In 2024, Portugal’s Golden Visa program was quietly reopened to Russian nationals. Find out why, and how you can access a full European citizenship for your family. No relocation is required.

A quick disclaimer before today’s video. My company and I are strictly politically neutral, we do not condone or oppose any particular regime or ideology. Our mission is to help international people to live a life without borders – and we endeavour to do this without prejudice. This video is not an expression of support for any one nation state or political regime – it is simply aimed at providing helpful information to those who may benefit from it.

As you may or may not be aware, Russian citizens have not been able to access Portugal´s Golden Visa since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The Portugal Golden Visa for Russians was closed. Given the sanctions and broad blacklisting of Russian nationals across a wide range of services, this has led to a tricky situation for many Russians – particularly as this meant they became “locked in” to their Russian nationality, unable to access basic services such as banking and unable to pursue an alternative passport (even if they hadn’t lived in Russia for many years, and were long-term expats). For a time, there were some alternative routes. The Caribbean nation of Dominica offered a very popular second citizenship to Russians when the rest of the region closed its doors, which could be obtained in just a few short months, but this changed swiftly when the United Kingdom revoked visa-free access to all Dominican citizens as a result. Dominica, naturally, followed its neighbours in closing its doors to Russians. Another popular alternative was Turkey, and even the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu for a time, but these programs were nowhere near as strong or as coveted as their European equivalents.

A bad time to be a Russian passport holder, in that case. However, something has very quietly changed. And there is a good reason why this was kept quiet. A class action of Russian applicants to the Portugal Golden Visa program have challenged their lack of access to the program – and won. You see, the Portuguese Constitution forbids discrimination on the basis of nationality, so any ban on Russian applications would have effectively been illegal. After this ruling, the Portuguese authorities are now effectively forced to process Russian applications that have, to date, been set aside from the processing queue. This also means that future applications to the Golden Visa program by Russian applicants cannot be barred from the process.

Now, why was this done quietly? Well, it’s no secret that the European Union hates the idea of European citizenship being “for sale” – and the Portugal Golden Visa represents one of the continent’s premier programs that essentially offers just that. The European Union also particularly hates the idea of Russia being able to access the continent from the inside, and all the security risks that entails. It is safe to say that the European Commission will not be amused that Russians are now able to seek Portuguese residency and ultimately citizenship via this route once again. As a result, we can likely expect yet more pressure to be placed on Portugal by Brussels to close the Golden Visa program.

In the meantime, however, the Portugal Golden Visa program remains open. It is now, once again, a viable route for Russian nationals to obtain a second citizenship in the EU.

The above video was originally featured on YouTube.

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