Relocating to Portugal
Whether you are seeking greater freedom of movement across Europe, a tax-efficient base for your global affairs, or a high quality of life for you and your family, Portugal continues to be one of the most attractive relocation destinations in Europe. From Golden Visa and digital nomad routes to the newly designed Non-Habitual Residents (NHR 2.0/IFICI) regime, Portugal offers a suite of pathways tailored to internationally mobile individuals.
The Golden Visa is a popular option for non-EU nationals, providing residence rights in Portugal and free movement within the Schengen Zone. It requires a qualifying investment and meeting minimum stay requirements and can lead to permanent residence or citizenship after five years.
Key benefits include:
- European residence with Schengen travel rights
- Potential route to Portuguese permanent residence and citizenship
- Flexible stay obligations, enabling residency without full-time physical presence in Portugal
Portugal’s Golden Visa programme has adapted to meet evolving economic priorities, with a significant shift away from direct real estate investment. Today, one of the most prominent and popular pathways to Portuguese residency is through the investment in qualified funds. This route offers a professionally managed, diversified approach to investment while providing a clear path to European residency and potential citizenship.
When relocating to Portugal, the D2 and D7 visas are two of the most popular pathways for non-EU/EEA nationals — each designed for different personal and professional profiles. Both routes can lead to Portuguese residency, Schengen mobility and the possibility of long-term residence or citizenship after five years, subject to conditions.
The D7 Visa (sometimes called the Passive Income Visa) is tailored for individuals who have a stable source of passive income such as pensions, rental proceeds, investment returns or similar income streams — without the need to set up or operate a business in Portugal.
The D2 Visa (often referred to as the Entrepreneur or Business Visa) is designed for individuals who plan to start or run a business in Portugal or operate as self-employed professionals. Unlike the D7 route, active commercial involvement — such as incorporation of a Portuguese company or launch of a consulting practice — is a central requirement.
Designed for remote professionals, this route enables you to live in Portugal while working for international clients or employers.
Attractive for:
- Location-independent professionals seeking an EU base
- Individuals building lifestyle-driven global careers
- Those who want a structured European residency while maintaining international work
A major draw for relocating individuals is Portugal’s revised Non-Habitual Residents regime (NHR 2.0 / IFICI). This redesigned tax incentive framework offers attractive benefits for qualifying tax residents over ten calendar years, including:
- A 20% flat tax rate on qualifying Portuguese-sourced income
- Exclusion from tax on a range of foreign-sourced income streams (business profits, employment, royalties, dividends, interest, rents, and capital gains)
- A clear, structured incentive regime for professionals, entrepreneurs and investors
Meeting eligibility requirements involves timing your tax residency and specific application steps, and we guide you through each phase.
How we can help
Relocating to Portugal involves multiple interconnected considerations, from immigration and tax to lifestyle implications and long-term planning. Our team delivers:
- Personalised visa and residency planning – we assess your background, goals and options, and help you find the most suitable route or alternative structures.
- Tax and wealth advisory – we provide strategic advice on managing tax residency, optimising your global tax position and accessing incentives such as the NHR 2.0, ensuring compliance with Portuguese requirements. Tax planning is considered necessary before your actual move to Portugal, as arriving unprepared may result in unfavourable tax consequences that could have easily been avoided.
- Relocation support – from understanding documentation requirements to coordinating with local authorities, we help simplify administrative steps.
- Lifestyle and long-term integration – relocating to a new country involves far more than the move itself. From establishing your day-to-day life to planning for the future, we support clients in navigating the practical realities of living in Portugal — including local systems, schooling, healthcare access, and longer-term personal and family planning.
- Property law – Acquiring property in a foreign jurisdiction can present both legal and financial complexities, as local frameworks and procedures vary. Our role is to ensure that your focus remains on selecting the property that best suits your needs, while we manage the process behind the scenes. Through our trusted network of independent property lawyers, we coordinate all bureaucratic and procedural requirements, including comprehensive legal due diligence to confirm full regulatory compliance. This includes the drafting or review of reservation agreements, promissory purchase and sale agreements, and the preparation of the final public deed.
- Ongoing legal, accounting, and tax support – our support does not end once relocation has taken place. We continue to assist clients with ongoing legal, accounting and tax requirements, including residence permit renewals, compliance obligations, and any further visa applications as required, ensuring continuity and peace of mind as your life in Portugal evolves.
Residency Programmes - Full Details
Benefits
The Portuguese Golden Visa enables non-EU residents not only to be resident in Portugal, but also to move freely within the Schengen Zone.
Individuals who have been resident in Portugal for 5 years can apply for permanent residence. This is usually granted, if they can demonstrate that they have held a residence visa for the last 5 years. At the end of the 5th year of being classified as resident in Portugal an individual can apply for Portuguese nationality and therefore a Portuguese passport.
Further benefits include:
- Settlement in the EU.
- Visa-free travel to approximately 170 countries, including free movement within the Schengen Zone (26 European countries).
- Minimal residence requirements of only seven days in the first year and fourteen days in the subsequent two year periods. It is therefore possible to benefit from the Golden Visa programme without becoming tax resident.
- Individuals that choose to become tax resident in Portugal can benefit from the Non-Habitual Residents Programme (it is possible for non-EU individuals to apply to the two schemes simultaneously).
Financial/Other Obligations
The following investments qualify for the Golden Visa:
- Capital transfer of a minimum €500,000, for the acquisition of shares in a non-real estate collective investment entity, incorporated under Portuguese law. At the time of the investment, maturity must be at least five years in the future, and at least 60% of the value must be invested in commercial companies with headquarters in Portugal; OR
- The creation of ten jobs; OR
- Capital transfer of a minimum €500,000 for research activities, carried out by private or public scientific research institutions, integrated in the national scientific and technological system; OR
- Capital transfer of a minimum €250,000 for investment in supporting artistic productions, reflecting the national cultural heritage (or €200,000 in a low-density area). Such an investment can be, through; central and/or peripheral direct administration services, public institutes, entities that integrate the business and public sector, public foundations, private foundations with public utility status, inter-municipal entities, entities that are part of the local business sector, municipal associative entities and public cultural associations; OR
- Capital transfer of a minimum €500,000 for the incorporation of a commercial company, with headquarters in Portugal, combined with the creation of five permanent jobs. Alternatively a minimum €500,000 can be added to the capital of an existing commercial company, with headquarters in Portugal. This must be combined with the creation of at least five permanent jobs, or the maintenance of at least ten jobs, with a minimum five permanent employees, for a minimum period of three years.
Additional Criteria
Minimum Stay Requirements in Portugal:
- 7 days in the first year.
- 14 days in the subsequent periods of two years (i.e. years 2-3 and 4-5).
In order to obtain Portuguese nationality an individual must provide the following:
- A copy of an existing Portuguese Residency Card.
- A declaration issued by the Portuguese authorities stating that an individual has been resident in Portugal for the past 6 years.
- A Portuguese Criminal Record Check.
- A Criminal Record Check from the individual’s country of origin, duly translated and certified by the Portuguese Consulate and Apostilled.
- Proof that the individual has taken the official Portuguese language test for foreigners.
Benefits
Benefits:
- Ability to obtain Non-Habitual Resident Status (NHR) for 10 years – this includes exemption from tax on certain foreign income if specific requirements are met.
- Permanent Visa Free entry and movement in the Schengen Area.
- After a period of 5 years, being able to apply for permanent residence or Portuguese citizenship.
Financial/Other Obligations
Applicants must have proof of income, of at least, an amount equal or greater than the Portuguese guaranteed minimum wage, generated from:
a. pensions or revenue from retirement schemes
b. income from movable and/or immovable property
c. income from intellectual and financial assets
It is not possible to work in Portugal under the terms of the D7 Visa.
In 2024, the Portuguese guaranteed minimum wage is, 12 x € 820 = € 9,840, with a per capita increase for each family unit as follows: first adult – 100%; second adult and additional adults – 50%; children under 18 years old – 30%.
Accommodation is required in Portugal for a minimum 12 months. There are 3 possibilities; buying a property, renting a property or having a ‘term of responsibility’ signed by a family member or a friend, proving that they will provide accommodation to the applicant for 12 months
The individual will be Portuguese tax resident (183 day rule), which means that worldwide income will be taxed in Portugal.
Additional Criteria
To be eligible, an applicant must:
- Not be absent from Portugal for more than 6 months consecutively in any 12-month period, or 8 months intermittently over 24 months.
- ‘National Visa official documentation’, must be signed by the applicant; official documentation regarding minors and the incapacitated should be signed by the relevant legal guardian
- Two photos
- Passport (valid for at least three months)
- Valid Travel Insurance – this has to cover necessary medical expenses, including urgent medical assistance and the possibility of repatriation
- Criminal Record Certificate, issued by the competent authority of the country of the applicant’s nationality or of the country where the applicant has resided for over a year (except for applicants under sixteen), with the Hague Apostille (if applicable) or legalised;
- Request for criminal record enquiry by the Portuguese Immigration and Border Services (AIMA)
Benefits
Benefits:
- Ability to obtain Non-Habitual Resident Status (NHR) for 10 years – this includes exemption from tax on certain foreign income if specific requirements are met.
- Work remotely and legally from Portugal Mainland or either of the Islands of Madeira or the Azores.
- After a period of 5 years, being able to apply for permanent residence or Portuguese citizenship.
- Permanent Visa Free entry and movement in the Schengen Area.
Financial/Other Obligations
The individual must work in Portugal for a foreign company with headquarters in another country.
The applicant needs to prove that a work relationship exists:
• In the case of subordinate work, the applicant needs a work contract or a declaration by the employer confirming the link
• In the case of independent professional activity, the necessary documents will be; proof of company incorporation, or, a service provision contract, or, a document confirming the services provided to one or more entities.
Proof of an average monthly income, over the past three months of at least four monthly payments equal to the guaranteed minimum Portuguese wage (2024: 4 x € 820 = € 3,280).
Means of Subsistence in Portugal: 12 x Guaranteed Minimum Wage, net of any social security deductions (in 2024 these figures are, 12 x € 820 = € 9,840), with a per capita increase for each family unit as follows: first adult – 100%; second adult and additional adults – 50%; children under 18 years old – 30%.
Accommodation in Portugal for a minimum 12 months. There are 3 possibilities; buying a property, renting a property or having a ‘term of responsibility’ signed by a family member or a friend, proving that that person will give accommodation to the applicant for 12 months.
The individual will be Portuguese tax resident (183 day rule), which means worldwide income will be taxed in Portugal.
Additional Criteria
To be eligible, an applicant must:
• Not be absent from Portugal for more than 6 months consecutively in any 12-month period, or 8 months intermittently over 24 months.
• ‘National Visa official documentation’, must be signed by the applicant; official documentation regarding minors and the incapacitated are signed by the relevant legal guardian
• Two photos
• Passport (valid for at least three months)
• Valid Travel Insurance – this has to cover necessary medical expenses, including urgent medical assistance and the possibility of repatriation
• Criminal Record Certificate, issued by the competent authority of the country of the applicant’s nationality or of the country where the applicant has resided for over a year (except for applicants under sixteen), with the Hague Apostille (if applicable) or legalised;
• Request for criminal record enquiry by the Portuguese Immigration and Border Services (AIMA)
Benefits
The revised NHR (“NHR 2.0” or IFICI), effective from 1 January 2024, is a redesigned tax incentive scheme replacing the previous NHR (grandfathered).
Key tax benefits, available for 10 calendar years from the time one becomes tax resident in Portugal, are summarised as follows:
- 20% flat tax rate on qualifying Portuguese income.
- Exclusion from tax for foreign-sourced business profits, employment, royalties, dividends, interest, rents, and capital gains.
- Only foreign pensions and income from blacklisted jurisdictions remain taxable.
Financial/Other Obligations
The requirements include:
- Applying before 15 January of the year following tax residency in Portugal.
- Individuals must generally not have been tax residents in Portugal for the past five years.
- Eligibility is primarily for individuals employed in highly qualified professions.
- Typically require a bachelor’s degree and at least three years of relevant experience.
- Specific requirements apply to companies employing individuals who wish to qualify under this criterion.
- Annual confirmation is required by 31 March of the following year.
Additional Criteria
Criterion varies from person to person.
