Your family and the Donation Golden Visa
One donation covers the whole family. The applicant can include their spouse, children, parents and parents-in-law in the same process, and every family member included receives a Portuguese residence permit.
- 1 donationFor the applicant and every family member included
- 4Family relationships: spouse, children, parents, parents-in-law
- 1 processThe family is included in the same application
- €0Charged to donors by Cascais Ventures
Who can be included in a Donation Golden Visa application?
The applicant can include their spouse, children, parents and parents-in-law in the same process.¹ All non-EU citizens can apply, and the family is included without a second donation.
Spouse.
Included alongside the applicant, in the same process.
Children.
Each child included receives their own residence permit.¹
Parents.
The applicant's own parents.¹
Parents-in-law.
The spouse's parents, on the same terms as the applicant's own.¹
¹ Children under 18, or older if unmarried, dependent and studying; parents and parents-in-law if dependent on you or your spouse.
Does each family member need a separate donation?
No. One €200,000 donation covers the principal applicant and every family member included in the process.
The donation is made once, to a government-approved cultural project. Adding a family member does not add to it. What is charged per person is the government fee, paid to AIMA. For a larger family this is the route’s structural advantage: the donation stays the same whether the application covers one person or six.
| Principal applicant | Each family member included | |
|---|---|---|
| Donation | Made once, for the whole family | None |
| Government fees | Per person, set by Portaria 307/2023 | The same fees as the principal applicant |
| Residence permit | Yes | Yes |
| Live, work and study in Portugal | Yes | Yes |
| Visa-free travel in the Schengen Area | Yes | Yes |
What does each family member receive?
Each family member included receives a Portuguese residence permit, with the right to live, work and study in Portugal and visa-free travel across the Schengen Area.
Schengen access covers the 29 Schengen countries, for 90 days in any 180. For many families, the right to study in Portugal is the deciding point.
What does residency mean for my children’s education?
Included children can study in Portugal on their own residence permit. A child who has been legally and uninterruptedly resident in Portugal for more than two years on 1 January of the year they apply to university is not treated as an international student, and pays the national fee: at most €697 a year for a first degree at a public university, the cap for 2025/26 and 2026/27.²
The rule assumes the family actually lives in Portugal, and time on a student permit does not count, so a family keeping only the minimum stay should not assume it applies. In other EU countries, home tuition fees often follow EU citizenship, which Portuguese citizenship gives after 10 years. See Stay, residence and citizenship.
² International Student Statute (Decreto-Lei 36/2014, as amended by Decreto-Lei 62/2018 and Decreto-Lei 20/2025). Each university applies the rule.
How are family members included?
Family members are included through family reunification (reagrupamento familiar), the mechanism in Portugal’s Immigration Act that extends the applicant’s residence to their family (Lei 23/2007, Art. 98.º).
In practice, the family is included in the same process as the principal applicant. The donation, the beneficiary’s confirmation and the GEPAC declaration are issued once, in the donor’s name. Your lawyer then prepares each family member’s file alongside your own residence application and confirms the documents each person needs.
The official figures reflect this. GEPAC issues one investment declaration per donor, so the 479 declarations it had issued to 31 August 2026 count donors, not the family members who obtained residence alongside them.
The steps of the application, and the indicative 12 to 18 months from filing to residence card, are set out on Process and timeline.
Indicative. AIMA processing times vary.
What do family members pay?
Each family member pays the same government fees as the principal applicant, and nothing else is due on the donation side.
AIMA’s fees are fixed by law, charged per person and updated each 1 March. The full schedule, with a worked example for a family of four, is on What it costs. Cascais Ventures does not charge donors anything.
What happens after the residence card?
The permit runs on two-year cycles, with permanent residence available after five years of legal residence and citizenship after 10 years (7 for CPLP nationals).
The stay requirement is light: 7 days in the first year, then 14 days in each following two-year period. Each milestone, and what it requires, is explained on Stay, residence and citizenship. The 2026 Nationality Law, which set the 10-year rule, is covered on What changed in 2026.
How do I start?
Start by telling us your nationality and who in your family would be included. That is all we need for a first conversation.
From there, we take you through the route, the process and the government-approved projects in our portfolio, and you choose a project. See how it works on the Donation Golden Visa page, or write to donors@cascaisventures.com.
Sources: Lei 23/2007 (Immigration Act), Art. 98.º (family reunification) and Art. 90.º-A · Decreto Regulamentar 84/2007, Art. 65.º-C (stay requirement) · Portaria 307/2023 (government fees) · AIMA, ARI requirements · Decreto-Lei 20/2025 (International Student Statute).
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Updated 9 October 2026 · Cascais Ventures · Primary sources linked on this page (links checked 9 October 2026)