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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.

The short answer

Most non-EU people move to Portugal on one of five routes: D7 (passive income), D8 (remote work), D2 (business or self-employment), D1/D3 (a Portuguese job), or family reunification. The right route is decided by where your money comes from, not by which visa sounds easiest.

Main routes

D7, D8, D2, D1/D3, family

Where you apply

Portuguese consulate in your country of residence

Typical decision time

2-4 months after submission

Path to permanence

Generally after 5 years of legal residence

Start from your income, not from the visa

Almost every mistake we see starts the same way: someone picks a visa because it sounds achievable, then tries to make their situation fit it. Portuguese consulates work the other way round. They look at where your money comes from and whether it will keep arriving, and the route follows from that.

Income you receive without working — pension, rent, dividends, royalties: D7.
Income you earn by working remotely for people outside Portugal: D8.
Income you will earn from your own company or from Portuguese clients: D2.
Income from a Portuguese employer who has already offered you a contract: D1 or D3.
No income of your own, but a family member already resident here: family reunification.

What all the routes have in common

Whatever the route, the shape of the process is the same. You apply at a Portuguese consulate (or its outsourced visa centre) in the country where you legally reside. You need a Portuguese tax number, proof of somewhere to live, health cover, a clean criminal record certificate, and evidence that you can support yourself. If the visa is granted you receive a short entry visa, travel to Portugal, and attend an appointment to collect the residence permit itself.

The timeline people underestimate

The visa decision is rarely the slow part. The slow parts are getting criminal record certificates, having documents apostilled and translated, and getting a consulate appointment in the first place. Plan on several months before submission, not several weeks.

Where this leads

Temporary residence permits are renewable, and after five years of legal residence people generally become eligible to apply for permanent residence or citizenship, subject to the requirements in force at the time — including a Portuguese language requirement.

How to use this site

Run the Visa Finder to narrow the field, check the income requirement for your household, then build the document checklist for the route you chose. Every figure we show carries the date we last verified it and a link to the authority it came from.

Questions people actually ask

Which Portuguese visa is easiest to get?: There is no universally easiest route. The route that fits your income source is the one with the highest chance of approval; applying on a route your finances do not match is the most common reason for refusal.
Can I apply from inside Portugal as a tourist?: As a rule, long-stay visas are applied for at a Portuguese consulate in the country where you legally reside, not from inside Portugal on a tourist stay.
Do EU citizens need a visa?: No. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens have free movement rights and register their residence locally instead of applying for a visa.