Cyprus, Greece or Portugal — which residence programme fits your family?

No. The October 2023 Mais Habitação law removed real-estate acquisition — and property-linked funds — from the Portuguese Golden Visa, along with the €1.5m capital transfer. The routes that remain are a €500,000 regulated investment fund, €500,000 in research activities (€400,000 in low-density areas), cultural and heritage support from €250,000, and business or job creation. If your objective is to own a home in Europe that also secures residence, Portugal no longer answers it; Cyprus and Greece still do.

Ten. Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2026, in force on 19 May 2026, raised naturalisation to ten years of legal residence — seven for EU and CPLP nationals — and it is now counted from the date the permit is granted rather than from the date of application, with culture and history testing added. Only naturalisation applications filed on or before 18 May 2026 keep the former five-year rule. Many comparison pages still quote five years; they are describing a regime that has closed. With AIMA processing backlogs on top, plan realistically on twelve years or more to a passport.

Greece and Cyprus ask for no residence at all — Cyprus asks only for a visit every two years. Portugal asks about seven days a year, which is the lightest requirement among the programmes that count days at all, and that is its genuine advantage over the other day-counting routes. Cyprus: Visit once every two years to maintain status — no minimum stay. Greece: No minimum stay to obtain or renew the five-year permit. Portugal: ~7 days/year average (14 days in the first two years, 21 in the next three). None of the three requires you to relocate.

Greece and Portugal are both full Schengen members, so a permit gives visa-free short-stay travel across the zone from the day it is issued. Cyprus is an EU member but not in the Schengen Area, so a Cyprus permit is valid for Cyprus. Accession is EU-backed and expected, but it needs a unanimous Council vote, has no confirmed date and cannot be guaranteed. If Schengen mobility is the point of the exercise, that narrows the field to two.

Cyprus, on the approval step: the Migration Department’s examination target is about two months from a complete file, and permanent residence issues on first approval. End to end, Cyprus and Greece both run about three to six months to card in hand. Cyprus: Fast-track approval typically ~2–3 months once the file is complete; ~3–6 months end to end to card in hand. Greece: Approximately 3–6 months end to end; biometrics within 12 months of filing (an exclusive statutory deadline). Attica files are running longer, so we plan conservatively and confirm timing at engagement. Portugal is the slowest: approximately 2–4+ years given AIMA backlogs. Immigration-authority backlogs at AIMA are the binding constraint there, and they are outside any adviser's control — which is worth knowing before a timeline is promised to you.

Yes, in all three, though the scope differs. Cyprus: Spouse and children under 18. Unmarried, financially dependent children aged 18–25 who are tertiary students abroad at the date of filing obtain their own permit on a separate application, on an additional €10,000 of secured annual income each; once granted, that permit stays valid after 25. Parents and parents-in-law are not eligible under Reg. 6(2). Greece: Spouse/partner, children under 21 at the date of filing — on turning 21 a three-year autonomous permit follows, to 24, with no study or dependency condition — and the parents of both spouses, with no dependency test. Portugal: Spouse/partner, dependent children and dependent parents of either spouse. The exact dependant rules are confirmed against the governing law for each file.