Visa routes · compared
D7 vs D8: the difference is where your money comes from, not how much you like Portugal
Both are Portuguese national residence visas. Both convert into a residence permit and count towards permanent residence. They differ on one question the consulate asks first: do you earn this money by working, or does it arrive without you working?
The short answer
Choose the D7 if your income is passive — pension, rent, dividends, royalties, interest. Choose the D8 if you work remotely for clients or an employer outside Portugal. The D7 is assessed at the monthly minimum wage; the D8 at four times it, so a single applicant needs €870 against €3,480.
Your household, both routes
- D7 minimum monthly income
- €870
- D8 minimum monthly income
- €3,480
- Extra the D8 asks for
- €2,610/mo
Built from a minimum wage of €870, verified 8 September 2026.
See how the figure is builtSide by side
| D7 — Passive income | D8 — Digital nomad | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is for | Retirees, landlords, investors, anyone living on income that arrives without work | Remote employees and freelancers whose employer or clients are outside Portugal |
| Income test (your household) | €870 a month | €3,480 a month |
| How income is proven | Pension statements, tenancy contracts, dividend or interest statements, twelve months of bank history | Employment contract or client contracts, invoices, three to twelve months of bank credits, tax returns |
| Working in Portugal | Not the basis of the route; you are expected to live on the passive income | You keep working, but for parties outside Portugal |
| Family included | Yes, with an uplift per adult and per child | Yes, with an uplift per adult and per child |
| Savings expected on top | Around twelve months of the threshold held in an account is the common expectation | Same expectation, applied to the higher threshold |
| Stay requirement after arrival | Cannot be absent more than six consecutive or eight interpolated months | Same limits |
| Path to permanent residence | Five years of legal residence | Five years of legal residence |
| Most common rejection cause | Income that turns out to be earned by working, or a single source that can stop | Income below the higher threshold, or contracts that do not prove the client is abroad |
Pick the D7 when
- ◆ Your income is a pension, rent, dividends, interest or royalties.
- ◆ You can show the income over at least twelve months, not one good quarter.
- ◆ You have more than one source, so no single tenant or fund carries the file.
- ◆ You do not intend to take Portuguese employment in year one.
Pick the D8 when
- ◆ You are employed remotely or invoice clients based outside Portugal.
- ◆ Your income comfortably clears €3,480 a month for your household.
- ◆ Your contract does not forbid working from another country — consulates read it.
- ◆ You can show the money landing in your account month after month.
Once you have chosen
The route is the easy part. The file is where applications fail.
Both routes need declarations nobody hands you: means of subsistence, accommodation, employer or client confirmation, fiscal representation. The Consulate Application Pack drafts all of them in English and Portuguese with your own household, income and dates, next to the official forms for your route and the apostille order for each foreign document.
Questions people actually ask
- Can I use a remote salary for a D7 application?
- A salary you earn by working is not passive income. Consulates read employment income as active, so presenting it as D7 income weakens the file even when the amount is high. Remote salary belongs on a D8 application.
- Which one is easier to get approved?
- Neither is inherently easier. The D7 has a much lower income threshold but demands proof that the income continues without you working. The D8 accepts working income but at four times the minimum wage, plus contracts or invoices showing the client or employer is outside Portugal.
- Do both lead to permanent residence and citizenship?
- Yes. Both are national residence visas that convert into a residence permit in Portugal, and both count towards the five years needed for permanent residence and nationality, provided you respect the absence limits.
- Can I switch from one to the other later?
- You apply with the route that matches your income at the time. Once you hold a residence permit, changes in how you earn are handled at renewal with the immigration authority rather than by reapplying at a consulate.
- Does the D8 tax me more than the D7?
- The route does not set your tax. Once you are tax resident in Portugal, your worldwide income is assessed under Portuguese rules, and the IFICI incentive (the successor to the old NHR) depends on your profession and on not having been resident recently — not on which visa you used.
Official sources
Criteria last updated 8 September 2026