Relokato / Destinations / Portugal
🇵🇹 Portugal
D7 and D8 residence routes, NIF, AIMA residency and the IFICI regime — with deadlines and the official source for each step.
Relokato is not a law firm and does not provide legal services or legal representation. Use of this platform does not create an attorney-client relationship. The information provided is not a substitute for the advice of a licensed attorney. This platform is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney, in the terms of Texas Government Code §81.101(c).
23
Tasks in your Portugal playbook
5 yr
Before permanent residence eligibility opens
20%
IFICI rate on qualifying Category A & B income
€0
To start your plan
One-time cost to move
$9,000–$13,000
Relokato planning estimate for a one-time move to Portugal, as of September 2026. Single person moving from the US. One-time relocation costs only — government fees, apostilles, flights, shipping, rental deposits, and any professional help you choose to use. Legal or professional representation is not a published requirement of either Portuguese route. An estimate, not a quote.
Consular visa and AIMA fees, apostilles and certified translations, flights, a shipping container or air freight, and the first-lease deposit.
Living costs are separate and depend on your lifestyle — see our cost calculator for a full breakdown.
Pick your route
Residence routes
published by AIMA.
D7 — Passive Income
D7 Passive Income Visa
Live in Portugal on pensions, rental income, dividends or royalties. The income test is built on the guaranteed monthly minimum wage and on the per-capita percentages set for means of subsistence, both cited below. Renewable; eligibility for permanent residence opens after five years of temporary residence, subject to further conditions.
Minimum wage — Decreto-Lei n.º 139/2025, Art. 3.º
€920 per month (RMMG, 2026)
Article 3.º of Decreto-Lei n.º 139/2025 sets the guaranteed monthly minimum wage referred to in Article 273.º(1) of the Labour Code at €920, with effect from 1 January 2026. Every Portuguese income threshold on this page is a multiple or percentage of this figure.
Household percentages — Portaria n.º 1563/2007, Art. 2.º(2)
Means of subsistence: 100% of the minimum wage for the first adult, 50% for each further adult, 30% per childVerify
Article 2.º(2) sets the per-capita valuation against the guaranteed monthly minimum wage (RMMG, €920 in 2026), net of social security contributions: 100% for the first adult, 50% for the second and each subsequent adult, and 30% for children under 18 and dependent adult children. This is a separate question from whether and when a family member may come under Article 98.º — it is how the income requirement is calculated once they can.
Work rights — Lei 23/2007, Art. 83.º(1)(b)-(c) and 83.º(4)
A residence permit carries the right to work — employed or self-employed — without a separate authorisation
Article 83.º(1)(b) and (c) give the holder of a residence permit the right to exercise a subordinate professional activity and the right to exercise an independent professional activity. Article 83.º(4) goes further: a resident has the right to exercise any activity, subordinate or not, regardless of the type of residence visa or residence permit originally held. This is separate from the basis on which the visa is granted: the D7 is granted on the applicant's own regular passive income, and that income requirement is what the application is assessed against.
Lei n.º 23/2007, Article 83.º — rights of the residence-permit holder (consolidated text, PGDL) · source page as read 4 September 2026
D8 — Digital Nomad
D8 Digital Nomad Visa
Work remotely for people or companies domiciled or headquartered outside Portugal. Minimum €3,680/month (4× minimum wage, 2026), averaged over the previous three months. Renewable; eligibility for permanent residence opens after five years of temporary residence, subject to further conditions.
Income test — Art. 31.º-A(1)(c)
€3,680/month, averaged over the last three monthsVerify
Article 31.º-A(1)(c) asks for proof of average monthly income earned over the last three months, at least four times the guaranteed monthly minimum wage (€920 in 2026). It is an average of the three months, not a single month's figure.
Decreto Regulamentar n.º 84/2007, Article 31.º-A (consolidated text, PGDL) · 30 September 2022
Also required — Art. 31.º-A(1)(d)
Proof of tax residence is part of the applicationVerify
Article 31.º-A(1)(d) requires a document attesting the applicant's tax residence, alongside the employment contract or services evidence in (1)(a) and (1)(b).
Decreto Regulamentar n.º 84/2007, Article 31.º-A (consolidated text, PGDL) · 30 September 2022
Who you may work for — Art. 61.º-B
The client or employer must be domiciled or headquartered outside PortugalVerify
Article 61.º-B grants the visa for work performed remotely for natural or legal persons with domicile or head office outside national territory. The test is where the person or entity is domiciled or headquartered — not their nationality.
Lei n.º 23/2007, Article 61.º-B (consolidated text, PGDL) · 25 August 2022
Permit validity — Lei 23/2007, Art. 75.º
Residence permit: valid 2 years, renewable for successive 3-year periods
Article 75.º of Lei n.º 23/2007, in its current wording, sets the validity of the temporary residence permit at two years from the date of issue, renewable for successive periods of three years.
Lei n.º 23/2007, Article 75.º — validity of the temporary residence permit (consolidated text, PGDL) · source page as read 4 September 2026
Permanent residence — Lei 23/2007, Art. 80.º
Eligibility opens after five years of temporary residence — it is not automatic
Article 80.º lists the conditions the applicant must meet: at least five years of temporary residence; no conviction, during the last five years of residence, in a sentence or sentences which individually or cumulatively exceed one year of imprisonment; means of subsistence; accommodation; and knowledge of basic Portuguese. Meeting five years on its own does not grant the permit.
Lei n.º 23/2007, Article 80.º — permanent residence permit (consolidated text, PGDL) · source page as read 4 September 2026
Check this first
Your driving licence
may not have a clock on it.
For licences issued by listed OECD and CPLP states — the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Brazil among them — IMT's conditions can mean no countdown runs at all. Start with the exception. The deadlines below are what applies when it does not.
The exception
OECD and CPLP licences: exchange is optional if IMT's conditions are met
Under Decreto-Lei n.º 46/2022, IMT accepts licences from listed OECD and CPLP states — including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Brazil — for driving in Portugal even after the holder becomes resident. IMT's conditions, as listed on its page: the issuing state is covered by the Geneva 1949 or Vienna 1968 convention or by a bilateral arrangement with Portugal; the licence is valid and not suspended or withdrawn; no more than 15 years have passed since it was issued or last renewed; the holder is under 60; and the holder meets the Portuguese minimum age for the categories concerned. Read IMT's page for the full conditions before relying on this — outside them the 90-day / 2-year deadlines apply.
IMT — Driving licences issued by OECD and CPLP countries (Decreto-Lei n.º 46/2022) · source page as read September 2026
Where the exception does not apply, IMT counts these periods from the date your residence authorisation is issued — not from the day you land.
Window 1
Up to 90 days: keep driving, but file the exchange request
IMT counts these deadlines from the date the residence authorisation is issued. Within 90 days you may continue driving on the foreign licence, but you must have submitted the exchange request to IMT.
IMT — Troca de título de condução estrangeiro (convention/bilateral countries) · source page as read September 2026
Window 2
90 days to 2 years: you may still request the exchange, but may no longer drive
After 90 days and up to 2 years IMT still accepts the exchange request, but you can no longer drive on the foreign licence.
IMT — Troca de título de condução estrangeiro (convention/bilateral countries) · source page as read September 2026
Window 3
After 2 years: a practical driving test is required
After 2 years the foreign licence can no longer be used, and exchanging it for a Portuguese licence requires passing a practical driving test.
IMT — Troca de título de condução estrangeiro (convention/bilateral countries) · source page as read September 2026
Special regime · IFICI
IFICI taxes qualifying income at 20% for ten years.
Portugal's old NHR regime was revoked from 1 January 2024, though a statutory transitional regime keeps it open in defined cases. Its replacement is the Incentivo Fiscal à Investigação Científica e Inovação — IFICI, the name the statute and the tax authority use. You will also see it called “NHR 2.0”; that is an informal label, not the official one.
The 20% special rate is narrower than it is usually described. It applies to net Category A and B income earned within one of the activities listed in Article 58.º-A(1) of the EBF — not to all Portuguese-source income. Foreign-source income is exempt as a general rule, with pensions (Category H) excluded from that exemption, and income from listed low-tax jurisdictions taxed at 35%. Exempt foreign income is still taken into account when the rate on your remaining income is worked out.
Registration runs through the Portal das Finanças by 15 January of the year after you become tax resident (Portaria n.º 352/2024/1, Article 2). Missing that date does not forfeit the regime: the AT states that a late registration takes effect from the year it is made and runs for the remaining part of the original ten-year period — its own example is someone resident in 2025 who registers in 2029 and benefits for six years, through 2034. Registering on time is still what gives you the full ten. Relokato tracks the window and surfaces the right portal.
20% on Categories A & B10 yearsPensions excluded15 Jan deadline
IFICI, as written
What the statute
actually says.
Eligibility turns on the activity and, for the highly-qualified route, on the company you do it in. Read these before assuming the regime applies to you.
The rate — EBF Art. 58.º-A(2)
20% on net Category A and B income earned within the qualifying activity, for 10 consecutive years
Article 58.º-A(2) of the EBF applies the special 20% rate to the net income of Categories A and B earned within the scope of the listed activities, for ten consecutive years from the year of registration as resident, without prejudice to opting for aggregation. Other categories of Portuguese-source income follow the general IRS rules.
Estatuto dos Benefícios Fiscais, Article 58.º-A — IFICI (consolidated text, DR) · source page as read 17 August 2026
Foreign income
Foreign-source income: exemption as a general rule, except pensions (Category H)
The AT states the general rule as exemption from IRS for foreign-source income, except Category H (pensions). Income of any category paid by entities domiciled in a jurisdiction on the Portuguese list of clearly more favourable tax regimes is taxed at 35% under Article 81.º(5) of the CIRS.
Autoridade Tributária — Questões Frequentes: IRS > Incentivo Fiscal-IFICI · source page as read 4 September 2026
Who qualifies — Art. 58.º-A(1)
Only the activities listed in Article 58.º-A(1) qualify
Higher-education teaching and scientific research; qualified posts under contractual benefits for productive investment; highly qualified professions listed in Annex I of Portaria n.º 352/2024/1 — and only when carried out in a company with relevant investment in the year functions begin or in any of the five preceding financial years that benefits or has benefited from the RFAI investment regime, or in an industrial or services company with an Annex II CAE code exporting at least 50% of turnover; other qualified posts in activities recognised by AICEP or IAPMEI; R&D personnel whose costs qualify under SIFIDE II; posts in certified startups; and posts defined by regional decree in the Azores and Madeira. The AT adds that a services contract is not a "posto de trabalho" for these purposes.
Estatuto dos Benefícios Fiscais, Article 58.º-A — IFICI (consolidated text, DR) · source page as read 17 August 2026
Qualification floor — Portaria 352/2024/1 Art. 7.º(2)
Highly qualified professions: the worker must hold EQF/ISCED level 8, or level 6 plus three years of duly proven professional experienceVerify
Article 7.º(2) of Portaria n.º 352/2024/1 sets this qualification floor for workers in the Annex I professions, on top of the listed profession and the qualifying company. Article 7.º(4) adds that, for regulated professions, the taxpayer must also prove compliance with the other applicable legislation. Article 7.º(3) treats company directors, managers and general managers of RFAI companies as highly qualified professions in their own right.
Portaria n.º 352/2024/1 — regulates the IFICI regime (consolidated text, DR) · source page as read 25 February 2025
Exempt foreign income and your rate — CIRS Art. 81.º(4)
Exempt foreign income in Categories A, B, E, F and G is still counted when working out the rate on the rest
Article 81.º(4) of the CIRS, in the wording given by Lei n.º 82/2023, applies the exemption method to foreign income of Categories A, B, E, F and G for taxpayers under Article 58.º-A of the EBF, but that income is compulsorily aggregated for the purpose of determining the rate applicable to the remaining income. Exempt does not mean irrelevant to the rest of the calculation.
Código do IRS, Article 81.º — elimination of international double taxation (republication, AT) · source page as read 4 September 2026
The old NHR regime — Lei n.º 82/2023 Art. 236.º(3)–(5)
The old NHR regime was revoked from 1 January 2024, but Lei n.º 82/2023 Article 236.º(3)–(5) keeps it open in defined transitional cases
The AT states that NHR was revoked from 1 January 2024 and replaced by the IFICI, that it continues to apply to people already registered on that date, and that registration with effect to 2024 remains possible for people who became resident by 31 December 2024 and hold one of the elements listed in Article 236.º(3)(c) — among them a promise or contract of employment signed by 31 December 2023, a lease or property pre-contract signed by 10 October 2023, a school enrolment for dependants completed by 10 October 2023, or a residence visa or permit valid at 31 December 2023, or a visa/permit procedure begun by that date. Whether any individual case falls inside the transitional regime is decided by the AT.
Autoridade Tributária — Residente Não Habitual (RNH): Inscrição nas Finanças · source page as read 4 September 2026
Where you'll land
The four cities
most movers choose.
Lisbon
Capital & community
Biggest expat scene, strong tech jobs, hills, trams and the Tagus. Highest rents in the country.
Lisbon data →Porto
Charm & value
Smaller, slower, more affordable than Lisbon. Port wine, river views, growing remote-work hub.
Porto data →Cascais
Coast & families
Beach town 30 minutes from Lisbon. Popular with families, English-friendly, premium pricing.
Madeira
Nomads & nature
Year-round spring weather, Digital Nomad Village in Ponta do Sol, hiking, levadas, lower cost of living.
Common questions
Things people ask
before they commit.
How long does the whole process take?
As a Relokato planning estimate — not an official processing time — allow roughly 4–8 months from starting your paperwork to landing, and a further 6–12 weeks to finish your registrations after arrival. No Portuguese authority publishes an end-to-end timeline, and consulate appointment availability and AIMA scheduling are the variables that move it most. Treat these as planning numbers to build a schedule around, not commitments.
Do I need to speak Portuguese?
Not for the visa. Basic Portuguese is one of the conditions for permanent residence under Article 80.º of Lei n.º 23/2007, and in daily life it helps a great deal at SNS, Finanças and the junta de freguesia — most appointments are not in English, even in Lisbon.
Can I bring my family?
Family reunification is available on both routes, but since Lei n.º 61/2025 amended Article 98.º of Lei n.º 23/2007 — in force 23 October 2025, and applying to proceedings begun after that date — there is a waiting period before the sponsor can apply, with exceptions. Who counts as a family member is set separately by Article 99.º, and adult children are not treated like minor children. Whether and when a family member may come is one question; how much income you must show for them is a different one, set by Portaria n.º 1563/2007. The cards below state each of these from the statute.
What about my US/UK/Brazil taxes?
Portugal's double-tax treaty network is extensive and includes a convention with the United States. The Autoridade Tributária publishes the count on its "Convenções e Quadro Resumo" page: 79 conventions signed, 78 of them in force. Home-country obligations don't disappear, and cross-border tax questions are worth putting to a qualified professional. Relokato reminds you to file home-country notifications (IRS Form 8822, HMRC P85, etc.).
Is Relokato a lawyer or contabilista?
No. Relokato is a planning tool — a personalised playbook with deadlines, official sources, and step-by-step guides. For the visa application itself and tax filings, we recommend working with a Portuguese contabilista or immigration lawyer.
Family reunification — general waiting period
General rule: the sponsor must have held a valid residence permit for at least two years
Article 98.º(1), as amended by Lei n.º 61/2025 (in force 23 October 2025), gives the holder of a residence permit valid for at least two years the right to reunification with the family members covered by Articles 99.º and 100.º, provided they have lived with the sponsor or depend on them, whether the family ties predate or postdate the sponsor's entry into Portugal. Article 8.º of Lei n.º 61/2025 applies the change to administrative and judicial proceedings begun after it came into force.
Family reunification — spouse or equivalent partner
Spouse or equivalent partner: 15 months, after 18 months of cohabitation before the sponsor's entry
Article 98.º(2) shortens the permit-duration period to 15 months for a spouse or equivalent partner who lived with the sponsor for at least 18 months in the period immediately before the sponsor entered Portuguese territory.
Family reunification — when the waiting period does not apply
The two-year period does not apply to three categories of family member
Article 98.º(3) disapplies the period in Article 98.º(1) to: dependent minor or incapacitated family members; a spouse or equivalent partner who is, together with the sponsor, the parent or adopter of a dependent minor or incapacitated person; and family members of a sponsor whose residence permit was granted under Articles 90.º, 90.º-A or 121.º-A. Article 98.º(4) allows the periods in both (1) and (2) to be waived or reduced in duly reasoned exceptional cases, by order of the government member responsible for migration, having regard to the nature and solidity of the family ties and the effectiveness of the person's integration in Portugal.
Who counts as a family member
Who counts as a family member is set by Article 99.º, and adult children are treated differently from minors
Article 99.º(1) lists: the spouse; minor or incapacitated children dependent on the couple or on one of the spouses; minors adopted under a decision recognised by Portugal; adult children dependent on the couple or on one of the spouses who are unmarried and studying at an educational institution in Portugal; the same for adult children of a sponsor holding a permit under Article 90.º-A, where the study need not be in Portugal; dependent first-degree ascendants in the direct line of the resident or their spouse; and minor siblings under the resident's guardianship by a decision recognised by Portugal. Reunification with a minor or incapacitated child of one spouse requires the other parent's consent or a decision entrusting the child.
Lei n.º 23/2007, Article 99.º — family members (consolidated text, PGDL) · 23 October 2025
Income required for family members
Means of subsistence: 100% of the minimum wage for the first adult, 50% for each further adult, 30% per childVerify
Article 2.º(2) sets the per-capita valuation against the guaranteed monthly minimum wage (RMMG, €920 in 2026), net of social security contributions: 100% for the first adult, 50% for the second and each subsequent adult, and 30% for children under 18 and dependent adult children. This is a separate question from whether and when a family member may come under Article 98.º — it is how the income requirement is calculated once they can.
Double-tax treaty network
79 double-tax conventions signed, 78 of them in force — including one with the United States
The Autoridade Tributária publishes the count itself on its "Convenções e Quadro Resumo" page: 79 conventions, of which 78 are in force and 1 is signed and awaiting entry into force.
Autoridade Tributária — Convenções e Quadro Resumo das Convenções · source page as read 4 September 2026
Ready for
Portugal?
Portugal?
Free to start · No credit card · 10 minutes to your full plan