How long until a Golden Visa leads to permanent residence or citizenship?

The Golden Visa grants a renewable residence permit, and time held lawfully counts toward permanent residence, which the recent reforms kept at five years. That five-year permanent-residence threshold was not changed by the 2026 nationality reform.

Citizenship, however, now generally takes longer. For applications from 2026 the naturalisation period became seven years for EU and CPLP nationals and ten years for all others, with stricter counting of when residence time starts. Authorities have indicated administrative delays should not unfairly penalise investors, but you should plan around the longer timeline and confirm current rules.