BUYING PROCESS

Does buying at Apaulinha grant Portuguese residency (Golden Visa)?

No. Buying a villa at Apaulinha does not confer Portuguese residency. Portugal abolished the real-estate route to its Golden Visa in October 2023, under the Mais Habitação law, and property purchases of any kind — anywhere in the country — no longer qualify for residency by investment.

This is worth stating plainly because the association between Portuguese property and the Golden Visa persists in much international commentary. The programme itself continues in other forms (certain fund and cultural investments, among others), but real estate is no longer among the qualifying routes, and Apaulinha does not present a purchase as a path to residency.

On the related question of tax status: Portugal's former Non-Habitual Resident (NHR) regime has been replaced by a successor framework, IFICI (sometimes called "NHR 2.0"), which has a considerably narrower scope. Whether a buyer relocating to Portugal could benefit depends entirely on personal circumstances and current rules.

Why this matters: a purchase at Apaulinha should be assessed on its own terms — as a home and as an asset in a scarce, planning-constrained market — not as an immigration instrument. Buyers whose plans include relocating to Portugal have ordinary residency routes available under Portuguese and EU law, but these are separate from the property purchase.

Residency and tax rules change and are personal to each buyer's situation; we recommend independent legal and tax advice on any residency or relocation question.