Live in Portugal – your residency options

Portuguese temporary residence permit minimum stay requirements

There is a minimum amount of time that you must live in Portugal each year during the validity of each temporary residence permits mentioned below.

You must spend at least sixteen months in Portugal per two-year period, without exceeding six consecutive months or eight non-consecutive months outside of the country.

The D7 Visa (Passive Income Visa)

Also known as the Retirement Visa or Type I Visa, this is a residence visa for foreigners living off their own income, intellectual property, financial investments or professional religious activity, as long as they can show evidence of earnings or savings which demonstrates that they can support themselves financially long-term without working or using Portuguese welfare services. This may include retirees or pensioners with a recognised, stable income.

To be eligible for the visa, you must be based in Portugal for up to eight months of the year (or six consecutive months) and have proof of sufficient funds to support your life in Portugal. These funds must be available for use in Portugal.

You’ll need to apply for a residence permit within six months of arriving in Portugal. This permit is renewable every two years, and after five years you can change it to a permanent residence permit.

Portugal's Golden Visa

Portugal’s Golden Residence Permit Programme (GRPP), also called the Golden Visa, is the most popular and well-known residency opportunity in Europe. Investors are attracted to its flexibility and benefits such as visa-free travel throughout the European Schengen Area.

The Golden Visa is a five-year residence-by-investment programme for non-EU nationals that provides you and your immediate family members with a permit to live and work in Portugal. The program only requires you to stay in Portugal for a period of seven or more days in the first year, and 14 or more days in subsequent years.

Other popular Portuguese visa options

Independent Professional Activity or Migrant Entrepreneurs Visa – D2 visa

Freelancers (self-employed) are considered active entrepreneurs in Portugal and are legally eligible to apply for a residency permit under Portuguese immigration article 89.

Residence permit for self-employment purposes is only granted to third-country nationals who have a legal identity or freelancer professional’s employment relation in Portugal and is required to be registered in the Social Security System in Portugal.

The Startup Visa

The Startup Visa is aimed at attracting entrepreneurs from outside the EU who either own a company already or who are considering launching a new business and growing it in Portugal.

Applications for this visa require solid business and financial plans demonstrating that the start-up has strong potential to create jobs and that it will be able to generate a certain yearly turnover. 

Your project must be included in a certified business incubator and pre-registered at IAPMEI, I.P..

Tech Visa

This visa programme allows companies to hire highly-qualified tech talent from around the world and help facilitate their entry into the country.

Applicants must have a minimum level of qualification and experience in order to qualify and businesses may not have more than 50% of their employees on the Tech Visa, unless their focused activities are mostly within Portugal, in which case the limit is 80%.

This page is for informational purposes only. Unfortunately, we cannot currently assist with Portuguese visas outside of the Golden Residency Permit and D7.