Profile

Residence Permit for Investment Activity

Route status

Active as of 2026-08-06[1][4]

Open to new applications under the rules recorded below.

Status details
In force since2012-10-08 as of 2026-08-06[1]

Residency route facts

Identity

Identity
Official name (local)Autorização de Residência para Atividade de Investimento (ARI) as of 2026-08-06[1][4]
Official name (English)Residence Permit for Investment Activity as of 2026-08-06[1]
Working translation of the official Portuguese name; AIMA's Portuguese page states no official English title.
Legal basisLei n.º 23/2007 (REPSAE), art. 90.º-A, read with art. 3.º/1/d) and /2 to /5, and Decreto Regulamentar n.º 84/2007, arts. 65.º-A e seguintes as of 2026-08-06[1][4]
Instrument typeresidence permit as of 2026-08-06[1][4]

Who can apply

Who can apply
Nationals not served by this routeEU, EEA, EFTA as of 2026-08-06[1]
Criminal-record conditionYes as of 2026-08-06[1][4]
AIMA: grant requires the absence of a conviction for a crime punishable in Portugal by a custodial sentence of more than one year, no current entry-and-stay ban following a removal measure, and no SII UCFE alert; REPSAE art. 77.º/1/g) to j) states the same conditions.

Permit terms

Permit terms
Initial duration2 years as of 2026-08-06[1]
How the initial term is setfixed
RenewableYes as of 2025-10-22[1][4]
REPSAE art. 90.º-A/2: the permit is renewed for two-year periods provided the holder shows that one of the art. 3.º/1/d) requirements is maintained.
Renewal duration2 years as of 2025-10-22[4]
Work rightsfull as of 2026-08-06[1][4]
AIMA states the ARI holder may reside and work in Portugal; REPSAE art. 83.º/1/b) and c) give residence-permit holders the right to both employed and self-employed professional activity without a separate authorisation.

Permanent residence and citizenship

Permanent residence and citizenship
Counts toward permanent residenceYes as of 2026-08-06[1][2]
AIMA states that ARI holders may apply for a permanent residence permit under REPSAE art. 80.º and that ARI holders and their family members who meet art. 80.º are issued a 'permanent investment activity residence permit', to which the absence-based cancellation rules in art. 85.º/2/b) and /3 and /4 do not apply, per art. 65.º-K of Decreto Regulamentar n.º 84/2007.

Requirements

Requirements
Investment options
    • Option: pt-ari-job-creation
    • Asset class: business capital
    • Minimum amount: Recorded at the source, but not reducible to a single value
    • Holding period: 5 years as of 2025-10-22[4]
      REPSAE art. 3.º/1/d): the situation must be maintained in national territory for a minimum period of five years.
    • Restrictions: Reducible by 20% (to eight jobs) in low-density territories under REPSAE art. 3.º/2-3.
    • Option: pt-ari-research
    • Asset class: other
    • Minimum amount: EUR 500,000 one-off as of 2025-10-22[1][4]
    • Holding period: 5 years as of 2025-10-22[4]
      REPSAE art. 3.º/1/d), five-year minimum.
    • Restrictions: Reducible by 20% in low-density territories under REPSAE art. 3.º/2-3.
    • Option: pt-ari-cultural-heritage
    • Asset class: donation
    • Minimum amount: EUR 250,000 one-off as of 2025-10-22[1][4]
      REPSAE art. 3.º/1/d)/vi): transfer of capital of EUR 250,000 or more applied to investment in or support of artistic production or the recovery or maintenance of national cultural heritage, channelled through central and peripheral direct-administration services, public institutes, public-business-sector entities, public foundations, private foundations with public-utility status, inter-municipal entities, local-business-sector entities, municipal associative entities and public cultural associations pursuing attributions in that field. Reducible by 20% in low-density territories under art. 3.º/2.
    • Holding period: 5 years as of 2025-10-22[4]
      REPSAE art. 3.º/1/d), five-year minimum.
    • Restrictions: Must be channelled through one of the listed public or public-utility bodies. Reducible by 20% in low-density territories under REPSAE art. 3.º/2-3.
    • Option: pt-ari-investment-fund
    • Asset class: investment fund
    • Minimum amount: EUR 500,000 one-off as of 2025-10-22[1][4]
      REPSAE art. 3.º/1/d)/vii): transfer of capital of EUR 500,000 or more to acquire units in non-real-estate collective investment undertakings constituted under Portuguese law, whose maturity at the time of investment is at least five years and at least 60% of whose investments are made in commercial companies headquartered in national territory. This option is not among those art. 3.º/2 allows to be reduced in low-density territories.
    • Holding period: 5 years as of 2025-10-22[4]
      REPSAE art. 3.º/1/d) five-year minimum; the same article separately requires the undertaking's maturity to be at least five years at the time of investment.
    • Restrictions: Non-real-estate undertakings only; at least 60% invested in companies headquartered in Portugal. Art. 3.º/5 prohibits investment activities being directed, directly or indirectly, at real-estate investment.
    • Option: pt-ari-company-capital
    • Asset class: company shares
    • Minimum amount: EUR 500,000 one-off as of 2025-10-22[1][4]
      REPSAE art. 3.º/1/d)/viii): transfer of capital of EUR 500,000 or more to incorporate a commercial company headquartered in national territory combined with the creation of five permanent jobs, or to increase the share capital of an existing such company with the creation of at least five permanent jobs or the maintenance of at least ten jobs of which at least five are permanent, in either case for a minimum period of three years. This option is not among those art. 3.º/2 allows to be reduced in low-density territories.
    • Holding period: 5 years as of 2025-10-22[4]
      REPSAE art. 3.º/1/d) five-year minimum; the job condition attached to this option carries its own three-year minimum.
    • Restrictions: Job condition: five permanent jobs created, or at least five permanent jobs created or ten jobs maintained with at least five permanent, for a minimum of three years.
Source-of-funds checksNot established from a qualifying source

Process

Process
Where to apply fromin-country only as of 2025-10-22[1][4]
REPSAE art. 90.º-A/1 requires the applicant to hold a valid Schengen visa and to regularise the stay in Portugal within 90 days of first entry into national territory, and dispenses with the residence visa in art. 77.º/1/a); the permit application is therefore made in Portugal. A mandatory online pre-registration is made beforehand on AIMA's Portal ARI.
Statutory processing time90 days as of 2025-10-22[4]
Fees
    • Kind: application
    • Amount: Not established from a qualifying source
    • Charged per: application
Quota
  • Quota exists: Not established from a qualifying source

Physical presence

Physical presence
minimum days per year7 days · to keep the permit as of 2026-08-06[1]
minimum days per year14 days · to keep the permit as of 2026-08-06[1]

Family inclusion

Family inclusion
Family members may be includedYes as of 2026-08-06[1][4]
AIMA lists family reunification among the ARI holder's entitlements and among the ARI application possibilities; REPSAE art. 98.º carries the general right to family reunification.
Eligible relationsNot established from a qualifying source
Family may apply at the same timeYes as of 2025-10-22[4]
Family members' work rightsNot established from a qualifying source
Additional means per family member
    • Relation: spouse
    • Amount: 0.50 × guaranteed minimum monthly remuneration (national minimum wage) per month measured over 12 months as of 2007-12-11[3]
    • Relation: minor child
    • Amount: 0.30 × guaranteed minimum monthly remuneration (national minimum wage) per month measured over 12 months as of 2007-12-11[3]
    • Relation: adult dependent child
    • Amount: 0.30 × guaranteed minimum monthly remuneration (national minimum wage) per month measured over 12 months as of 2007-12-11[3]

Your next step

Read the requirements above considering your own situation: the income multiple, the absence limits, who you can bring. Check the country record for the reference figure those amounts are calculated from, and for anything that has changed recently.

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Verification

Verification
Sources cited4
of which official (tier 1)4
Oldest as-of date2007-12-11
Newest as-of date2026-08-06
Reviewed on2026-08-11
Schema version1.1

Sources

  1. [1] Autorização de Residência para Investimento – Art. 90.º-A
    AIMA, I.P. – Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-06
  2. [2] Autorização de Residência Permanente – Art. 80.º
    AIMA, I.P. – Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-06
  3. [3] Portaria n.º 1563/2007, de 11 de dezembro – meios de subsistência
    Diário da República, 1.ª série, n.º 238 · gazette · Tier 1 · Published 2007-12-11 · Accessed 2026-08-06
  4. [4] Lei n.º 23/2007, de 4 de julho (REPSAE – regime de entrada, permanência, saída e afastamento de estrangeiros), texto consolidado, 19.ª versão
    Procuradoria-Geral Distrital de Lisboa – base de dados de legislação consolidada · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2025-10-22 · Accessed 2026-08-06

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