1
Do you have capital to invest rather than income to show?
€250,000 to €500,000 and a wish to stay mobile points to the Golden Visa.
Recommended: Golden Visa
Last updated: August 2026
How to Move to Portugal 2026: Every Visa Route Compared
How to Move to Portugal (2026): Every Residency Route, Compared
There are four main ways to move to Portugal as a non-EU national: invest (Golden Visa), live on passive income (D7), work remotely for foreign employers or clients (D8), or build a business or take a job (entrepreneur and work routes). All can lead to permanent residency after 5 years and, since the 2026 reform, to citizenship after 7 or 10 years depending on your nationality. This page is the map: compare first, commit second.
Golden Visa: invest
D7: passive income
D8: remote work
Why people move to Portugal
Before the route, the reason. These are the structural advantages that apply whichever visa you end up choosing, and they are why the routes below exist in the first place.
A genuine path to an EU passport
Legal residence here counts toward permanent residency after 5 years and citizenship after 7 years for CPLP and EU nationals, or 10 years for other nationalities, under the law in force since 19 May 2026. Citizenship is an EU passport, with the right to live and work across the bloc.
A route for almost every profile
Whether you live on passive income, work remotely for foreign clients or bring capital to invest, there is a defined residence route with a clear income or investment bar. You pick by your situation, not by luck.
Low-presence flexibility if you need it
Most routes expect real relocation, but the Golden Visa asks for only about 7 days per year in Portugal. Residence is possible even if you cannot move full time yet, then you convert to permanence on the same clock.
Schengen mobility while your clock runs
A Portuguese residence permit lets you travel visa-free across the Schengen area while your years toward permanent residency and citizenship accumulate. You start living the benefit before you finish the process.
Every residency route, side by side
Thresholds verified against AIMA and the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE); the fully sourced numbers live in each linked guide. The thresholds are the single-applicant baseline (family members raise the D7 and D8 income bars, while one Golden Visa investment covers the household), and the presence requirement is the real lifestyle question.
Golden Visa
Portugal's residence-by-investment permit: a qualifying investment of €250,000 (cultural heritage) or €500,000 (investment funds), a presence requirement of only about 7 days per year, and family included in one application. The real estate route was abolished in 2023. Read the full guide: Portugal Golden Visa.
Ideal For:
Investors who want a low-presence plan B
Processing:
Presence: about 7 days per year
D7
For people who live on passive income: pensions, rents, dividends, royalties or interest of at least €920 per month (the 2026 minimum wage). In exchange for the lowest financial bar of the three main routes, it expects you to actually live in Portugal, with absence limits. Read the full guide: D7 visa.
Ideal For:
Retirees and rentiers
Processing:
Presence: real relocation expected
D8
Covers remote work: a salary or freelance income of at least €3,680 per month (four times the minimum wage), earned from employers or clients outside Portugal. It comes in a temporary-stay version (up to 1 year) and a residency version that builds toward permanent status. Read the full guide: D8 digital nomad visa.
Ideal For:
Remote employees and freelancers
Processing:
Presence: real relocation expected
D2 / Startup / work permit
Entrepreneur and employment-based routes: the D2 for independent professionals and business founders, the Startup Visa, and standard work permits tied to a Portuguese employer. Dedicated guides are in preparation; if your project is a company, see how to set up a company in Portugal.
Ideal For:
Entrepreneurs and employees
Processing:
Presence: real relocation expected
What every route shares: PR, citizenship and tax
The route you pick changes how you get in, not the destination: a consular visa first, then a residence permit from AIMA in Portugal, with the option of permanence at the end. The long-term milestones, and the tax position once resident, are common to all routes.
Permanent residency becomes available after 5 years of legal residence.
Citizenship now requires 7 years of residence for CPLP (Portuguese-speaking) and EU nationals, or 10 years for all other nationalities, including Americans, under Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2026, in force since 19 May 2026. Guides still quoting 5 years are pre-reform.
Tax: moving under any route usually makes you Portuguese tax resident once you spend 183 days or more in the country in a year. The old NHR holiday is closed to new arrivals.
The current incentive, the IFICI tax regime, is a targeted 20% flat rate for research, innovation and qualified-job profiles; pensions are excluded from its foreign-income exemption. If you do not qualify, the standard progressive rates apply.
Which route is right for you?
A four-question shortcut. If none fits cleanly, the answer is usually a different sequencing of the same routes rather than a fifth option. Two cross-checks before you commit: presence (can you genuinely live in Portugal, or do you need the Golden Visa 7 days per year?) and the tax position you will land in once resident.
2
Is your income passive?
Pensions, rents or dividends of €920 per month or more, plus a genuine intention to live in Portugal, point to the D7.
Recommended: D7
3
Do you work remotely for foreign employers or clients?
€3,680 per month or more of active income points to the D8.
Recommended: D8
4
Are you building a business or taking a Portuguese job?
That is the D2, Startup Visa or work permit family, with dedicated guides on the way.
Recommended: D2 / Startup / work permit
Compare Portugal immigration and relocation providers
Three firms that help with Portuguese residence, picked for distinct strengths: an investment and Golden Visa specialist, a fixed-price D7 service, and a full-service relocation team. We show only what each firm publishes and its real Trustpilot signal; we do not rank them with an in-house score.
Updated Aug 2026
Collected from each provider website and Trustpilot in August 2026. A blank or crossed field means the provider does not publicly confirm that item, not necessarily that it is unavailable. The only ratings shown are each firm own Trustpilot score and review count; GrowAcross assigns no editorial score here.
Sort by:
GL
Global Citizen Solutions
Est. 2016 · HQ Lisbon, Portugal; office in Madrid, Spain; Investment Migration Council member · 15,000+ clients advised; $3.5B+ facilitated (self-stated)
On request
18 to 24 months to the biometrics appointment, then 9 to 12 months for the residence card
RemoteGovt filingsDependentsMedicalPost-approvalRenewal
Best for
Investors seeking the Portugal Golden Visa, or other residency and citizenship by investment routes, who want an established multi-country advisory.
No public advisory fee (quotation only). Their Portugal Golden Visa page details program and government costs, for example a €500,000 fund route or a €250,000 arts and culture donation plus about €17,682 in government fees over 5 years for a single applicant; these are program costs, not the firm fee.
MI
Migrun
Nicosia, Cyprus
On request
1 to 2 months for the application itself, excluding document preparation
RemoteGovt filingsDependentsMedicalPost-approvalRenewal
Best for
Passive-income applicants who want transparent, fixed-price D7 help with no bespoke-quote process.
Public fixed tiers: Check-up €530, Standard €1,290, Premium €3,490 (service fees; exclude government and legal costs).
VI
Viv Europe
Braga and Porto, Portugal · 24,082+ clients relocated (self-stated)
On request
About 5 months average (self-stated)
RemoteGovt filingsDependentsMedicalPost-approvalRenewal
Best for
People wanting complete, multi-route relocation support with an on-the-ground Portugal team.
Custom quote via "Build my plan"; an example plan of three services is shown at €1,580. No fixed public price list.
GrowAcross is not affiliated with these firms and earns no commission from them. Verify current fees, scope and licensing directly with each provider and with AIMA before engaging.
Portugal residency guides
In-depth, verified guides for each route, so you can go from this map to the full detail of the one you choose.
Golden Visa
Portugal Golden Visa
The residence-by-investment route in full: the €250,000 to €500,000 options after real estate was abolished, the roughly 7-day presence rule, AIMA fees and timelines.
D7
D7 visa
The passive-income and retirement route: the €920 per month income bar, the strict presence and absence limits, and how it builds toward permanence and citizenship.
D8
D8 digital nomad visa
The remote-work route: the €3,680 per month income bar, the temporary-stay versus residency versions, and who qualifies as a digital nomad in Portuguese law.
Tax
IFICI tax regime (NHR 2.0)
The tax side once resident: why the old NHR is closed, how the 20% IFICI rate works, why pensions are excluded, and the 15 January registration deadline.