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Programme comparison

Compare programmes side by side

Select two programmes to compare passport strength, investment routes, tax, and migration pathways.

Programme A

vs

Programme B

🇵🇹

Portugal

Western Europe's value proposition — EU citizenship in 5 years, NHR tax regime, and a lifestyle that draws 700,000 expats and counting.

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🇲🇹

Malta

EU permanent residency in an English-speaking Mediterranean archipelago — but the citizenship-by-investment route closed in July 2025 and is not coming back.

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RegionSouthern Europe (EU)Southern Europe (EU)
Passport rank#5 · 186 visa-free destinations#4 · 186 visa-free destinations
SafetyExcellentExcellent
Happiness rank#54#34
GDP per capitaUSD 25,000USD 34,000
Tax summaryThe Non-Habitual Resident (NHR) regime — now replaced by IFICI for new applicants from 2024 — provided 10 years of 20% flat tax on Portuguese-sourced income and 0% on qualifying foreign income. The new IFICI regime (for tech workers, researchers, and certain HNW) maintains similar benefits but has narrower eligibility. Standard income tax is 14.5–48%.Malta's individual investor tax regime allows non-domiciled residents to pay 15% flat tax on foreign-sourced income remitted to Malta (minimum annual tax of EUR 15,000). Non-remitted foreign income is untaxed. Capital gains on overseas assets are tax-free. The Global Residence Programme (GRP) offers 15% flat tax with EUR 15,000 minimum.
Min. investmentNo investment — proof of EUR 820/month passive income (pension, rental, dividends, or remote income) (≈ USD 900/mo income (EUR 820/mo))EUR 150,000 government contribution (South Malta property) + EUR 300,000 property purchase or EUR 10,000/year rental; or EUR 98,000 government contribution (Gozo) + similar property thresholds (≈ USD 440k+ (Gozo: EUR 98k contrib + EUR 300k property))
Citizenship timelineCitizenship after 5 years with basic Portuguese language test (A2)No investment route to citizenship — MEIN closed July 2025
Skills migrationProfession-basedProfession-based
Work permitsWork Visa (D1), Highly Qualified Activity Visa (D3), Digital Nomad Visa (D8)Single Permit (Non-EU Employment), Key Employee Initiative, Nomad Residence Permit
Key industriesTechnology, Tourism, Financial services, Agriculture (wine, olive oil, cork)Financial services, iGaming, Aviation MRO, Tourism

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Questions people actually ask

Where does the data in this table come from?
Every field comes from one of the 67 programme dossiers, which draw on government programme units and gazettes for terms, the Henley Passport Index for passport strength, Freedom House for civil liberties, and the IMF and national statistics offices for macroeconomic figures. Each dossier carries the date it was last verified, and the methodology names what each source is bad at.
How current is it?
Citizenship and fast-track routes are re-verified quarterly, everything else every six months, and any programme change we can confirm is written up on the day it is confirmed. This matters more than it sounds: the five Caribbean programmes all raised their minimums under a regional price floor, and comparison tables elsewhere still quote figures that were superseded in 2024.
Why do two programmes with the same investment show very different timelines?
Because the money is doing different jobs. A donation to a government fund is an administrative transaction and can be processed in weeks; a real-estate purchase involves a property market, a title, and a holding period, and is measured in months. A comparison that shows only the amount hides that difference, which is why the timeline sits beside the figure here.
What is deliberately not in this comparison?
Government and due-diligence fees, professional and agent fees, and the cost of dependants — all of which are real and vary by family size. The investment figure is the qualifying minimum for a single applicant, before those. Anyone quoting an all-in number without knowing your family structure is guessing.
Can I put this comparison on my own site?
Yes, free, including commercially. The embeddable version reads from the same dossiers, so it updates when the data does rather than freezing on the day you paste it. It loads no third-party script and sets no cookies on your readers.
Does a higher-ranked passport make a programme better?
Only if mobility is what you are buying. Passport strength is one of several things that matter, and it can move sharply: Vanuatu lost UK access in 2023 and the Schengen waiver in 2024, which took most of what its buyers were paying for. If your objective is tax position, a second base, or a hedge, a mid-ranked passport in a stable jurisdiction may serve you better than a stronger one under political pressure.

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