Portuguese Golden Visa confusion spooks Islamic investors

When Portugal’s parliament voted on the 28^th October 2025 to extend the minimum residency period – from five to seven years and more – for foreigners to qualify for citizenship, it initiated a knock-on effect on an Islamic fund. 

Many took the extension to mean that the Portugal Golden Visa would also undergo some changes.Due to this concern, some foreign investors – like those considering the First Shariah Fund Portugal as the basis to back their applications for the golden visa – had delayed commitments, Lisbon-based Atlantic Premium Capital Partners Managing Director (Middle East-Africa) Gani Mohamed shared with IFN Investor. 

Investment Manager Victor Menezes said the clarifications received from legal experts and government officials was that the new Portuguese residency rule would not likely have any impact on the golden visa criteria – as this program does not involve citizenship rights. 

“Investors only get permanent resident status after five years, not citizenship. This PR status also applies to family members. They only need to stay at least seven days each year to meet the minimum residency qualification.” 

Victor also noted that foreign investors, especially those investing in the firm’s Shariah fund, found it adequate to have PR status and did not plan to apply for a second citizenship in Portugal – to avoid jeopardizing their current nationality and consequent rights. 

Gani said the firm is taking pains to explain these points to several Shariah fund investors, who remain keen on applying for the Portuguese Golden Visa. Anticipating investments to pick up once this concern is gone, Gani said the Shariah portion of the firm’s AuM total should rise significantly from the present 10% share.  

“We see a lot of traction from institutional and family offices from the Middle East and Malaysia. They see our fund as an opportunity to do some investments in Europe. We didn't realize how big the gap is, we learned many still find it difficult to invest in Shariah assets in Europe.”  

Gani also said the Shariah fund has attracted attention from several affluent investors plus institutional investors and family offices – with some already asking for Atlantic Premium to craft bespoke solutions. 

“Because we have another fund invested in sports, they are asking us to explore other Shariah opportunities in Portugal and in Dubai. The Shariah fund has resulted in multiple options beyond what we anticipated.” 

Among the spillover gains include drawing in clients with an ESG investment focus – which could result in the firm possibly tweaking the Shariah fund to be fully aligned to this new set of prospects as well, said Gani.