Your move to Portugal, decided with confidence.
Not another visa blog. A decision toolkit: find the routes that match your income, check the real thresholds, price the move, build your document list, and work through it stage by stage.
30-second route check
Which Portuguese visa fits you, and what income must you show?
Thresholds come from our dated reference table. General information, not legal or immigration advice.
10 verified guides7 visa routes15 cities priced10 consulate postsfigures verified 8 September 2026
- 01Build your profile
- 02Compare your options
- 03Prepare the move
Try: “D7 income”, “NIF”, “Lisbon vs Porto”, “cost of living”.
Rules read from the official sources
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE)
- AIMA
- Autoridade Tributária
- Segurança Social
- VFS Global posts
Consular posts covered by the checklists
- Washington
- London
- São Paulo
- San Francisco
- Paris
- Toronto
- Dublin
Tools, not opinions
Five tools that answer the questions you actually have
Every calculation reads from one dated table of reference figures, so a rule change updates the whole site at once.
Save your work
Create an account and your Visa Finder result, calculations, checklists and roadmap progress are waiting when you come back.
When planning is done
Two paid products, for the two hardest parts
Everything above stays free and complete. These two cover what planning cannot do for you: getting the consulate file written, and surviving the months around it.
Consulate application file
Cover sheet & declarations
- Route
- D7
- Household
- 2 adults
- Income vs minimum
- Above threshold
- Documents enclosed
- 11
Signature
One-off · the application
Consulate Application Pack
€29once
Every letter and declaration the consulate expects, drafted in English and Portuguese with your household, income and dates already in them — next to the official government forms for your route and the legalisation order for each foreign document.
See what is inside →Monthly · the whole move
Move Co-Pilot
€7a month
Certificates expire on a clock, thresholds move every January, appointments get rescheduled, and the first weeks in Portugal have a strict order. The Co-Pilot watches all of that against your own dates.
See what it watches →No commitment on the Co-Pilot; instant digital access, so payments are non-refundable. Document preparation and planning tools, not legal or immigration advice.
Visa routes
Start from where your money comes from
Portuguese consulates assess your income source first. Pick the route that matches it, not the one that sounds easiest.
- 01D7 Passive Income Visa D7A residence route for people with stable income they do not earn from a Portuguese employer: pensions, rental income, dividends, royalties or other recurring passive income.
- 02D8 Digital Nomad Visa D8A residence route for remote workers and freelancers earning from outside Portugal, available as a temporary-stay or residence visa.
- 03D2 Entrepreneur & Independent Worker Visa D2For people starting or relocating a business in Portugal, or providing independent professional services to Portuguese clients.
- 04D1 Employment Visa D1For people who already have a Portuguese employment contract or a promise of one.
- 05Job Seeker Visa Job SeekerA single-entry visa allowing you to enter Portugal to look for work for a limited period, extendable once a contract is signed.
- 06Family Reunification FamilyThe route for spouses, partners, children and dependent parents of someone who already holds Portuguese residence.
- 07D3 Highly Qualified Activity Visa D3For highly qualified professionals with a qualifying contract, including the EU Blue Card path.
Guides
A small library, kept current
Twelve pages, each with a direct answer, a fact panel, named sources and a verification date. We would rather maintain twelve well than publish three hundred badly.
Verified 8 September 2026
Moving to Portugal: every visa route explained
A plain comparison of the Portuguese residence routes, who each one is built for, and how to narrow seven options down to one.
Verified 8 September 2026
How much money do you need to move to Portugal?
The two numbers that matter: the recurring income your visa route requires, and the one-off cash the move itself consumes.
Verified 23 September 2026
Portugal retirement visa: how retirees actually move there
Portugal has no visa literally called a retirement visa. Retirees move on the D7, and this page is the D7 read strictly from a retiree's point of view: pension income, healthcare and the paperwork that trips people up.
Verified 8 September 2026
D7 vs D8: which Portuguese visa fits your income?
A direct comparison of Portugal's two most popular routes, decided by where your money comes from.
Verified 8 September 2026
Portuguese residence permits and AIMA explained
What happens after the visa: the AIMA appointment, what to bring, renewals, and the road to permanent residence.
Verified 8 September 2026
How to get a NIF in Portugal
The Portuguese tax number is the key that unlocks everything else. Here is how to get one before you move.
Verified 8 September 2026
NISS and SNS: social security and healthcare numbers
The two numbers you request after arrival: social security (NISS) and the health service (SNS).
Verified 8 September 2026
How to open a Portuguese bank account
What banks ask for, what you can do from abroad, and why a Portuguese account matters for your visa file.
Verified 8 September 2026
Cost of living in Portugal: Lisbon vs Porto and beyond
Where the money actually goes, city by city, and why housing decides almost everything.
Verified 8 September 2026
Best places to live in Portugal
Six places, what each is genuinely good at, and the trade-off you accept by choosing it.
Places
Where the numbers actually land
Rent, groceries, transport and utilities city by city, with the source and the date beside every figure.
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