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Moving to Portugal · Visas and residency · Reviewed September 4, 2026

Visas and residency in Portugal for US citizens

8 routes are tracked here, 7 of which lead to permanent residence. Each one below carries its own duration, cost, eligibility test and the government page the details were read from.

Routes tracked8Visitor, Retirement, Digital nomad, Work, Investment, Family, Study
Lead to permanent residence7 / 81 are temporary or renewable only
Open without a job offer6 / 8D7 residence visa (passive income / retirement), D8 remote work visa (digital nomad), D2 residence visa (independent professional or entrepreneur), Autorização de Residência para Investimento (ARI / golden visa), Family reunification (reagrupamento familiar), Study residence visa
Health cover outside the system$75/moTypical private premium, one adult

This page is reference information, not immigration advice. Fees, income thresholds and processing times change without notice and are frequently amended mid-year. Verify every requirement against the official government page linked on each route before you file anything or book anything, and take advice from a licensed immigration lawyer where your case is not straightforward.

Which route fits your situation

The table maps common situations to the routes Portugal actually has in this dataset. Where a row says no route is tracked, that is a statement about the 8 routes on this page, not a ruling that nothing exists. Check the official pages before you rule anything out.

Reader situation mapped to the Portugal routes tracked here.
Your situationRoute that fitsPermanent residence
You have an offer from an employer based in PortugalCan lead to PR
You keep your US employer and work remotely
  • D8 remote work visa (digital nomad) · Two versions: a temporary stay visa valid up to one year, or a residence visa leading to a two-year residence permit renewable for three years
Can lead to PR
You are retired and living on pension or investment incomeCan lead to PR
You are investing capital or buying into a businessCan lead to PR
You are enrolling at a university, college or language schoolCan lead to PR
You are the spouse or close family of a citizen or residentCan lead to PR

Routes on this page that none of those situations covers: Schengen visa-free entry.

Every route at a glance

One row per route, in the order they are set out below. The costs are the official government fees recorded in the data. They exclude translations, apostilles, medicals and legal help, which together often come to more than the fee itself.

Residence and entry routes into Portugal recorded for US citizens.
RouteCategoryValid forOfficial costPermanent residence
Schengen visa-free entryVisitor90 days in any 180-day periodFree; ETIAS pre-authorisation will cost EUR 20 (about $23) once it launchesNot directly
D7 residence visa (passive income / retirement)RetirementFour-month entry visa, then a two-year residence permit renewable for successive three-year periodsEUR 110 (about $128) consular visa fee, plus EUR 247.30 (about $287) in AIMA fees for the residence permit itself (EUR 133.00 processing and EUR 114.30 issuance; 25% less if the application is filed through AIMA's digital channel)Counts toward it
D8 remote work visa (digital nomad)Digital nomadTwo versions: a temporary stay visa valid up to one year, or a residence visa leading to a two-year residence permit renewable for three yearsEUR 110 (about $128) consular visa fee, plus EUR 247.30 (about $287) in AIMA residence-permit fees for the residence versionCounts toward it
D2 residence visa (independent professional or entrepreneur)WorkFour-month entry visa, then a two-year residence permit renewable for three yearsEUR 110 (about $128) consular visa fee plus EUR 247.30 (about $287) in AIMA residence-permit fees; incorporating a Portuguese company adds several hundred euros moreCounts toward it
D1 / D3 residence visa (employment or highly qualified activity)WorkFour-month entry visa, then a two-year residence permit renewable for three yearsEUR 110 (about $128) consular visa fee plus EUR 247.30 (about $287) in AIMA residence-permit fees; the EU Blue Card variant costs more, EUR 169.20 processing and EUR 160.50 issuanceCounts toward it
Autorização de Residência para Investimento (ARI / golden visa)InvestmentTwo-year residence permit, renewable, with a minimum physical stay of 7 days in year one and 14 days in each subsequent yearEUR 842.80 (about $980) processing plus EUR 8,418.90 (about $9,784) on grant, per person including each family member, with EUR 4,210.30 per person at each renewal, on top of the investment itselfCounts toward it
Family reunification (reagrupamento familiar)FamilyResidence permit of the same duration as the sponsor's permit, normally two years then three-year renewalsEUR 133.00 (about $155) processing plus EUR 114.30 (about $133) issuance per family member; a family reunification visa at the consulate costs EUR 110Counts toward it
Study residence visaStudyLength of the course, renewable annuallyEUR 110 (about $128) consular visa fee plus EUR 247.30 (about $287) in AIMA residence-permit feesCounts toward it

Route by route

The facts in each panel come from the Portugal data and the official page beside it. The paragraph underneath describes how routes of that class usually work, wherever they are issued, so you know what the application will ask for before you open the form.

Schengen visa-free entry

VisitorNo direct path to permanent residence

Valid for
90 days in any 180-day period
Official cost
Free; ETIAS pre-authorisation will cost EUR 20 (about $23) once it launches
Permanent residence
Not directly

Who qualifies. US passport holders enter Portugal and the rest of the Schengen area without a visa for tourism or business. You cannot work locally, and you cannot convert this status into residence from inside Portugal: the manifestação de interesse route that once allowed that was closed when Decreto-Lei n.º 37-A/2024 of 3 June 2024 repealed article 88(2) and article 89(2) of the foreigners law, and Lei n.º 61/2025 of 22 October 2025 did not bring it back. From late 2026 the EU Entry/Exit System and later ETIAS add biometric registration and a small pre-travel authorisation fee.

Typical of visitor routesVisitor entry is not residence. It permits a limited stay, does not permit local work, and the clock is usually enforced across a rolling period rather than per entry. Many countries also require a residence application to be filed from outside their territory, so arriving as a visitor and switching status inside the country is often not possible.

D7 residence visa (passive income / retirement)

RetirementCounts toward permanent residence

Valid for
Four-month entry visa, then a two-year residence permit renewable for successive three-year periods
Official cost
EUR 110 (about $128) consular visa fee, plus EUR 247.30 (about $287) in AIMA fees for the residence permit itself (EUR 133.00 processing and EUR 114.30 issuance; 25% less if the application is filed through AIMA's digital channel)
Permanent residence
Yes, time on this permit counts

Who qualifies. For people living on stable passive income: a pension, Social Security, rental income, dividends, royalties or annuities. The means-of-subsistence benchmark published by the Portuguese visa service is the minimum guaranteed monthly remuneration, EUR 920 in 2026, plus 50% for a second adult and 30% for each dependent child, so a couple needs EUR 1,380 a month. Consulates in practice want to see well above the floor plus a Portuguese bank account holding about a year of that amount, twelve months of accommodation, a NIF, criminal record checks and health cover. Apply at the Portuguese consulate covering your US state, not in Portugal.

Typical of retirement routesPassive-income routes ask you to show recurring money you do not have to work for: pension, annuity, rental or investment income, in your name, evidenced by statements and award letters rather than projections. Local employment is typically ruled out, and health cover is almost always a condition of the first permit.

D8 remote work visa (digital nomad)

Digital nomadCounts toward permanent residence

Valid for
Two versions: a temporary stay visa valid up to one year, or a residence visa leading to a two-year residence permit renewable for three years
Official cost
EUR 110 (about $128) consular visa fee, plus EUR 247.30 (about $287) in AIMA residence-permit fees for the residence version
Permanent residence
Yes, time on this permit counts

Who qualifies. For employees and freelancers whose clients or employer are outside Portugal. The visa service requires proof of average monthly income over the last three months of at least four times the minimum guaranteed monthly remuneration, so EUR 3,680 a month in 2026, evidenced by bank statements plus contracts or payslips, along with proof of Portuguese tax residence documentation. The same 50% and 30% uplifts apply for a spouse and children. Choose the residence version rather than the temporary stay version if you want the years to count toward permanent residence and citizenship.

Typical of digital nomad routesNomad and remote-work permits are built around income earned outside the country. Expect to evidence a minimum monthly income or savings balance with bank statements and contracts, hold private health cover for the whole period, and produce a criminal record check. They usually do not allow you to take local clients or a local job, and whether the years count toward permanent residence varies more than any other route type.

D2 residence visa (independent professional or entrepreneur)

WorkCounts toward permanent residence

Valid for
Four-month entry visa, then a two-year residence permit renewable for three years
Official cost
EUR 110 (about $128) consular visa fee plus EUR 247.30 (about $287) in AIMA residence-permit fees; incorporating a Portuguese company adds several hundred euros more
Permanent residence
Yes, time on this permit counts

Who qualifies. For self-employed people with a Portuguese service contract or a written proposal from a Portuguese client, and for entrepreneurs who can show an investment operation already executed or funds available in a Portuguese account plus a business plan. Regulated professions need recognition from the relevant Portuguese body. A related track, the Startup Visa, substitutes a certified incubator contract confirmed by IAPMEI for the business plan. This is the usual route for Americans who want to bill Portuguese clients or run a company from Portugal rather than work remotely for a US employer.

Typical of work routesEmployer-sponsored routes normally start with a signed offer, not with you. The employer usually has to prove the role was advertised or that it sits on a shortage list, and the permit is tied to that job, so changing employer generally means notifying the immigration authority or filing again. Time held on a work permit is the kind that most often counts toward permanent residence.

D1 / D3 residence visa (employment or highly qualified activity)

WorkCounts toward permanent residence

Valid for
Four-month entry visa, then a two-year residence permit renewable for three years
Official cost
EUR 110 (about $128) consular visa fee plus EUR 247.30 (about $287) in AIMA residence-permit fees; the EU Blue Card variant costs more, EUR 169.20 processing and EUR 160.50 issuance
Permanent residence
Yes, time on this permit counts

Who qualifies. Requires a Portuguese employment contract or a binding promise of one. The highly qualified route (D3) needs a contract paying 1.5 times the average gross annual salary or three times the IAS, reduced to 1.2 times the average salary or twice the IAS in priority sectors. Portuguese salaries are the catch: Eurostat puts average gross earnings for a single full-time worker at EUR 27,768 a year, about EUR 2,314 a month, so a US employee moving onto a local contract usually takes a large pay cut.

Typical of work routesEmployer-sponsored routes normally start with a signed offer, not with you. The employer usually has to prove the role was advertised or that it sits on a shortage list, and the permit is tied to that job, so changing employer generally means notifying the immigration authority or filing again. Time held on a work permit is the kind that most often counts toward permanent residence.

Autorização de Residência para Investimento (ARI / golden visa)

InvestmentCounts toward permanent residence

Valid for
Two-year residence permit, renewable, with a minimum physical stay of 7 days in year one and 14 days in each subsequent year
Official cost
EUR 842.80 (about $980) processing plus EUR 8,418.90 (about $9,784) on grant, per person including each family member, with EUR 4,210.30 per person at each renewal, on top of the investment itself
Permanent residence
Yes, time on this permit counts

Who qualifies. Real estate has not qualified since October 2023. The routes AIMA still lists are EUR 500,000 into a CMVM-regulated non-property Portuguese collective investment fund with at least five years to maturity and 60% invested in companies headquartered in Portugal; EUR 500,000 into research inside the national scientific system; EUR 250,000 into artistic production or national cultural heritage; EUR 500,000 to form or recapitalise a Portuguese company creating five permanent jobs; or creating ten jobs with no capital minimum. No Portuguese residence visa is needed to enter, and family reunification can be filed at the same time, exempt from the two-year waiting period that now applies to ordinary residents.

Typical of investment routesInvestment routes exchange capital for residence, and the paperwork is mostly about the money rather than about you: proof of legal source, a traceable transfer trail, and a holding period before you can sell or withdraw. Thresholds and qualifying assets move frequently, and several governments have narrowed or closed these programmes at short notice, so the official page is the only version worth trusting.

Family reunification (reagrupamento familiar)

FamilyCounts toward permanent residence

Valid for
Residence permit of the same duration as the sponsor's permit, normally two years then three-year renewals
Official cost
EUR 133.00 (about $155) processing plus EUR 114.30 (about $133) issuance per family member; a family reunification visa at the consulate costs EUR 110
Permanent residence
Yes, time on this permit counts

Who qualifies. Spouses, registered partners, minor or dependent children, dependent children aged 18 to 25 in full-time study, and dependent parents can join a legal resident. Lei n.º 61/2025 tightened article 98 significantly: the sponsor must now hold a residence permit valid for at least two years, cut to 15 months for a spouse who lived with them for 18 months before they moved. The wait does not apply to dependent minors, to a spouse who is the other parent of a dependent minor, or to families of golden visa, highly qualified and EU Blue Card holders. Marriage to a Portuguese citizen is a separate route: after three years of marriage a foreign spouse can claim nationality by declaration.

Typical of family routesFamily routes turn on the sponsor’s status rather than yours, so the sponsor usually has to meet an income or housing standard. The bottleneck is civil documents: marriage, birth and sometimes divorce certificates, apostilled and translated by an approved translator. Relationships that are genuine but poorly documented fail more often than relationships that are questioned.

Study residence visa

StudyCounts toward permanent residence

Valid for
Length of the course, renewable annually
Official cost
EUR 110 (about $128) consular visa fee plus EUR 247.30 (about $287) in AIMA residence-permit fees
Permanent residence
Yes, time on this permit counts

Who qualifies. Requires admission to a recognised Portuguese higher education institution or an approved exchange programme. Tuition for non-EU students is set by each institution and typically runs a few thousand euros a year, far below US sticker prices, and students are exempt from some of the standard subsistence requirements. Article 15 of the nationality law counts any period spent legally in Portugal under a residence title, so student years count toward permanent residence and toward the naturalisation clock, and graduates can switch to a work or self-employment permit from inside Portugal.

Typical of study routesStudy permits are tied to an accredited institution and an unconditional acceptance letter. Alongside tuition you normally have to show living funds for the year, accommodation and health cover. Work rights are capped at a set number of hours, and the permit ends when the course does, though many countries offer a post-study period to look for work.

Which routes actually go somewhere

Whether a permit renews forever or accumulates toward settlement decides what a decade in Portugal is worth at the end of it. These are the routes on each side of that line.

Builds toward permanent residence

Temporary or renewable only

A residence permit and tax residence are decided by separate tests, and it is common to trip the second without intending to. Portugal sets its own rule for when you become taxable there, and the US carries on taxing its citizens wherever they live. How US citizens are taxed in Portugal →

Most residence applications require proof of health cover from the day the permit starts, before you are inside the local system. What healthcare access looks like in Portugal →

How the Portugal route mix compares

Portugal has 8 tracked routes, 7 of which build toward permanent residence. Across the 15 countries on this site the median is 7 tracked routes and 4 that lead to settlement. The table counts routes by category, so if one specific door is the one you need, you can see which destinations have it.

Number of tracked routes by category. Column headings link to each country's own residency guide.
CategoryPortugalCanadaIrelandAustraliaNew Zealand
Visitor11111
Work23243
Digital nomad1NoneNoneNone1
Retirement1None1NoneNone
Investment1None1None1
Study1111None
Family11None11
AncestryNoneNone1NoneNone
OtherNoneNone111

A category with no tracked route is a gap in this dataset for that country, not proof that no such permit exists. Each count is only as complete as the government pages listed on that country's own guide.

How the process usually sequences

The order below is typical rather than specific: it holds for most residence routes in most countries, and the official page for your route governs wherever the two differ. What varies between countries is the length of each stage, not usually its existence.

  1. Pick the route and read its official page end to end

    Nearly every rejected application was filed under the wrong category or against last year’s requirements. The route decides the document list, the fee and where you file, so it is the only decision that is expensive to get wrong.

  2. Order civil documents early

    Birth and marriage certificates, a criminal record check and, where relevant, degree certificates usually need an apostille and a certified translation. This step is administrative and typically the longest one, because it depends on record offices rather than on you.

  3. Assemble the money and cover evidence

    Most residence routes want bank statements covering several consecutive months, a signed employment or income document, and proof of health cover valid from the day you arrive. Statements that skip a month or arrive as screenshots are a common reason files are sent back.

  4. File the application, usually from outside the country

    Residence applications are commonly lodged at the consulate covering your US address, or through a government portal that still ends in a consular appointment. Slots can be the binding constraint on your timeline, so book before the file is perfect rather than after.

  5. Attend the appointment and give biometrics

    Fingerprints and a photograph are taken at the appointment or shortly after, and the original documents are checked against the copies you submitted. Fees are normally paid at this point and are rarely refundable if the application fails.

  6. Wait for the decision, then collect the entry visa

    The decision arrives as a visa sticker or approval letter that lets you travel. It usually carries its own window in which you must enter, which is why booking flights before approval is a gamble rather than a plan.

  7. Arrive and register locally

    Most countries expect a local registration within days or weeks of arrival: an address registration, a tax or social security number, and often a local bank account. Several of these steps depend on each other, so the order they are done in matters more than the effort each one takes.

  8. Collect the residence card and diarise the renewal

    The physical permit is issued after registration, sometimes at a separate appointment. Renewal windows open before expiry and close on the day, and continuous lawful residence is what later counts toward permanent residence or naturalisation, so a lapsed permit can reset a clock you have been building for years.

Nothing in that sequence is a substitute for the instructions on the official page for your route. Treat it as a checklist for planning your months, not as the requirements themselves.

Residency questions about Portugal

Can I still get Portuguese citizenship in five years?

No. Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2026, published on 18 May 2026 and in force the next day, raised the residence requirement for naturalisation to ten years for Americans and other non-EU, non-lusophone nationals, and seven years for EU and Portuguese-speaking country nationals. Article 7 keeps procedures already pending on 18 May 2026 under the old five-year rule. Permanent residence is still available at five years with basic Portuguese.

Does the Portugal golden visa still exist in 2026?

Yes, but without property. Real estate stopped qualifying in October 2023. The open routes are EUR 500,000 into a CMVM-regulated non-property Portuguese fund, EUR 500,000 into scientific research, EUR 250,000 into artistic production or cultural heritage, EUR 500,000 to capitalise a Portuguese company creating five permanent jobs, or creating ten jobs outright. Government fees are EUR 842.80 processing and EUR 8,418.90 on grant, per person, and you must spend at least 14 days per year in Portugal after year one.

Official pages and sources

Every route on this page was read from a government source. These are the pages behind them, unduplicated, so you can check the current fee and document list yourself.

Wider sources for this country

What these numbers are. The headline figures were re-derived from primary sources during review. Some category indices could not be matched to a published statistic and are reasoned estimates, marked as such in the list below. Where a source entry says a value is derived, estimated or crowd-sourced, that is exactly what it is: no international body publishes a like-for-like index for every category, and private insurance premiums are not published at all in most countries. Rent figures are national market averages, so a capital city will run above them. How the dataset is built.

  1. OECD, Monthly comparative price levels, Portugal against United States = 100 (value 63, July 2026) — accessed September 4, 2026
  2. OECD, PPP detailed results: price level indices by consumption category, Portugal with United States = 100, 2024 (household final consumption 60.5; food and non-alcoholic beverages 87.6; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels 44.7; transport 92.0; restaurants and accommodation services 61.7; health 39.5). Category indices published on this page were scaled by 63/60.5 to align with the July 2026 monthly reading, giving groceries 91, transport 96, dining 64, rent 47 and health 41. Note on rent_index_vs_us: the OECD publishes no rent-only price level in this table, so the whole CP04 group (actual and imputed rentals, maintenance, water and household energy) is used as the proxy. Because that group also contains the utilities separately indexed at 72, housing rent alone is very likely below 47, and 47 should be read as a conservative, slightly high estimate of the rent price level rather than a measured rent index. — accessed September 4, 2026
  3. INE (Statistics Portugal), Estatísticas de Rendas da Habitação ao Nível Local, 1.º trimestre de 2026 (released 26 June 2026): national median new-lease rent EUR 9.46/m2 across 39,395 new contracts, +9.1% y/y; Grande Lisboa EUR 14.38/m2; Madeira EUR 11.97/m2; Península de Setúbal EUR 11.35/m2; Algarve EUR 10.71/m2; Área Metropolitana do Porto EUR 10.13/m2; municipality of Lisboa EUR 17.42/m2, +8.2% y/y. The rent_1bed figures apply those medians to a 60 m2 one-bedroom and convert at 1.1622 USD/EUR. — accessed September 4, 2026
  4. Eurostat, Annual net earnings (earn_nt_net), Portugal 2025, single person without children at 100% of the average wage: gross EUR 27,768, taxes EUR 3,264.47, employee social security EUR 3,054.48, net EUR 21,449.05. Monthly net EUR 1,787.42 converted at the ECB rate of 1.1622 USD/EUR gives $2,077; monthly gross is EUR 2,314. — accessed September 4, 2026
  5. European Central Bank, US dollar / Euro daily reference exchange rate, 4 September 2026: 1 EUR = 1.1622 USD (rate used for every conversion on this page) — accessed September 4, 2026
  6. Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros, Portuguese visa portal, Means of subsistence for national visas: the 2026 minimum monthly salary is EUR 920 (Decreto Regulamentar n.º 139/2025, de 29 de dezembro), counted at 100% for the applicant, 50% for each additional adult and 30% for each dependent child, so an applicant plus spouse needs EUR 1,380 a month — accessed September 4, 2026
  7. Eurostat, Monthly minimum wages (earn_mw_cur), Portugal 2026 semester 1: EUR 1,073 on a 12-month basis, equivalent to the statutory retribuição mínima mensal garantida of EUR 920 paid 14 times a year — accessed September 4, 2026
  8. Eurostat, Electricity prices for household consumers (nrg_pc_204), Portugal, band DC (2,500-4,999 kWh), all taxes and levies included, second half of 2025: EUR 0.2435 per kWh, equal to 28.30 US cents at 1.1622 USD/EUR — accessed September 4, 2026
  9. Eurostat, Complete energy balances (nrg_bal_c), Portugal final energy consumption in households 2024: electricity 14,767.4 GWh, natural gas 2,964.8 GWh, liquefied petroleum gases 3,458.5 GWh, all products 34,188.0 GWh (the balance is mostly firewood). Divided by the 4,473,300 private households counted in 2024, this is the consumption assumption behind the utilities index: about 275 kWh of electricity, 55 kWh of piped natural gas and 64 kWh of bottled LPG per household per month, in a housing stock that mostly has no central heating. — accessed September 4, 2026
  10. Basis for utilities_index_vs_us (72): the typical monthly Portuguese household bill for electricity, heating fuels, water, sewerage and refuse, indexed against about $210 a month for the same basket in the United States. Built from Eurostat national accounts (nama_10_co3_p3), Portugal 2022 current prices: EUR 4,947.4 million of household spending on electricity, gas and other fuels (COICOP CP045) and EUR 1,903.3 million on water supply and miscellaneous services relating to the dwelling (CP044). The 2025 HICP item weights put 9.83 of CP044's 11.29 per mille on water supply, sewerage and refuse collection, so EUR 1,657 million of CP044 belongs in this basket and EUR 246 million of condominium and other dwelling services does not. The EUR 6,605 million total over the 4,102,600 households Eurostat counted in 2022 is EUR 134 per household per month; re-priced to 2025 annual-average HICP it is EUR 137 on the 2022 household base and EUR 124 spread over the 4,562,100 households counted in 2025. A bottom-up cross-check on 2024 consumption at second-half-2025 prices (275 kWh of electricity at EUR 0.2435, 55 kWh of piped gas at the band D1 price of EUR 0.1659, about 64 kWh of bottled LPG at an estimated EUR 0.19 per kWh, firewood, and about EUR 36 of water, sewerage and refuse) gives EUR 128. The page takes a central EUR 130 a month, $151 at 1.1622 USD/EUR, so 151/210 = 72. The $210 denominator is this site's standard US monthly household utility basket (electricity, heating fuels, water, sewerage and refuse), applied unchanged on every country page so the utilities index is comparable across countries; for scale, its electricity component alone is about $165 a month on the EIA figures cited below (899 kWh at 18.34 cents). Two components are estimated rather than measured: the bottled-LPG unit price, for which Portugal publishes no official household series, and the choice of household denominator, which is unusually sensitive because Eurostat's household count rose 11% between 2022 and 2025. The honest band is roughly 68 to 76. Portuguese leases do not customarily bundle heating or water, so the whole amount is additional to rent. — accessed September 4, 2026
  11. Eurostat, HICP item weights (prc_hicp_inw), Portugal 2025, in per mille of household monetary consumption: water supply 5.42, refuse collection 2.04, sewerage collection 2.37, other services relating to the dwelling 1.46 (CP044 total 11.29); electricity, gas and other fuels (CP045) 37.58. Used to separate the water, sewerage and refuse part of the national accounts CP044 aggregate from condominium and other dwelling services. — accessed September 4, 2026
  12. Eurostat, HICP annual average index (prc_hicp_aind, 2015 = 100), Portugal: water supply and miscellaneous dwelling services (CP044) 111.98 in 2022 and 128.98 in 2025; electricity, gas and other fuels (CP045) 123.11 in 2022 and 120.67 in 2025. Used to re-price the 2022 national accounts utility basket into 2025 money. — accessed September 4, 2026
  13. Eurostat, Natural gas prices for household consumers (nrg_pc_202), Portugal, band D1 (annual consumption below 20 GJ), all taxes and levies included, second half of 2025: EUR 0.1659 per kWh. Band D1 is the right band here because 55 kWh a month is about 2.4 GJ a year, far below the 20 GJ ceiling. (For reference the other bands in the same release are D2, 20-199 GJ, at EUR 0.1405 and D3, 200 GJ and above, at EUR 0.1204.) — accessed September 4, 2026
  14. Eurostat, Number of private households (lfst_hhnhtych), Portugal: 4,102,600 in 2022, 4,382,000 in 2023, 4,473,300 in 2024 and 4,562,100 in 2025. The 11% rise over three years, driven by immigration, is why the utilities basket is quoted as a central figure with a band rather than a single per-household number. — accessed September 4, 2026
  15. US Energy Information Administration, FAQ: average annual electricity purchased by a US residential utility customer was 10,791 kWh in 2022, about 899 kWh per month — accessed September 4, 2026
  16. US Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A (data for June 2026, released 26 August 2026): US total average residential price of electricity 18.34 cents per kWh — accessed September 4, 2026
  17. European Commission, Weekly Oil Bulletin price history: Portugal Euro-super 95 including duties and taxes, week of 31 August 2026, EUR 2,013 per 1,000 litres (EUR 2.013 per litre, about $8.85 per US gallon at 1.1622 USD/EUR); automotive diesel EUR 2.029 per litre — accessed September 4, 2026
  18. Metropolitano de Lisboa, fares: navegante municipal monthly pass EUR 30, navegante metropolitano monthly pass EUR 40 (2026 tariff) — accessed September 4, 2026
  19. Eurostat, Population on 1 January by age and sex (demo_pjan): Portugal 10,749,635 residents on 1 January 2025 — accessed September 4, 2026
  20. Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros, Portuguese visa portal: national residency visa categories and required documentation, including the digital nomad test of four times the minimum guaranteed monthly remuneration over the last three months and the highly qualified thresholds of 1.5 times the average gross salary or three times the IAS (1.2 times or twice for priority sectors) — accessed September 4, 2026
  21. Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros, Portuguese visa portal: national visa fee of EUR 110 — accessed September 4, 2026
  22. AIMA, Autorização de Residência para Investimento (Art. 90.º-A): current qualifying investments (10 jobs, EUR 500,000 research, EUR 250,000 culture, EUR 500,000 non-property collective investment fund with 5-year maturity and 60% in Portuguese-headquartered companies, EUR 500,000 company plus five permanent jobs) and the minimum stay of 7 days in year one and 14 days thereafter — accessed September 4, 2026
  23. AIMA, Autorização de Residência: regime e requisitos gerais (Art. 77.º, n.º 1): temporary residence permits are valid for two years from issuance and renewable for successive three-year periods, and applicants must show health insurance or SNS cover — accessed September 4, 2026
  24. AIMA, Tabela de taxas e demais encargos a cobrar pelos procedimentos administrativos (Portaria n.º 307/2023): residence permit processing EUR 133.00 and issuance EUR 114.30; EU Blue Card EUR 169.20 and EUR 160.50; ARI processing EUR 842.80, grant EUR 8,418.90, renewal EUR 4,210.30. Point XIV applies a 25% reduction when the application is submitted through the digital channel. — accessed September 4, 2026
  25. Diário da República, Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2026 of 18 May 2026 amending the Nationality Law: Article 6(1)(b) requires seven years of legal residence for nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries and EU member states, or ten years for nationals of other countries; Article 7(2) keeps procedures pending at entry into force under the previous text; Article 8 brings the law into force the day after publication (19 May 2026); Article 15(1) counts any period spent legally in Portugal under a visa or residence title — accessed September 4, 2026
  26. Diário da República, Lei n.º 61/2025 of 22 October 2025, the nineteenth amendment to the foreigners law (Lei n.º 23/2007): it rewrote Article 98, which now requires the sponsor to hold a residence permit valid for at least two years before family reunification with relatives abroad, reduced to 15 months for a qualifying spouse, with exemptions for dependent minors and for holders of permits under Articles 90, 90.º-A (golden visa) and 121.º-A (EU Blue Card). The manifestação de interesse in Articles 88(2) and 89(2) had already been repealed by Decreto-Lei n.º 37-A/2024 of 3 June 2024. — accessed September 4, 2026
  27. Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira, Código do IRS (Article 16 sets the 183-day and habitual residence tests for Portuguese tax residency) — accessed September 4, 2026
  28. Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira, Código do IVA (standard rate 23% on the mainland, with reduced regional rates for Madeira and the Azores) — accessed September 4, 2026
  29. PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Portugal individual taxes on personal income (2026 tax year, reviewed 24 July 2026): progressive scale from 12.50% to a top marginal 48% above EUR 86,634, plus an additional solidarity rate of 2.5% above EUR 80,000 and 5% above EUR 250,000; non-residents taxed at a flat 25% on employment income — accessed September 4, 2026
  30. PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Portugal individual other taxes: employee social security 11% and employer 23.75%; self-employed 21.4%; VAT standard rate 23% mainland, 22% Madeira, 16% Azores — accessed September 4, 2026
  31. PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Portugal individual other tax credits and incentives: the NHR regime was revoked with effect from 1 January 2024; the IFICI regime gives a special 20% rate on Portuguese employment and business income for ten years and exempts foreign-source income with the express exception of pension income and income from blacklisted jurisdictions — accessed September 4, 2026
  32. IRS, Portugal tax treaty documents (US-Portugal income tax convention, 1994, with 1999 technical explanation) — accessed September 4, 2026
  33. IRS, Figuring the foreign earned income exclusion: maximum exclusion of $130,000 for 2025 and $132,900 for 2026 — accessed September 4, 2026
  34. Social Security Administration, POMS GN 01727.001, Overview of the Totalization Agreement with Portugal: effective 1 August 1989 — accessed September 4, 2026
  35. Serviço Nacional de Saúde: the SNS is universal and general, covering all citizens regardless of economic or social status, plus foreign residents — accessed September 4, 2026
  36. Entidade Reguladora da Saúde, FAQ on foreign citizens' access to SNS care: holders of a valid residence permit receive a full registration in the Registo Nacional de Utentes and a national user number with costs borne by the SNS; people without a permit who prove more than 90 days of residence via a junta de freguesia declaration receive a partial registration giving urgent and vital care at SNS expense but no family doctor — accessed September 4, 2026
  37. Decreto-Lei n.º 37/2022, de 27 de maio (Diário da República, 1.ª série, N.º 103), published by ACSS: taxas moderadoras are now charged only in hospital emergency services, and are waived where the SNS made the referral or the episode results in inpatient admission — accessed September 4, 2026
  38. Médis (Ageas Portugal), published starting prices for individual health cover: Seguro de Saúde Médis from EUR 13.12 per month, Seguro de Saúde Vintage from EUR 49.20 per month, family cover from EUR 40.23 per month. The typical_private_insurance_usd_month figure of $75 is an indicative mid-range individual premium (about EUR 65) rather than an official statistic. — accessed September 4, 2026

Nathan Brooks · Editor, Your New Country

Nathan builds and maintains the Your New Country dataset, reconciling figures from the OECD, Eurostat, the World Bank and national statistics offices, and reading each country’s immigration and tax guidance at the source before it is published.

  • Reads each country’s immigration, tax and health guidance in the original official source rather than in secondary coverage
  • Reconciles every published figure against OECD, Eurostat, World Bank and national statistics releases on a quarterly cycle
  • Publishes the derivation and the access date beside each number, and marks estimates as estimates

Data reviewed September 4, 2026 · source confidence: medium ·methodology

Keep going on Portugal

Cost of livingCategory-by-category price levels, rent and a worked monthly budget.TaxesResidency triggers, the US filing obligation, treaties and FEIE.HealthcareHow the system works, what foreigners can access, what cover costs.

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