As of 15 September 2022, only four Portuguese Golden Visas have been granted in exchange for investment in Cultural Heritage Projects such as the Serralves Institute in Porto, and the Fundação Côa Parque, responsible for a pre-historical archeological park in the Alto Douro region
However, these early adopters have effectively been treating these contributions as a sunk cost, or a donation, which for the majority of applicants does not make any sense.
In contrast, the market’s response to the packaged Cultural Production Visa – a €200K  (€250K for urban projects) for-profit option that involves investment in pre-sold feature film production – has been both immediate and profound.
While no applicants have obtained Golden Visa residency status as of this writing – the Cultural Golden Visa was only brought to market post-pandemic – a significant number of applicants are presently awaiting pre-approval from the Portuguese Ministry of Culture.
And already it seems clear that this option will become the Golden Visa investment of choice for both philanthropists, patrons of the arts, as well as for-profit social impact investors seeking to diversify their residency, optimize taxation, and use Portugal as a beachhead for breaking into the European single market.