A free PDF guide — the days of presence by programme
A guide: the presence requirementsof residence programmes
How much time you have to spend in the country to keep a status — and how much to reach citizenship. They are different thresholds, and confusing them is expensive: a programme can require no residence at all and still never lead to a passport.
- PDF in English
- Free of charge
- Verified on 11.08.2026
- Sent by email, WhatsApp or Telegram
The requirements are given at the programmes’ published rules. The tax consequences depend on your own situation and are settled separately.
01 / The essentials first
Three thresholds that must not be confused
Four things that make people lose a status or fall short of citizenship.
- Three different thresholds, often confused
The days needed to keep a status, the 183 days for tax residence, and the years of actual residence for naturalisation are three unconnected requirements. A programme can ask for no presence at all and still lead to no citizenship.
- Most programmes need no presence
Hungary, Greece, Malta and the UAE do not oblige you to live there. Portugal asks for 7 days a year, Cyprus for a visit once every 2 years. The requirement is checked at every renewal.
- Citizenship counts on residence, not on the age of the card
The right to naturalise opens in Hungary after 8 years, in Greece after 7 and in Portugal after 10. In every case what counts is the years actually lived in the country, not the years of holding the status.
- Tax residence arises by itself
Crossing the threshold of presence makes you a tax resident whether you meant to or not. The reverse holds too: a status by itself creates no tax duties. The regime is planned before the move.
02 / The days
How many days each programme asks for
Choose the task and how many days a year you are ready to spend in the country: the analysis shows each programme’s requirement for your situation.
8 of 8 programmes suit your pattern
Ready to spend up to 30 days a year in the countryTo keep the status most programmes ask no more than the investment itself: presence is either not required at all or comes to a few days. The requirement is checked at every renewal, not once.
- Hungary · The guest investor visa
- not required
- No residence is required; the card is issued at once for 10 years
- Greece · The Golden Visa
- not required
- The status does not oblige you to live there; renewal follows from holding the investment
- Portugal · The Golden Visa
- 7 days a year
- 7 days a year — one of the mildest requirements in Europe
- Cyprus · Permanent residence under Regulation 6(2)
- not required
- A visit to the island once every 2 years — otherwise the status may be cancelled
- Malta · MPRP — permanent residence
- not required
- No residence is required; in the other Schengen countries up to 90 days in any 180
- The UAE · The Golden Visa
- not required
- There is no requirement of permanent residence; the visa is issued for 10 years
- Türkiye · Residence through property
- not required
- The permit is issued for 2 years and renewed while the property is held
- Antigua and Barbuda · Citizenship by investment
- not required
- 5 days over the first 5 years after the status is granted
The presence requirement is checked at every renewal, not once when the status is granted. The days are counted from the entry and exit stamps, so the travel is planned in advance rather than evidenced after the fact.
03 / Two tasks
Keeping the status, or reaching citizenship
The requirements differ by an order of magnitude. A programme for the first task almost never answers the second.
The values were checked against the official material on 11.08.2026. Only the rows for which there is no official wording are marked separately.
| Criterion | Keeping the statusThe minimum for renewal | Reaching citizenshipActual residence |
|---|---|---|
| How many days | From none to a few days a year | More than half the year, every year |
| What is checked | That the investment is held and the policy is live | The entry stamps, the housing, the tax returns |
| The tax consequences | None arise | Tax residence with every duty that follows |
| Language and exams | Not required | Required in most EU countries |
| Who in the family meets it | Every person, on their own status | Every applicant for citizenship separately |
| What it achieves | The residence card is renewed | The right to apply for citizenship |
| Whom it suitsA BRIDGES estimate | You want a fallback status and Schengen without moving | The family is genuinely moving |
- How many days
- From none to a few days a year
- More than half the year, every year
- What is checked
- That the investment is held and the policy is live
- The entry stamps, the housing, the tax returns
- The tax consequences
- None arise
- Tax residence with every duty that follows
- Language and exams
- Not required
- Required in most EU countries
- Who in the family meets it
- Every person, on their own status
- Every applicant for citizenship separately
- What it achieves
- The residence card is renewed
- The right to apply for citizenship
- Whom it suitsA BRIDGES estimate
- You want a fallback status and Schengen without moving
- The family is genuinely moving
The thresholds are given at the programmes’ published rules on the date of checking; the tax consequences are counted separately for your own situation.
04 / What is in the guide
How the material is built
The PDF gathers the requirements on days, how presence is evidenced and the timings of naturalisation by programme.
- The essentials firstThree thresholds of presence that must not be confused.
- A status or citizenshipTwo tasks and different requirements on days.
- The order of workHow the programme is chosen to fit a real life.
- How it is countedWhat evidences presence at renewal.
- The limitsWhat makes people lose a status or fall short of citizenship.
- Your teamWho works through the pattern of presence and the tax consequences.
05 / The order of work
How the programme is chosen to fit your pattern
The real pattern of your life first, the country after. A programme that demands presence you cannot give means losing the status at the very first renewal.
- We settle the task
A fallback status, a base in Europe or a passport by naturalisation. How many days you will have to spend in the country, and which programme suits, follow from it.
- We count the pattern of presence
How many days you can genuinely live there, given work, the children’s school and the business. It is a constraint, not a wish: a pattern you cannot keep means losing the status.
- We check the tax consequences
The 183-day threshold, the centre of your life’s interests, the double-tax treaties. Counted before the move, not after the first year.
- We choose the programme for the pattern
For zero presence — Hungary, Greece, Malta, the UAE. For a mild one — Portugal. For a move with a prospect of citizenship — the country you will actually live in.
- We keep the record of days
Entry and exit stamps, tickets, leases. The record starts in the first year: it cannot be rebuilt after the fact at renewal.
- We renew the status
At renewal both the investment and the requirement on days are checked, for every member of the family separately.
07 / How it is counted
What evidences presence
Six things that are checked at renewal and on an application for citizenship.
- Entry and exit stamps
The main proof of presence. Where entry across internal Schengen borders leaves no stamp, tickets, invoices and contracts serve instead.
- Housing in the country
A lease or ownership for the whole term of the status. Some programmes check that the size matches the number of people living there.
- Medical insurance
A live policy for every person for the whole period. A lapsed policy is a formal ground to refuse renewal.
- Holding the investment
The property or the units have to stay in your ownership for the whole set period. Selling early means the whole family loses the status.
- Tax returns
Where you actually live, they are filed in the country of residence. For naturalisation the same returns become proof that the residence was unbroken.
- No long breaks
For naturalisation it is not only the total days that matter but their continuity: a long absence resets the accrued time in most EU countries.
The applicant keeps the record from the first year: the evidence cannot be rebuilt after the fact at renewal.
08 / The limits
What to take into account in advance
Five limits that make people lose a status or miss citizenship at the time they expected.
Zero presence leads to no passportThese are two different tasks
Hungary, Greece and Malta require no residence, but naturalisation in all of them is counted on an actual life there: 8 years in Hungary, 7 in Greece. A card in the pocket starts no clock.
The 183-day threshold works both waysResidence arises automatically
Moving in order to naturalise means tax residence of the new country. The duty to declare worldwide income arises at once, not once citizenship is granted.
Missing the requirement means losing the statusIt is checked at every renewal
Cypriot permanent residence may be cancelled if the holder does not visit the island once every 2 years. Getting the status back means a fresh application and fresh costs.
Schengen is not the same as the country of your statusThere is a limit on staying in the others
Maltese residence allows up to 90 days in any 180 in the other Schengen countries. Going beyond it is a breach of the visa rules, not a question about the Maltese status.
The record of days is kept by the applicantIt cannot be rebuilt after the fact
The department counts on stamps and documents. A lack of evidence at renewal is read against the applicant, so the record starts on the first day.
09 / Your team
Who works through your pattern
The pattern of presence and the tax consequences are worked through by the specialists who run these programmes.
The editorial record
The material was prepared and checked by
- First published
- 11 August 2026
- Last updated
- 11 August 2026
The official sources
- AIMA — the presence requirements for investorsAgência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo, Portugal · checked 11.08.2026The rule on minimum presence and how the status is renewed.
- The Ministry of the Interior of Cyprus — permanent residenceMinistry of Interior, the Republic of Cyprus · checked 11.08.2026The condition of visiting the island and the grounds for cancelling the status.
- Residency Malta Agency — MPRPResidency Malta Agency, the Government of Malta · checked 11.08.2026The holder’s rights and the limits on staying in the other Schengen countries.
- Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 — the rules on staying in SchengenThe Official Journal of the European Union · checked 11.08.2026The primary source on the length of a short stay in the Schengen area.
10 / Common questions
Questions about presence in the country
How many days a year do I have to live in the country on residence by investment?
It depends on the programme. Hungary, Greece, Malta, the UAE and Türkiye require no residence. Portugal asks for 7 days a year, Cyprus for a visit once every 2 years. The requirement is checked at every renewal.
Will I become a tax resident by taking residence?
No. The status by itself does not make you a tax resident: residence arises from living there more than 183 days a year, or from moving the centre of your life’s interests. It is a separate question, settled before the move.
Do the years of holding the status count towards citizenship?
Only where you actually live there. Naturalisation opens in Hungary after 8 years, in Greece after 7 and in Portugal after 10 — and everywhere it is the years of living in the country that count, not the time since the card was issued.
What happens if the requirement on days is not met?
At renewal the status will not be confirmed. In several programmes a decision can come earlier — Cypriot permanent residence, for instance, is cancelled after a long absence of visits. Getting it back means a fresh application and fresh costs.
How is presence evidenced?
By entry and exit stamps, and inside Schengen by tickets, invoices, leases and bank transactions. The applicant keeps the record: the department goes on documents, not on statements.
Is the requirement counted for the family or for each person?
For each person separately. A child’s or a spouse’s status is renewed on their own compliance, so the pattern is planned for the whole family, not only for the main applicant.
May I live in another Schengen country on a European residence permit?
Briefly, yes — within 90 days in any 180. Living permanently in another country of the Union needs that country’s own status: one country’s card gives no right to live in another.
Which programme suits if no move is planned?
Those that require no presence: Hungary, Greece, Malta, the UAE. If a passport is wanted as well, the answer is different: the Caribbean programmes grant citizenship with no residence at all.
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Take the guide and an analysis of your pattern
We will send the PDF with the requirements on days and find the programme that fits your real calendar.
- The requirement on days in each programme
- Where tax residence arises
- How many years of residence naturalisation asks for
- What evidences presence at renewal