson, is preparing a class‑action suit and individual civil claims for damages. The plaintiffs argue the state has breached the 90‑day processing rule.
Portuguese secretary of state Rui Armindo de Freitas says the citizenship amendment aligns Portugal with EU standards and does not change permanent‑residence eligibility. He attributes the backlog to inherited applications and limited resources, and notes that 98 % of the overall visa backlog has been cleared. Courts in Portugal are slow, so legal resolutions may arrive after the extended citizenship period has ended.
“"You are in a football game, 90 minutes. And you are changing the rules of the game during the 90 minutes. You are moving the goal post," fumes American investor Servet Tasman.”
What it means
What this changes for an applicant
- Applicants should expect residence permits to take several years and plan for a ten‑year period before becoming eligible for citizenship.
- Invested funds remain locked in Portuguese property until permanent residency is granted, tying up capital for at least five years.
- Legal recourse is possible, but court cases are likely to take longer than the new waiting periods, providing limited immediate relief.
Source
This article was written by Malaysia Visa Guide, based on reporting by MSN. We summarise and explain the news in our own words; we do not reproduce it. Read the original report for the publisher's full account.
Last updated 27 July 2026.
Written and reviewed by Jason Yap, Managing Director of MYPVIP.
Last reviewed 27 July 2026.
News is a starting point, not advice.
For what this means in your own case, the verified figures live in how Malaysia compares, or run the eligibility checker.