Portugal Visa and Residency: Your Guide to Expat Visas in Portugal

Portugal is, without a doubt, one of the most popular destinations for expats, particularly retirees. Recent years have seen significant changes to its visa and tax policies, but there are still several excellent ways to obtain residency there.

Temporary Visas

North Americans are welcome to visit Portugal for up to 90 days as tourists, but if you wish to remain longer, you’ll need to apply for a long-stay residency visa.

Long-Term Visas

For most expats, there are three routes to long-term residency in Portugal.

Retiree (D7)

The most common visa for retirees or those living on passive income from outside of Portugal is the D7. You must show sufficient income from passive sources, suspension, real estate rentals, dividends, or other yielding investments. The minimum required income is around €820 per month for the main applicant, with another €410 for a spouse, and about €300 for each dependent child. Note that these are minimums, and that consular officials have wide discretion to ask for higher incomes.

Digital Nomad (D8)

The D8 visa is for digital nomads who have guaranteed employment outside the country. You must show a monthly income of at least €3,280 from employment or freelance contracts outside Portugal, and around €10,000 in a savings account.

The D8 visa comes in two flavors. There's a temporary stay visa for one year, but it doesn't give you the right to claim a residence permit subsequently and cannot be extended. A long-term visa is valid for four months, allows you to apply for a two-year residence permit on arrival, and can be renewed for 3-year periods. After five years, the residence permit can be converted into permanent residence or citizenship.

Both the D7 and D8 visas require that you spend at least 183 days of the year in the country, which triggers tax residency. Failure to do so will result in the visa being canceled.

Golden Visa (D9)

The D9 or Golden Visa offers residency through investment without having to live full-time in the country. Until October 2023, the D 9 was available to people investing in residential property. Currently, the only investment options are venture capital funds (€500,000 minimum), scientific or technical research (also €500,000 minimum), cultural, artistic, or national heritage projects (€250,000), or, less commonly, the creation of 8-10 jobs.

One of the big advantages of the D9 visa is that it doesn't require you to live in Portugal. You retain residency rights, but you only need to spend a few days every year in the country. Note that if you take advantage of this, however, it may affect your ability to apply for permanent residency or citizenship subsequently.

Family Reunification (D6)

For all of the above visa types, family members can apply for a D6 visa, which allows them to live with the main visa applicant in Portugal.

Permanent Residency

After living in Portugal for five years on a long-stay residency visa, visa holders may apply for permanent residency. This requires the ability to read, write, speak, and understand the Portuguese language at an A2 level.

Visa holders must adhere to specific “time spent in Portugal” requirements. During the first 24-month cycle, visa holders must be physically present in Portugal for 16 months with no absence lasting longer than six months, and not to exceed eight months during the combined period of validity.

During the subsequent temporary visa cycle, holders must remain in the country for at least 28 months during the three-year cycle with no absence greater than six months. At five years, the visa holder must remain in the country for at least 30 months of the next five-year cycle.

Citizenship

Portugal allows for dual citizenship without having to renounce citizenship in your home country.

The Portuguese passport is one of the most widely accepted in the world, allowing visa-free or visa-upon-arrival entry into 184 countries. Portuguese citizenship allows for free travel and the ability to work and live in any country in the European Union. Becoming a naturalized citizen of Portugal allows for lifetime access to the state healthcare system.

The process to apply for citizenship may be started after living full-time in Portugal for five years. Approval can take up to two additional years after the paperwork has been submitted.

Although both permanent residency and citizenship are similar in that they both require proficiency in the language, only citizenship offers a passport, the right to vote, and the ability to live anywhere in Europe.

Requirements and Documentation

Applying for a long-stay residency visa is a two-step process. The first step begins in your home country at a designated office assigned by the government of Portugal. This may be a Portuguese consulate, embassy, or for those applying from the US, a third-party company. After applying online, you will need to appear in person at a designated Portuguese consulate. Once approved, you will need to show your passport, in which the agency will paste a visa stamp valid for 120 days. This will allow you to remain in Portugal legally until you have your face-to-face appointment with SEF, the agency that processes and approves visa applications. This process cannot be started from within Portugal.

There are eleven required documents needed to apply, but more may be added by certain consulates or VFS.

• Application for National Visa, the same as the Schengen visa but specifically for Portugal. Every applicant must have their own packet of documents.

• A passport valid for at least six months after your 120-day visa expires, two color passport photos, and a notarized copy of the main page of your passport. Passports must have been issued within the last 10 years and have two black pages left. Passports older than 10 years with extensions added will not be accepted.

• If you are not a citizen of the country from which you’re applying, you need to show proof that you are a legal resident in that country. This step does not apply if you apply from your home country.

• Personal statement from each applicant declaring why they wish to live in Portugal. This should be a brief note, handwritten, dated, signed, and include: a description of yourself, such as your profession, and any ties to Portugal, like friends, family, or if you own property. Include where you plan to live, the name of the town, and the type of dwelling. Mention how you intend to get money for daily expenses.

• Proof of financial means and/or sufficient funds. You must show that you have at least 100% of the current minimum wage in Portugal. This figure changes annually. Note that applicants who only earn the minimum are less likely to succeed. You’ll need bank statements, investments, or other financial means.

• Proof of a funded bank account in Portugal and a NIF (Número de Identificação Fiscal), your Portuguese tax number. You may want to open a bank account and apply for your NIF while in the country. You will need to hire someone to do it for you. It's a good idea to fund this account with at least two years of the Portuguese minimum wage or more to help your visa to get approved.

• FBI criminal background check, or police check if living in a different country, which must be apostilled, and left in an original unopened envelope. The FBI has been processing these requests in three to five business days and charges a prepayment of $18 to $50. Requests can be made online. Children under the age of 16 do not need the FBI criminal record certificate.

• Request or release for a Portuguese criminal record check by SEF. VFS Global and other consulates outside of the US typically request this, while other consulates do not.

• Proof of private health insurance that works in Portugal, or Schengen travel insurance with medical benefits and covid coverage. Every applicant must have medical insurance with a minimum of $30,000 in coverage, valid for 120 days (the duration of your visa), have no deductible, explain what it covers, and must include COVID coverage. Be sure to highlight that Portugal is one of the Schengen states that it covers. Once you settle into life in Portugal, you will need to secure private health insurance to carry for the duration of your five-year temporary visa cycle.

• Proof of accommodations in Portugal, like a rental contract for one year or a deed to a property. This must be in Portuguese but can be accompanied by an English version. The contract must include the names of all adults who will be living in it, the address of the property, the owner’s name, and other pertinent information. If you have bought property, you can submit a home purchase agreement or Promissory Contract, if the sale is still in progress. If renting an Airbnb or similar property, you’ll also need a rental contract.

• Copy of marriage certificate or children’s birth certificates, if moving with a family. VFS Global requires these for children or a spouse relying on the other for financial support. Two adults applying individually usually do not need these.

Processing Time

The Portuguese government claims that a decision on visa requests should be made within 15 to 45 days of the documents being submitted, but in reality, approvals can take 180 days or more.

Applications to a Portuguese consulate or embassy should be submitted no more than 6-months from your intended arrival date. Those who apply through VFS Global should apply no more than 90 days prior to arrival. The FBI report cannot be older than six months. The start date of your rental lease or home contract can be the same as your arrival date, but if you are renting, you will probably be paying rent for several months prior to your arrival to hold your apartment.

You must arrive in Portugal within 90 days of the visa's expiry date and then wait for your appointment with SEF to convert it into a Título de Residência.

Cost

Once your visa is approved, you will receive an email asking you to submit your passport along with a prepaid return envelope. Your passport will return with a visa stamp valid for four months, which allows you two round trips between Portugal and your home country.

Applicants from the US who inform SEF of their travel dates will have their appointment scheduled in advance and indicated as a URL on their visa stamp. Enter the URL into your computer browser for appointment details. It may be at a SEF office close by or at the opposite end of the country. You can find the closest SEF office to you here.

If your appointment is not indicated on your visa, you can schedule one for yourself. As expected, the call center does answer in Portuguese but if you hang on until the end an English-speaking person should pick up.

The SEF website lists everything that you need to bring to your appointment, including: the application form, your passport showing the visa, proof of entrance into Portugal (visa stamp or boarding pass if you entered the EU through another country), proof of accommodation, proof of bank account, proof of private health insurance, proof of financial means including bank statements or other showing the past three months, proof of registering with the tax authorities (your NIF), plus any other documentation that might help.

Contacts

• 2012 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036

• Tel. (202) 350-5400

• Consular Section, tel. (202) 332-3007

• Web: https://washingtondc.embaixadaportugal.mne.gov.pt/en/

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