Which Countries Offer Residency Without Buying Real Estate?

Finding residency without buying real estate has become the central planning question for investors eyeing Europe, as one property-based program after another has been restricted, repriced, or shut down. 

According to the OECD's International Migration Outlook 2025, golden visa schemes across member countries are being phased out and made more restrictive in response to concerns over their impact on local housing, with Greece doubling its real estate threshold to €800,000 in high-demand areas (Source: OECD). 

That pressure has pushed serious capital toward funds, startups, donations, and bonds instead of apartments. 

At Bitizenship, we help Bitcoin-aligned investors navigate exactly these non-property routes into European residency. 

This guide walks through the countries and structures that still work.

Key Takeaways

• Real estate is no longer the default route to European residency in 2026.
• Portugal offers residency through a fund, not property.
• Italy offers residency through a €250,000 startup equity investment.
• Funds, startups, donations, and bonds are the main property-free pathways.
• Bitizenship structures non-real-estate routes in both Portugal and Italy.

Why Real Estate Routes Are Disappearing

For more than a decade, the simplest path to a European residence permit was to buy an apartment. That era is closing fast. Governments have concluded that property-linked residency programs inflate local housing costs without delivering enough economic benefit, and they have acted accordingly.

• Portugal removed real estate as a qualifying route in October 2023.
• Spain abolished its golden visa entirely in April 2025.
• Greece raised its property threshold to as much as €800,000 in prime areas.
• The OECD has formally flagged real-estate-linked residency as exposed to housing-affordability pressure.

The result is a clear policy shift from passive property toward what regulators call "active" investment: funds, company equity, innovation, and sovereign debt. 

For investors, this is not bad news. It simply means the most durable routes now put capital into productive structures rather than housing stock. 

For a closer look at the property-free landscape, our guide to real estate alternatives for EU residency breaks down each option.

Countries That Offer Residency Without Buying Real Estate

Several European countries now run residency programs that involve no personal property purchase at all. The structures differ, but each one lets you secure a residence permit through capital rather than a deed. Below are the strongest property-free options in 2026, starting with the two routes Bitizenship structures directly.

1. Portugal: Residency Through a Fund

Portugal remains one of Europe's strongest residency options, and it is now entirely property-free. Since the 2023 reform, the qualifying route runs through regulated investment funds rather than real estate.

• The qualifying investment is €500,000 into an eligible fund.
• The stay requirement is just 14 days every two years.
• Permanent residency eligibility arrives after five years, subject to requirements.
• A pathway to citizenship follows later, subject to legal, language, and residency criteria.

Bitizenship's route here is the Bitizenship Portugal Fund, a Golden Visa-eligible private equity fund that invests in a fully owned Portuguese company focused on the Bitcoin ecosystem. Investors gain exposure to Bitcoin through the company's activities rather than through a direct Bitcoin purchase, and the investment must be transferred from a foreign bank account in euros. 

Portugal is the closest thing Europe offers to long-term optionality without relocating, since you can build toward permanent residency on a light-touch stay schedule.

2. Italy: Residency Through a Startup

Italy's Investor Visa, established in 2017 under Article 26-bis of Legislative Decree 286/1998, was never built around property. Its routes run through startups, established companies, philanthropy, and government bonds, and it has stayed stable while neighbours restricted or closed their programs.

• The innovative startup route requires a €250,000 equity investment.
• Processing typically takes three to six months.
• Visa approval comes before any capital is transferred.
• There is no minimum stay requirement to maintain the Investor Visa.

Bitizenship's Bitcoin Dolce Visa is structured around this startup route. Investors acquire a €250,000 equity stake in Bitizenship Italia S.r.l., a Milan-based Innovative Startup whose treasury is held in BTC as working capital and deployed for non-custodial Bitcoin Layer-2 validation and related R&D. 

It is important to be precise here: Italy is residency by investment, not citizenship by investment. The visa leads to residency, and Italian citizenship requires ten years of continuous legal residence at 183 or more days per year, plus B1 Italian.

3. Greece: The Startup and Capital Routes

Greece is best known for its real estate program, but it also runs non-property routes that many investors overlook. These options let you access Greek residency without owning a single square metre of Greek property.

• A startup investor route introduced in late 2024.
• Government bonds and other capital-market investments at higher thresholds.
• Bank deposit options at €500,000.
• No minimum physical presence required to hold the residence permit.

Greece's appeal is that it gives investors who want a capital-markets route, rather than equity in a single private company, an EU foothold with Schengen access. The trade-off is a longer citizenship timeline and a tax-residency requirement to access its preferential flat tax.

4. Hungary: The Guest Investor Permit

Hungary relaunched its Guest Investor Programme in 2024, and after abolishing its direct real estate purchase option in January 2025, the remaining routes avoid a personal property purchase. It is one of the newer entries that older comparison guides tend to miss.

• A €250,000 investment into a registered real estate fund (fund units, not direct property).
• A €1,000,000 donation to a public trust institution.
• A ten-year permit, renewable for another ten years.
• No minimum physical presence required.

Hungary's standout feature is permit duration: a decade of residency rights from a single qualifying investment is the longest initial validity of any European program. The fund route still carries indirect property exposure, so investors who want to avoid housing entirely should weigh that, but the structure is a fund subscription rather than a personal purchase.

Comparing the Property-Free Structures

Once you remove real estate, four structures dominate the landscape, and each carries a different risk and return profile. Choosing well means matching the structure to your goals, not just the headline price.

• Funds pool capital under a regulated manager, offering diversification and oversight (Portugal's route).
• Startup equity offers genuine upside and lower entry, with the risk and reward of a single company (Italy's route).
• Donations are the simplest structurally, with no management and no return.
• Government bonds are the most conservative, lending to a sovereign with near-zero default risk and no upside.

The startup and fund routes are where most value-focused investors land, because they put capital into productive structures rather than parting with it outright or accepting bond-level returns. Donations and bonds suit those who prioritize certainty and minimal administration over growth. 

For a wider view of how these structures rank against one another, our roundup of golden visa programs in Europe puts each in context.

What to Check Before Choosing a Non-Property Route

A property-free route removes the housing risk, but it introduces structural questions that a deed never raised. The quality of the underlying vehicle, the exit terms, and your documentation matter far more than the headline threshold.

• Verify that the investment vehicle actually qualifies under the program's current rules.
• Confirm the exit mechanism, including any withdrawal windows, before committing capital.
• Prepare source-of-funds documentation early, especially if your wealth is in Bitcoin.
• Use compliant, euro-denominated banking rails, since these investments cannot be made directly in Bitcoin.

These checks are not optional extras, they are where applications succeed or stall. Bitizenship's structures are built with shareholder information rights, defined withdrawal windows, and founder-led legal oversight precisely so investors are not negotiating protections after the capital is deployed. 

If your wealth sits in digital assets, our guide to Portugal Golden Visa alternatives covers how compliant, productive-capital structures handle the documentation burden.

Why Bitcoin Holders Are Drawn to Property-Free Routes

For investors whose net worth is denominated in Bitcoin, selling BTC to buy a foreign apartment has always felt like a forced trade. The shift away from real estate has, paradoxically, made European residency more attractive to this group, not less, because the surviving routes can align with a Bitcoin-aligned worldview.

• Fund and startup routes can offer indirect Bitcoin ecosystem exposure through their underlying activities.
• Neither requires liquidating BTC into property that sits idle.
• Both keep capital in compliant, regulated structures rather than passive housing.
• Both fit investors who think in decades, optionality, and mobility rather than square footage.

As our co-founder Alessandro Palombo puts it: 

"Most people save for a second home. The smartest ones save for a second passport. One gives you a better view. The other gives you and every generation after you options no amount of money can buy later." 

That mindset is exactly why property-free routes resonate with Bitcoin holders, and why our comparison of EU residency for Bitcoin investors focuses on structures rather than real estate.

Conclusion

Residency without buying real estate is no longer a workaround, it is the mainstream path into Europe in 2026. 

As property routes have been restricted or closed, funds, startups, donations, and bonds have become the durable ways to secure an EU residence permit, and Portugal and Italy lead the field with a fund route and a startup route respectively. 

Bitizenship structures both, pairing compliant non-property investment with indirect Bitcoin ecosystem exposure and end-to-end support. 

Outcomes are never guaranteed and depend on meeting all legal, residency, and language requirements, so the right move is always to start from your own goals. 

Get in touch with the Bitizenship team to find the property-free route that best fits your requirements.

Read Next:

• Which Residency Program Is Best for Digital Entrepreneurs?
• Best Golden Visa Alternatives for Bitcoin Holders After Spain's Closure
• Best Countries for Proving Source of Funds from Bitcoin Gains

FAQs:

1. Which countries offer residency without buying real estate in 2026?

Several European countries offer residency without buying real estate, including Portugal through regulated funds, Italy through startup equity, Greece through capital-market routes, and Hungary through its Guest Investor Programme. Bitizenship focuses on the Portugal fund route and Italy's startup route, both of which avoid property entirely and give Bitcoin-aligned investors a compliant path to EU residency.

2. Is Portugal still a real estate residency program?

No. Portugal removed real estate as a qualifying investment in October 2023, and residency now runs through eligible funds rather than property. Bitizenship's Portugal Fund is a Golden Visa-eligible private equity fund investing in a Portuguese company focused on the Bitcoin ecosystem, which means investors pursue residency without buying real estate at all.

3. Can I get residency without buying real estate through Italy?

Yes. Italy's Investor Visa was never property-based, and its most popular route is a €250,000 equity investment in an innovative Italian startup. Bitizenship's Bitcoin Dolce Visa uses this route through Bitizenship Italia S.r.l., a Milan-based Innovative Startup, giving investors residency without buying real estate while maintaining indirect Bitcoin exposure.

4. Does residency without buying real estate lead to citizenship?

It can, but the timelines differ by country and citizenship is never automatic or guaranteed. Portugal offers permanent residency eligibility after five years and a pathway to citizenship later, while Italy requires ten years of continuous legal residence for naturalization. Bitizenship frames both honestly so investors understand exactly what residency without buying real estate does and does not deliver.

5. Why are countries moving away from real estate residency routes?

Governments and the OECD have linked property-based residency programs to rising local housing costs and limited economic benefit, prompting restrictions and closures across Europe. This has shifted residency without buying real estate toward funds, startups, and other productive investments, which is the exact space Bitizenship operates in through its Portugal and Italy programs.

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Disclaimer:
This article is published by Bitizenship for informational and educational purposes only. It reflects Bitizenship's perspective on the investment migration market and is not intended as legal, tax, immigration, investment, or financial advice, nor as an offer or solicitation to subscribe to any investment product. Comparisons with other firms are based on publicly available information and our own assessment of structural differences in business models. We have aimed for accuracy, but descriptions of programs, regulations, and competitor offerings are necessarily summaries and may not capture every legal nuance. Program terms, eligibility criteria, processing times, tax regimes, and regulatory frameworks change frequently and vary by individual circumstances. The Bitcoin Dolce Visa involves an equity investment in Bitizenship Italia S.r.l., an Italian private company. Any investment decision should be made only after reviewing the official documentation and consulting independent legal, tax, and financial advisors qualified in the relevant jurisdictions. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Capital is at risk. Residency and citizenship outcomes depend on meeting all legal, language, residency, and integration requirements set by the relevant authorities and are never guaranteed. Always refer to official government and regulatory sources, and engage qualified professionals before acting on any information in this article.