Portugal visas and residence permits in 2026: the complete guide (D7, digital nomad, work, family, CPLP, Golden Visa)

Start from where your money or your reason to be in Portugal comes from, not from the visa letter you have heard of. Consulates refuse files that put a real situation into the wrong box, for example remote-work salary filed as passive income. Use the table to find your route, then read that section.2 sources

Two shortcuts exist. Highly qualified workers who entered and stayed in Portugal legally can apply for their permit without a residence visa, and Golden Visa investors enter Portugal legally (with a Schengen visa if their nationality needs one) and apply within 90 days. Everyone else should expect to apply at a consulate first.1 source

A residence visa lets you enter Portugal twice and stay four months, long enough to attend AIMA and apply for your permit. By law the visa also comes with a pre-authorisation of residence that provisionally assigns your tax number (NIF), Social Security number (NISS) and National Health Service (SNS) number. Temporary stay visas, used for stays under a year, are a different product and do not lead to a residence card.2 sources

Your first temporary residence permit is valid for two years from the date the card is issued and is renewed for three years at a time. After five years of temporary residence you can apply for permanent residence, whose card is renewed every five years. EU Blue Cards follow the same two-then-three-year rhythm, while Golden Visa permits are renewed every two years.1 source

The deadlines are written into law. A consulate must decide a residence visa within 60 days, a temporary stay visa within 30. AIMA must decide a first residence permit within 90 days, extendable once by 30 days in exceptional cases, and a renewal within 60 days. AIMA has often missed these deadlines, which is why the court remedies section matters.3 sources

Four laws and one administrative rule reshaped the system in the last 18 months. If a friend moved in 2023 or 2024, their experience is a poor guide to yours.4 sources

Coming next: the Government must deliver its 2027 State Budget proposal to Parliament by 12 October 2026 (it had not been presented on 5 October), with a final vote set for 24 November. The 2027 minimum wage, which resets every income threshold in this guide, is expected to rise to €970 under the 2024 tripartite agreement, but had not been formally set.2 sources

Every income test is built on the national minimum wage (retribuição mínima mensal garantida), set at €920 a month for 2026 by Decreto-Lei n.º 139/2025. The means-of-subsistence rule in Portaria n.º 1563/2007 is per head: the first adult counts at 100%, each additional adult at 50% and each child, or dependent adult child, at 30% of the minimum wage.4 sources

The D7 (passive income) applicant must show at least one minimum wage, so €920 a month or €11,040 a year for a single person. The 12-month savings figure is consular practice rather than a number written in the law: US consulates ask for those means for at least 12 months and spell it out as 12 minimum wages in savings for one adult, plus 50% per extra adult and 30% per child, held so the income is available in Portugal through a Portuguese bank account.3 sources

The digital nomad applicant must prove average monthly income over the last three months of at least four minimum wages, €3,680, under Article 31.º-A of Decreto Regulamentar n.º 84/2007. The law sets no separate family uplift for this visa: accompanying family members fall under the general per-head rule, which adds 50% (€460) of one minimum wage for a partner and 30% (€276) per child. Some advisers multiply the uplifts by four instead, so confirm the household figure with your consulate before you file.4 sources

Use the calculator below to get your monthly and annual threshold for either visa and the D7 savings figure for your household. The numbers move every January with the minimum wage: the 2025-2028 tripartite agreement signed in October 2024 sets €970 for 2027, which would lift the single D7 floor to €970 and the remote-work floor to €3,880, but that figure is agreed, not yet decreed, as of 5 October 2026.3 sources

The D7 is for people whose income arrives without them working for it: state or private pensions, rent from property, dividends and interest from investments, royalties. The consulate wants a document certifying the amount and regularity of that income and proof it is available in Portugal, which in practice means a Portuguese bank account.2 sources

The two most common reasons files fail are the wrong kind of income and weak accommodation. A salary, freelance invoices or profits from a business you run are active income and belong in the digital nomad or work routes. For housing, consulates want 12 months secured: a deed, a long-term lease registered with the tax authority, or a notarised statement from a host; a holiday booking will not do.3 sources

Your criminal record certificate must come from your country of nationality or any country where you lived for more than a year, apostilled, and US consulates want it issued less than 90 days before you file. Travel insurance must cover medical expenses, urgent care and repatriation; Brazilians with the PB4 form and British pensioners with an S1 can use those instead.2 sources

This visa is for people who work remotely for employers or clients outside Portugal. Employees show a work contract or an employer declaration confirming the job; freelancers and company owners show a company contract, service contracts or other proof of services provided. You also need proof of your tax residence and three months of payslips or invoices matched by bank statements.3 sources

The money test is an average: at least €3,680 a month across the last three months, and consulates measure the minimum wage net of social-security deductions. One weak month does not sink you if the average holds. The London consulate also asks for an available bank balance of at least €920 on top of the income.3 sources

There are two versions. The residence visa leads to a residence permit and a path to permanent residence and citizenship. The temporary stay visa covers stays of less than a year and does not. Choose the residence version if you intend to settle.3 sources

If a Portuguese employer hires you, apply for the subordinate work visa (D1) with an employment contract or promise of contract. If the profession is regulated in Portugal, as nursing or engineering are, add proof that you are licensed to practise. The contract itself counts as your proof of means, and the employer can sign a statement of responsibility.1 source

Highly qualified jobs use the D3 route, backed by a contract, an invitation from a university or research centre, or a statement from a certified company. The Tech Visa is that certification: IAPMEI accredits Portuguese tech companies so they can hire non-EU staff with a bachelor's degree, or a lower tertiary qualification plus five years' specialised experience, on a faster track. Holders of these permits can bring family without the two-year wait.3 sources

The EU Blue Card needs a highly qualified job contract of at least six months paying at least 1.5 times the national average gross annual salary, or 1.2 times for professions in shortage. It is valid for two years, then three, and gives the strongest mobility rights inside the EU. You can apply at the consulate or, if you are already legally in Portugal, directly at AIMA.2 sources

Self-employed people and entrepreneurs use the D2 route with service contracts, or proof of investment made or planned and funds available in Portugal. Founders of innovative companies can go through the Startup Visa: an IAPMEI-certified incubator signs an incubation contract and IAPMEI issues the declaration you take to the consulate. Since 11 September 2026, work-permit holders can change employer, and self-employed residents can change activity, by notifying AIMA without a new card.3 sources

Students need admission to a recognised institution, proof of means, insurance and accommodation. Scholarship holders, students of higher-education institutions approved for this purpose, and Portuguese-speaking nationals admitted to higher education are exempt from proving means. Researchers admitted to a recognised research centre are exempt from insurance, contract and means requirements.2 sources

A higher-education student's residence permit lasts three years, renewable, or the length of the programme if shorter. Students and researchers may work alongside their studies, employed or self-employed.1 source

The easiest way to bring family is to apply together. The law lets your spouse, minor children and other qualifying relatives apply for accompanying residence visas at the same time as you, and consulates assess the household's means under the per-head rule. Each person files and, except children under six, pays their own €110 fee.3 sources

Family reunification (D6) is for relatives who join you later. Your sponsor applies to AIMA first; only after AIMA approves can the relatives file their visas, within 90 days. Since Lei n.º 61/2025, the sponsor generally needs a residence permit held for at least two years, or 15 months for a spouse who lived with them for at least 18 months before they came. AIMA has nine months to decide, a deadline that can be extended in exceptionally complex cases outside the standard two-year route.3 sources

The two-year wait does not apply to minor or incapacitated dependants, to a spouse who is the other parent of such a child, or to families of highly qualified, teaching or cultural workers, Golden Visa investors and EU Blue Card holders. Spouses and partners must both be at least 18 and the marriage or de facto union must be valid under Portuguese law.2 sources

Reunification now comes with conditions: housing considered normal for a comparable family, means without relying on social benefits, and, after arrival, Portuguese language and civic training and school attendance for children. Renewals of family permits depend on meeting them.1 source

Nationals of Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, East Timor and Equatorial Guinea apply under the CPLP Mobility Agreement regime. It uses the same visa purposes with lighter evidence: proof of means can be replaced by a statement of responsibility from the employer or host, or from a Portuguese citizen or resident who guarantees food and lodging, backed by their tax return and three months of bank statements.2 sources

Since 23 October 2025 the CPLP residence permit is only for CPLP nationals who hold a residence visa. Entering visa-free as a visitor and then applying in Portugal no longer works, and the old expression-of-interest route closed for good on 31 December 2025.3 sources

The payoff is a shorter citizenship clock: seven years of legal residence instead of ten. Pre-2026 plans built on five years no longer hold unless the naturalisation application was already filed by 18 May 2026.2 sources

The Golden Visa still exists, but property no longer qualifies: Lei n.º 56/2023 (Mais Habitação) removed real-estate purchases and plain capital transfers in October 2023. The routes left are a €500,000 subscription in Portuguese non-real-estate investment funds with at least five years to maturity and 60% invested in Portuguese companies; €500,000 for scientific research; €250,000 for arts or cultural heritage; €500,000 to set up or recapitalise a Portuguese company with five permanent jobs, or to keep ten jobs; or creating ten jobs.3 sources

The research, cultural and job-creation thresholds drop by 20% in low-density areas, to €400,000, €200,000 and eight jobs. The investment must be held for five years from the grant of the permit.2 sources

Investors do not need a residence visa: they enter Portugal legally, with a Schengen visa if their nationality requires one, and apply within 90 days of first entry. Permits are renewed every two years, and you must spend at least 7 days in Portugal in the first year and 14 days in each later two-year period. Family reunification is exempt from the two-year wait. Permanent residence is still available after five years, but naturalisation for non-EU, non-CPLP investors now takes ten years.4 sources

Plan backwards from the date you want to move. Documents with short validity, such as criminal record certificates, should be issued within 90 days of your consular appointment, so order them last.2 sources

When the visa is issued it normally carries an AIMA appointment date. If no slot was available, the sticker is printed without one and you must request an appointment through AIMA's contact form once in Portugal, choosing the subject that matches your visa. Use your own email address: AIMA communicates by email.1 source

Every residence visa uses the same backbone; your route adds its specific proof on top. The consulate can ask for more, and incomplete files can be refused with no fee refund, so build the full set before you book.2 sources

The official consular fee for a national visa is €110 per applicant. Children under six, descendants joining a resident under family reunification, Portuguese-government scholarship holders and highly qualified researchers are exempt. Where a provider such as VFS Global or BLS handles applications, it charges its own service fee, which varies by country.2 sources

AIMA charges its own fees for the residence permit application and card; check AIMA's current fee table before your appointment. A visa appeal costs €75, except for family reunification files.2 sources

The larger costs are usually in the file, not the fees: apostilles and certified translations for every civil and criminal record document, insurance, the deposit and first rents on a 12-month lease, travel to the consulate and to Portugal, and a lawyer if you use one. Budget for each family member separately, because every applicant needs their own documents.2 sources

If your permit application is pending through no fault of yours, the law lets a residence-visa holder work while it is decided. You can start using the provisional NIF, NISS and SNS numbers issued with the visa.1 source

Travel is where people get caught. A valid residence visa or residence card lets you cross Schengen borders and move within the area, and holders are not registered in the EU Entry/Exit System (EES), which has fully replaced passport stamps for short-stay visitors since 10 April 2026. Once your visa has expired and you only hold a receipt, assume you cannot travel: the decree-law extensions were explicitly valid only inside Portugal, and airlines and other states expect the original valid document.5 sources

Visitors and anyone travelling on a visa-free short stay remain limited to 90 days in any 180. ETIAS, the online travel authorisation for visa-exempt visitors, is not yet operating: the EU's ETIAS portal has dropped its last-quarter-2026 target and no new start date had been announced by early October 2026.3 sources

Apply to renew online no later than 30 days before your card expires. To renew you must still have means of subsistence and accommodation, be up to date with tax and Social Security, and have no prison sentences adding up to more than a year. AIMA has 60 days to decide.1 source

Permanent residence is available after five years of temporary residence, with means, accommodation, a clean record and basic Portuguese. It has no expiry, though the card is renewed every five years.1 source

Naturalisation under Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2026 requires seven years of legal residence for nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries and EU member states and ten years for everyone else, plus tests of Portuguese language and culture and of civic knowledge, and a solemn declaration of adherence to democratic principles. Applications already pending on 19 May 2026 keep the old five-year rule.3 sources

Two counting rules matter. Legal residence means holding a valid title, visa or authorisation, so time on your residence visa counts; but the 2024 provision that counted time from the date you applied for your first permit was repealed, so a pending application alone does not. And the years may be added up with gaps, but must fall within a 9-year window for EU and CPLP nationals, 12 years for others, or 6 years for stateless people (who need 4 years). Use the clock below: naturalisation counts from when your legal residence began, permanent residence from your first permit.1 source

A refused visa comes with written reasons. You can complain to the consulate within 15 days, appeal to the Foreign Minister within three months (fee €75), or sue in the Administrative Court of Lisbon within three months, and you can do the last two at once. Often the quicker fix is a new, complete application that answers the refusal.2 sources

If AIMA misses its deadline, send a written request asking it to decide. If it still does nothing, the standard remedy is an administrative action asking the court to order AIMA to issue the decision (Article 66 of the administrative courts procedure code, CPTA). The right to bring it expires one year after the legal deadline for deciding has passed.3 sources

Since 23 October 2025, Lei n.º 61/2025 channels cases about AIMA decisions and silence into that ordinary administrative action. The fast-track urgent procedure (intimação) is reserved for cases where AIMA's inaction seriously and directly harms fundamental rights, and judges may weigh AIMA's caseload and resources before ordering it to act.2 sources

The courts are under strain too. In May 2026 the president of the Supreme Administrative Court said a special team of 28 judges had sent AIMA more than 12,000 orders and about 7,000 judgments in a month and a half, and put the volume of cases at 133,000.1 source