How to get residency in Portugal in 2026
Property has been removed from the golden visa, and the passport now takes 10 years. But Portugal still lets in retirees, remote workers and fund investors: routes, timelines and a dollar total for each.
In short
- The most affordable route is the D7 passive income visa: from $1,100 a month for the applicant, plus 50% for a spouse.
- Remote workers need income from $4,200 a month from abroad - more than in Spain.
- The golden visa works without property: a fund from $570,000 or culture from $290,000, 7 days in the country in the first year.
- State fees for the visa and first residence card are about $405 per adult, and about $11,000 for the golden visa.
- The main catch: a Portuguese passport now takes 10 years, counted from the first card.
- A spouse without shared children may wait up to 2 years for reunification on the nomad visa.
In detail
Portugal sold residence for a flat for ten years and then changed its mind: since 7 October 2023 property has been excluded from the golden visa. But the country still lets people in - retirees with income from $1,100 a month, remote workers, fund investors and start-up founders. The bigger 2026 change is elsewhere: since 19 May a Portuguese passport takes 10 years, not 5.
Below are all the working ways to get a Portuguese residence permit, with thresholds in dollars, migration agency timelines and the traps. Amounts are converted at the rate of 6 October 2026: 1 euro = 1.121 dollars.
What ways to get Portuguese residency are left in 2026
The most affordable entry is the passive income visa: a pension or rent at the minimum wage level is enough. The most expensive is the golden visa, but it does not require living in the country: 7 days in the first year and 14 days in each following two years.
| Route | Who it suits | Key condition in 2026 | First permit |
|---|---|---|---|
| D7 passive income visa | Retirees, people living on rent or dividends | Income from $1,100 a month for the applicant | 2 years |
| D8 digital nomad visa | Remote employees and freelancers | Income from $4,200 a month from abroad | 2 years |
| Golden visa | Investors who do not move | A fund from $570,000 or culture from $290,000 | 2 years |
| Start-up visa | Founders of innovative projects | Incubator approval and ~$7,300 per founder | 2 years |
| Work contract | Professionals with an offer from a Portuguese company | An employment contract and work authorisation | 2 years |
All routes share the same renewal logic: a first permit for 2 years, then a renewal for 3, and permanent residence after 5 years. Buying a flat no longer gives residence on its own, but it meets the housing requirement for the D7 and D8.
The D7 visa: Portuguese residency on passive income
The D7 is the cheapest ticket to Portugal and the favourite route for retirees. The law requires passive income of at least the minimum wage: about $1,100 a month in 2026. Pensions, rent, dividends and interest count. A spouse adds half the amount, and each child 30%.
| Household | Passive income a month |
|---|---|
| Single applicant | ~$1,100 |
| Couple | ~$1,600 |
| Couple and a child | ~$1,900 |
| Couple and two children | ~$2,200 |
Consulates often also ask for savings in a Portuguese bank, in practice about 12 minimum wages, around $13,000 per applicant. The minimum wage rises every January, so older articles with an $860 or $920 threshold no longer help.
Steps and timeline
- Get a tax number, open an account at a Portuguese bank and find housing: a lease of at least a year or a purchase.
- Gather proof of income, a police certificate, insurance and statements.
- Apply for the visa at the consulate or visa centre where you live: a decision within 60 days by law.
- Enter on the visa, valid for 4 months, and attend the migration agency appointment.
- Collect a 2-year residence card.
The main D7 trap is absence. The permit can be cancelled after six months in a row outside Portugal or eight months with breaks over the card's term. For a retiree who dreamed of wintering in Lisbon and summering at the dacha, that is an unpleasant surprise. Everything on pensions, insurance and budgets is in retiring in Portugal.
The money: state fees per adult come to about $405: a consular visa fee of about $125, the migration agency review of about $150 and the card of about $130.
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The D8 digital nomad visa: residence for remote workers
For remote workers the threshold is four times higher: four minimum wages, about $4,200 a month. That is more than Spain, where a nomad needs about $3,200. The income must come from outside Portugal, from a foreign employer or clients.
The D8 name covers two visas. The temporary one lasts under a year with no switch to residence. The residence visa gives 4 months to enter and attend the migration agency, then a 2-year card. If the goal is to live in Portugal and build up years, you need the second.
For a family the means follow the same scale as for retirees: the first adult 100%, the second 50%, each child 30%. Consulates choose the base for these percentages differently, so it is wise to show income with a margin.
The actual income for the last three months is counted from statements, not a smart contract signed a week before filing. More on the two formats, documents and taxes in Portugal's digital nomad visa.
The money: the same roughly $405 in state fees per adult as for the D7.
What is left of Portugal's golden visa
The golden visa works, but there is no flat in it any more. Law 56/2023 removed buying and renovating homes and capital transfers from 7 October 2023, and the remaining options became dearer and more complex. The presence requirement is still light, though: 7 days in the first year and 14 days in each following two years.
| Option | Amount | Key condition |
|---|---|---|
| Units in a Portuguese fund | from $570,000 | A fund without real estate, at least 60% invested in Portuguese companies, held 5 years or more |
| Culture and heritage | from $290,000 | A non-refundable contribution through public bodies |
| Scientific research | from $570,000, from $450,000 in low-density areas | A non-refundable transfer to a research institution |
| Company capital | from $570,000 | A new or existing company and 5 permanent jobs |
| Job creation | no fixed amount | At least 10 jobs |
The migration agency's fees are steep too: about $11,000 per person for review and issue of the first card, about $44,000 for a family of four. Each renewal costs about $5,700 more per person. In practice the wait from filing to card stretches from one year to three.
Russian citizens are a separate question. Formally the programme is open to them if the applicant is not on the EU sanctions list. But EU Regulation 833/2014 bars selling units of many funds to Russian citizens and residents and limits their deposits above $120,000. So without residence or citizenship of an EU country the fund route is in practice closed to Russians. Details and all fees are on Portugal's golden visa, and a comparison with neighbours in European golden visas in 2026.
The start-up visa and work contracts
The start-up visa is not a status purchase but a contest. A certified incubator takes the project first, then the state agency for competitiveness and innovation assesses it. Since 2023 roughly one in three reviewed applications has been approved. A founder needs about $7,300 in the bank, and the first permit runs for 2 years. More in Portugal's start-up visa.
A contract with a Portuguese company gives a permit with the right to work, and highly qualified professionals and EU Blue Card holders can bring their family at once. Since 3 June 2024 you can no longer declare an intention to work from inside the country: the only path is a visa from the consulate.
How much Portuguese residency costs: the total for each route
For the D7 and D8 state fees are modest, about $405 per adult. For the golden visa the fees alone come to almost $11,000 per person, not counting the investment. Below is the total for one adult for the first year: where savings or an investment are checked, they are part of the total; where income is checked, the total is the fees alone.
| Route | State fees per adult | What is checked | Total for one for the first year |
|---|---|---|---|
| D7 visa | ~$405 | passive income from $1,100 a month and savings of ~$13,000 | ~$13,405 |
| D8 visa | ~$405 | income from $4,200 a month | ~$405 in fees |
| Golden visa through a fund | ~$11,000 | fund units from $570,000 | ~$581,000 |
| Golden visa through culture | ~$11,000 | a contribution from $290,000 | ~$301,000 |
| Start-up visa | ~$405 | ~$7,300 per founder | ~$7,705 |
This leaves out insurance, apostilles and sworn translations, a year's rent in advance, the tax number and the bank account. In a family everyone pays the fees, and golden visa fees for four exceed $44,000.
Fees start at $405, but a refusal costs months in the queue
The law does not forbid applying for Portuguese residency on your own. But mistakes cost more than the fees: income without a statement history, remote work on a passive income visa, a lease shorter than a year, certificates that expired while waiting for an appointment. Each one means a refusal and a new place in the migration agency queue, where waits already run for months. Murblz support removes these risks: we choose the route for your income and family, check statements and housing before filing, prepare documents with apostilles and sworn translations and follow the case through to the residence card. We guarantee professional work and a transparent process, and in most cases a result on the first filing.
The cost of support depends on the route and the household, and a manager will calculate it in the chat.
Portugal's migration agency: how long you really wait
On paper it is quick: since 11 September 2026 Law 62/2026 has given the migration agency 90 days to decide on a residence permit, with a 30-day extension. In practice queues run for months, and for the golden visa for years. Portuguese bureaucracy is not hostile, it simply lives by its own calendar, where soon can mean next spring.
That is why thousands of foreigners go to court. By the end of 2025 more than 130,000 lawsuits against the migration agency had piled up in the Lisbon administrative court: people sought appointments, family reunification and first residence cards. The court does not issue permits itself, but it can order the agency to decide. How this works and what the court reform changes is in lawsuits against Portugal's migration agency.
Delays now cost more than before: the clock to citizenship runs from the issue of the first card, not from the filing date. Every month of waiting pushes the passport back.
Family: the new reunification rules since October 2025
Since 23 October 2025 Law 61/2025 has tightened family reunification. The family can still apply for visas together with the main applicant, but their residence permits in Portugal are issued on the new timelines.
| Who | When reunification is possible |
|---|---|
| Dependent minor children | at once |
| A spouse with whom you share a minor child | at once |
| A spouse or partner you lived with for 18 months before entry | after 15 months of the applicant's permit |
| Everyone else, including a spouse without shared children | after 2 years of the applicant's permit |
| Families of golden visa, Blue Card and highly qualified permit holders | at once |
D7 and D8 holders are not on the exemption list. A childless couple who want to move together on the nomad visa risk living in different countries for more than a year.
Taxes after moving to Portugal
You become a Portuguese tax resident after 183 days in the country in any 12 months, or earlier if you keep a home there as your permanent one. A resident pays tax on worldwide income at 12.5% to 48%, and with the solidarity surcharge the top rate reaches 53%.
- The special regime for new residents with 10% tax on pensions is closed to newcomers.
- The new 20% regime is open to a narrow range of professions working in Portugal; pensions and remote work for a foreign employer do not qualify.
- Crypto held for more than a year is not taxed, and dividends and share gains are taxed at 28%.
Since 8 August 2023 Russia has suspended the key articles of its double tax treaty with Portugal, so Russian income is assessed separately. Rates and deductions are on taxes in Portugal, and how days are counted in tax residency and the 183-day rule.
From residence to permanent residence and a Portuguese passport
After 5 years of temporary residence you can get a permanent permit: you need means, housing, no serious convictions and basic Portuguese. The permanent residence fee for D7 and D8 holders is about $420, and many times higher for golden visa holders.
There is a second permanent status, EU long-term resident. It also requires 5 years, but of actual life in the country, so golden visa holders with their 7-14 days a year can hardly get it.
The 2026 reform hit citizenship hardest. Since 19 May 2026 Organic Law 1/2026 has applied: citizens of countries outside the EU and Portuguese-speaking states need 10 years of legal residence, not 5. The clock runs from the issue of the first residence card. Instead of a single language exam, language, culture, history and knowledge of a citizen's rights and duties are checked.
How to get Portuguese residency: a step-by-step plan
- Choose the ground. Pension and rent - the passive income visa, a salary from abroad - the nomad visa, capital without moving - the golden visa.
- Get a tax number and open an account. Without a Portuguese tax number you cannot rent a home or open an account.
- Find housing for a year. A lease or a purchase is needed already for the visa.
- Gather documents. Certificates with apostilles and sworn translations, statements for several months, insurance.
- Apply for the visa at the consulate. A decision within 60 days by law.
- Enter and attend the migration agency appointment. The visa is valid for 4 months.
- Collect a 2-year residence card and renew it no later than 30 days before it expires.
Documents for Portuguese residency
- a passport valid longer than the visa;
- a national visa form and photos;
- a police certificate from your country of citizenship and residence, with an apostille and sworn translation;
- consent to a check against the Portuguese criminal records database;
- health insurance until the residence permit is issued;
- proof of income: a pension certificate, leases, statements, and for a nomad an employment contract or client contracts;
- a lease or ownership documents;
- a tax number and a Portuguese bank statement.
Documents from Russia, Kazakhstan and other post-Soviet countries need an apostille or consular legalisation and a sworn translation into Portuguese. Certificates age quickly, so they are ordered last.
Portuguese residency for Russian and Ukrainian citizens
The law does not close the passive income and nomad visas by nationality: Russian citizens apply on general terms. The difficulties are practical: proving lawful income under transfer restrictions and opening an account at a Portuguese bank.
The golden visa is harder. EU Regulation 833/2014 bars Russian citizens and residents from buying units of many funds, so without residence in another EU country the fund route does not work for them in practice.
Ukrainian citizens in Portugal, as across the EU, hold temporary protection until 4 March 2027. The move to an ordinary permit is best prepared early, on the same grounds as for other foreigners.
Portugal, Spain or Italy: where residency is easier
After the 2026 reform Portugal lost its main trump card, a passport after 5 years. On time to citizenship it now matches Spain, and on the nomad threshold it has become dearer than its neighbours.
| Country | Passive income | Remote work | Citizenship, general rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portugal | from $1,100 a month | from $4,200 a month | after 10 years |
| Spain | from $2,700 a month | from $3,200 a month | after 10 years |
| Italy | ~$35,000 a year | ~$32,000 a year | after 10 years |
| Greece | from $4,000 a month | from $4,000 a month after tax | after 7 years |
For a retiree with a modest pension Portugal remains the most affordable option in Southern Europe. For a remote worker Spain is better value: a lower threshold and a permit for 3 years straight away.
Where to live in Portugal with a residence permit
- Lisbon - the capital, with the most jobs and the highest rent.
- Porto - the second city, cheaper than the capital and with a strong remote work community.
- Cascais - a Lisbon suburb on the ocean, popular with families.
- Faro - the capital of the Algarve, chosen by retirees for the sun and prices.
- Funchal - Madeira, with a mild climate all year.
A general overview of the country is on Portugal.
Where applications most often go wrong
- Income without a history. The consulate looks at several months of statements, not a contract.
- Remote work on a D7. The D7 is built for pensions and rent; a salary from a foreign company goes through the D8.
- A short lease. The visa needs housing for at least a year.
- Long absences. Six months in a row outside the country can cost you the permit.
- A childless couple on the D8. The spouse may wait up to two years for reunification.
- A fund for a Russian citizen. Without EU residence the bank and the fund often refuse the money because of sanctions.
How we help
Murblz specialists match the route to your income, work and household, check statements and housing before filing and follow the case through to the residence card, including when the migration agency queue gets stuck.
D8 nomad visa
Checking income and the employer, a plan for the family and filing for the residence visa.
Learn more →D7 visa for retirees
Proof of pension and passive income, insurance, housing and filing.
Learn more →Golden visa
Choosing a fund or cultural project, checking sanctions limits and filing.
Learn more →Taxes in Portugal
Residency, 2026 rates and leaving your previous tax residence.
Learn more →Personal account in Portugal
Tax number, bank and source-of-funds documents.
Learn more →Relocation
Housing for a year, registration, schools and moving the family.
Learn more →Which Portuguese residence permit fits in 2026? Tell us about your income, work and family. A Murblz specialist will compare the D7, D8 and golden visa, calculate the amounts for your household and draw up a filing plan.
FAQ
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