Portugal Eliminates Golden Visa Backlog

AIMA is close to clearing a vast backlog of regularisation cases, with just 5,000 of 445,000 pending applications still unresolved, Minister of the Presidency António Leitão Amaro told parliament today. Portugal plans to clear all pending cases at AIMA by year-end.

Pending Applications

Of 46,000 pending golden visa applications, around 30,000 appointments have been made and 6,000 cases processed. The backlog of 445,000 applications relates to the former “expressions of interest” system, which allowed people to seek regularisation after arriving in Portugal without a residence visa, including on a tourist visa.

Workforce Increased

Portugal has brought 47 newly trained registrars, or conservadores, into service, with part of the group assigned to the Central Registry Office in Lisbon and the Central Archive in Porto, two of the main offices handling Portuguese nationality cases. Its workforce has since grown from 723 to 850

New GV Applications

The biometrics appointment dates for new applications is significantly improved in 2026. many appointments are being scheduled between September and December 2026 which comes as a good news for golden visa investors. new government figures suggest Portugal is significant progress in moving pending files by modernising its immigration system – making it highly appealing for foreigners to live, work, study and invest in the country.

Nationality Application Backlog

Portugal is still dealing with a very large nationality backlog. The latest detailed official IRN figures previously showed 515,334 Portuguese nationality applications under analysis by June 2025.

Nationality Processing

By April 2026, the Registry Workers’ Union estimated that the backlog had grown to around 600,000 cases.

• 2026, these are more realistic current ranges:
• Child of a Portuguese citizen: around 8–14 months
• Grandchild of a Portuguese citizen: around 18–48 months
• Citizenship through marriage: around 36-54 months
• Citizenship through legal residence/naturalization: commonly around 30–48 months

Golden Visa Program

Portugal is one of the countries popular golden visa program to third country nationals. Portugal has been issuing golden visas since 2012. Anyone who invests at least €200,000 can first obtain a residence permit and, later, if they choose, even apply for a Portuguese passport. The Property route remain scrapped. Portugal last year made controversial changes to Nationality law increasing the time to 10 years (non/eu) and 7 years for CPLP citizens. The Path to PR remains unchanged at 5 year term.

Comparing countries? Read our Top Citizenship By Investment Programs 2026 guide – every program ranked by price, visa waiver access and processing time.