Types Of Visas In Portugal: Explained

Portugal, with its sun-soaked beaches and historic allure, beckons many a traveler.
Yet, the key to this Iberian treasure lies in understanding its varied visa offerings.
Whether you’re a tourist, student, or entrepreneur, let’s journey through Portugal’s visa tapestry together.
Is A Permit Required To Visit Portugal?

Foreigners hoping to visit or relocate to Portugal might select a visa category based on the length of their stay.
EU/EFTA Residents
You do not need a visa to enter Portugal as an EU/EFTA citizen. You have the option of staying in Portugal for three months. You get 90 days in a 180-day period to spend in Portugal for tourism, family visits, work, and so on.
Family members of EU/EFTA nationals are also permitted to travel visa-free for 90 days. If you intend to stay for an extended period, you must seek a registration certificate. After five years, you can seek permanent residency.
Non-EU/EFTA Residents
If you are not a citizen of the EU/EFTA, you will need a visa to visit Portugal for less than three months. On the other hand, Portugal is one of the easiest countries to visit because it has diplomatic relations with 61 countries.
You do not require a visa for short stays if your home country is on the list, which includes the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. If you intend to stay in Portugal for over three months, you must first apply for a long-term visa.
Portuguese Visa Types

Short Stay Visas, Long-stay National Visas, and Temporary Stay National Visas are the three primary types of Portuguese Visas. Let us go over each form of visa.
Short-Term Visas (Schengen Visas)
A Short-stay visa, often known as a Schengen visa, allows you to stay up to 90 days. EU/EFTA nationals and those from the 61 countries with visa-free travel agreements only need this visa to visit Portugal for a maximum of 90 days.
This visa is issued for tourism, visiting relatives, airport transit, and other transitory travel purposes, and it allows visa holders to travel across the Schengen area.
There are three categories of Portuguese Schengen visas: general short-stay visas, seasonal work visas, and airport transit visas.
A Schengen visa typically costs €80, with children aged 6 to 12 paying €40. Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine pay only €35. Children under the age of six are not charged.
Temporary Stay National Visas

If you want to stay in Portugal for more than 90 days, you must apply for a Temporary Stay visa, which permits you to stay for up to a year.
Throughout the year, you can enter the country anytime you wish. A temporary stay national visa is not required for EU/EFTA nationals or their family members.
Even if you are from a nation with a visa-free travel agreement, you must obtain a Temporary Stay visa if you intend to stay in Portugal for more than 90 days.
Temporary Stay visas come in various forms, including temporary employment visas, study visas, professional training or internship visas, medical treatment visas, youth mobility visas, self-support visas, and religious purposes visas.
A Temporary Stay national visa costs €75, although minors under the age of six are exempt.
Long Stay National Visas (Residency Visas)
A Long Stay National visa, often known as a Residency visa, permits stays of up to one year. Non-EU/EFTA nationals must apply for this visa if they intend to stay in Portugal for more than a year, even if their country has a visa-free travel agreement with Portugal.
In order to apply for this visa, you must first get a resident permit from the Portuguese Immigration and Borders Service (SEF). You must provide proof that you can financially support yourself during your stay.
There are several types of long-stay national visas available, including work visas, study visas, professional training or internship visas, family reunion visas, the Portugal Golden Visa, the Portugal D7 Visa, and the D2 Entrepreneur Visa. A Long Stay national visa costs €90.
Long-Term Residency Visas In Portugal: Which Is Best For You?

The Golden Visa, D7 Visa, and D2 Visa are the most well-known Long Stay Residency visas in Portugal. You must be a non-EU/EEA/Swiss national to be eligible for these. These visas have similar advantages.
The benefits of being able to travel freely within the Schengen region, study and work in Portugal, family reunification, and eventually becoming eligible for Portuguese citizenship are too many to list. In the final section, we will discuss the tax benefits of these visas.
Update 2023: Portugal’s Golden Visa Is Set To Expire
Portugal stunned the world in February 2023 when the government announced the termination of the Golden Visa scheme, which had been implemented to address the housing issue.
The program will be closed to new applicants, according to the government’s notice, which particularly mentions real estate investment choices.
Portugal’s Golden Visa: Investment Opportunities

So, what kinds of investments may you make in order to get a Portugal Golden Visa? There are five different types of investments!
Investing In Real Estate
Buying a home is the most frequent sort of investment. Real estate in a low-density area of Portugal can be purchased for €400,000.
Alternatively, you can buy over-30-year-old real estate in an urban rehabilitation region and renovate it for at least €350,000. You may also buy a house for €500,000.
If you do not rent out the property, you will not have to pay any taxes on it. If you do, your income will be taxed at a rate of 28%. Property cannot be purchased in Lisbon, Porto, or seaside towns after 2022.
Investment Trust
You can invest a minimum of €500,000 in a qualifying Portuguese investment fund. These “fundos de capital de risco” are investment funds that help Portuguese enterprises.
The minimum sum used to be €350,000; however, it was raised to €500,000 in early 2022.
Capital Transfer
A €1.5 million capital transfer is the most expensive option. You must provide proof of bank transfers to Portugal from a foreign account totaling this amount.
The minimum sum was previously €1 million, but it was raised to €1.5 million at the start of 2022.
Job Growth

Another alternative for investing is to create jobs in Portugal. In this part, you have two choices:
- Create at least ten new full-time positions in your Portuguese business.
- Alternatively, invest a minimum of €500,000 in an existing Portuguese business and generate a minimum of five new full-time employees within three years.
Donation

In Portugal, you can also make a donation. In this category, there are two options:
- Invest a minimum of €250,000 in protecting national heritage in Portugal.
- Alternatively, spend at least €500,000 in a research and development operation in Portugal.
D7 Visa In Portugal
The D7 Visa, commonly known as the Retirement or Passive Income Visa, is intended for distant workers and digital nomads.
The Portugal D7 Visa, which requires no investment, was launched in 2007. This visa is intended for non-EU/EEA/Swiss citizens with a reasonable passive income who wish to reside in Portugal.
This income can come from various sources, including real estate, a retirement pension, a wage, and so on.
The candidate must have a minimum passive income of €8,460 per year. You must add 50% to this (€4,230) for a spouse and 30% to this (€2,538) for a dependent child.
As a result, a couple with one child would need to earn roughly €15,300 per year to be eligible for the D7 Visa.
You must spend at least 16 months in Portugal over the first two years to qualify for this visa. Along with a clean criminal background, you must produce proof of address in Portugal (rental or purchase) while applying.
This visa facilitates family reunification by granting your family members the same residency privileges as you.
Key Differences Between The Portugal D7 Visa And The Golden Visa
The primary distinction is that the Golden Visa demands a minimum investment of €350,000, whereas the D7 Visa requires no investment. The application procedure for a D7 Visa is also a lot faster, taking only 3 to 4 months, whereas the Golden Visa can take up to a year.
The Golden Visa, on the other hand, just requires you to stay in Portugal for around one week, but the D7 Visa requires you to stay for at least six months out of the year.
The Portugal Golden Visa does not require proof of passive income, although the D7 Visa does.
The Golden Visa is more expensive not only in terms of investment but also in terms of professional service fees, which can exceed €30,000, whereas a D7 Visa costs less than €5,000.
These two visas also have some important similarities.
They both include family reunification, which grants your family members the same residency privileges as you.
Both visas provide for permanent residency after five years and citizenship after six. Furthermore, they both qualify you for the non-habitual tax regime, which is an appealing fiscal regime.
D2 Visa Portugal

The Portugal D2 Visa is less well-known than the Portugal D7 Visa and the Portugal Golden Visa, but it may be the best option if you are an entrepreneur, freelancer, or independent service provider from outside the EU/EEA/Switzerland wishing to live in Portugal.
If you want to create a business or startup in Portugal, move your existing one to Portugal, or invest in a business in Portugal, you may be eligible for a D2 Visa.
This visa is designed for small and medium-sized firms looking to attract international investment and help the Portuguese economy grow.
To apply, you must create a credible business proposal that will be assessed based on its economic, technological, and cultural effects. You can launch any type of business, from a restaurant to a technology firm.
Portugal Residency Visas: The Non-Habitual Tax Regime
You can become a non-habitual resident (NHR) and take advantage of the fiscal incentives with a Portugal Golden Visa, Portugal D7 Visa, or Portugal D2 Visa. You can shift your tax residency to the country under this tax scheme.
To be qualified, you must not have been taxed in Portugal in the five years preceding your application. The following are the advantages of this tax regime:
- If your country has a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) with Portugal, then you may be exempt from paying any tax on pensions, rental income, real estate gains, and income from non-Portuguese sources.
You would instead pay taxes in your own nation. Where this is the case, the United Kingdom, the United States, and many other nations have a DTA with Portugal.
- In Portugal, your pension income will be taxed at a fixed rate of 10%, including retirement savings and insurance.
- In Portugal, income from “high value-added activities” is taxed at a rate of 20%. Employment and self-employment revenue from scientific, creative, or technical activities undertaken in Portugal are included.
For other sorts of domestic income, you will pay the same income tax as ordinary tax residents.
- After the first ten years of residency, you will only be taxed on your international income.
- Foreign interest, dividends, rents, and capital gains on real estate can all be tax-free.
- You will not be subject to an inheritance or wealth tax.
How Long Can We Stay Without A Visa In Portugal?
Nationals of countries that have yet to sign a visa-free agreement with Portugal and the other Schengen members must get a visa before visiting Portugal or any other Schengen country.
If you are an EU national, you can enter and stay in Portugal for as long as you want without needing to get a visa or any other document ahead of time.
If you’re going to stay for more than three months, you must register with the Portuguese authorities.
If you are a citizen of a visa-free country, you may stay in Portugal for up to 90 days during 180 days. If you want to stay longer, depending on your country of residence, you may need to perform the following steps:
- You must get a residency visa within three months after arriving in Portugal if you are from Australia, Israel, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, the Republic of South Korea, or the United States of America.
- The rest of Portugal’s visa-exempt countries – if you want to stay longer, you must obtain a Portuguese National visa from your country of residency.
Conclusion
From the bustling streets of Porto to the tranquil Algarve coast, Portugal is a dream waiting to be lived.
Now equipped with your visa knowledge, the path to this European gem has never been clearer. Navigate with gusto!
Portugal Awaits!
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