ARI stands for Residence Permit for Investment (Autorização de Residência para Investimento) — the official name of the programme the public calls the Golden Visa or “gold visa”. It is the legal permit that grants residence in Portugal through an eligible investment, with Schengen access and a path to permanent residence and citizenship.
ARI stands for Residence Permit for Investment (Autorização de Residência para Investimento) — the official name of the programme the public calls the Golden Visa or “gold visa”. It is the legal permit that grants residence in Portugal through an eligible investment, with Schengen access and a path to permanent residence and citizenship.
The ARI was introduced into Law no. 23/2007 by Law no. 29/2012 and detailed in its own regulations. It defines who may apply, which investments are eligible, the holding periods and the conditions for renewing the permit.
The 2023 reform (Law no. 56/2023) changed the range of eligible investments, removing real estate. It is therefore essential to distinguish what applies today from what applied in earlier years.
The ARI permit is granted for an initial period and renewed successively, provided the investment is kept and the minimal-presence requirements are met. AIMA is the authority that grants and renews the permit.
Failures to maintain the investment or to meet presence deadlines can jeopardise renewal. That is why we track the calendar and the obligations throughout the whole journey.
Yes. ARI is the official name; Golden Visa and "gold visa" are popular names for the same regime.
Currently AIMA (the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum), which replaced the SEF.
The investment must be held for the legally required period (as a rule, at least five years on the fund routes). We confirm the period applicable to your case.
Yes: once the requirements and the period of legal residence are met, the ARI opens the path to permanent residence and Portuguese citizenship.
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