Immigration to Portugal

Immigration to Portugal in 2026 works through a residence permit tied to a specific purpose: employment or highly qualified work, remote work for foreign clients (the D8 digital nomad visa), a pension or passive income (the D7 visa), your own business or a startup (D2 and the Startup Visa), investment without real estate (ARI, the "golden visa"), studies or family reunification. Ukrainians who left because of the war may hold temporary protection. After 5 years of residence permits you can apply for permanent residence, and under the new law citizenship becomes available after 10 years of legal residence. Registering a company or buying a home gives no right of residence by itself. Facts checked against AIMA, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE) and the statutes on 9 October 2026.

Routes to Portugal at a glance

What changed in 2025–2026

• Real estate no longer leads to a golden visa. Law 56/2023 removed property purchases and plain capital transfers from the ARI investment list. Funds, research, culture and job creation remain.
• 23 October 2025: Law 61/2025 entered into force. The general job-seeker visa was replaced by a visa for qualified professionals on an official list; as of 9 October 2026 consulates do not issue it yet because the government has not adopted the regulation of Article 57-A. Family reunification now requires 2 years of residence, with exceptions.
• 19 May 2026: Organic Law 1/2026 on nationality entered into force. The naturalisation period for Ukrainians rose from 5 to 10 years, and a test on Portuguese language, culture, history and national symbols was added.
• 5 August 2026: EU Decision 2026/1912 took effect, extending temporary protection until 4 March 2028. New applicants must show compliance with military obligations in Ukraine.

How the procedure works

For most routes the process has two stages. First a Portuguese consulate issues a national visa (consular charge €110), then you enter Portugal and apply to the AIMA agency for a residence permit. A temporary permit is valid for 2 years from issue and renews for 3-year periods. For the visa you prove means of subsistence: the benchmark is the minimum wage, €920 a month in 2026, counted at 100% for the first adult, 50% for each further adult and 30% per child. The golden visa skips the national visa: you apply through the ARI Portal after a mandatory online pre-registration.

Work and business

Employment requires a contract or a job offer. Highly qualified professionals can use the separate permit under Article 61-A of the Foreigners Act or the EU Blue Card. People who work remotely for a foreign employer or clients fit the digital nomad visa. For your own business there is the D2 visa and the Startup Visa: the consulate checks investments already made or funds available in Portugal plus an intention to invest, and for a startup an IAPMEI declaration confirming a contract with a certified incubator.

Temporary protection and next steps

Ukrainians displaced by the war receive temporary protection in Portugal: the right to live, work, study and access healthcare. At EU level it runs until 4 March 2028; the validity of Portuguese protection documents is extended by a separate Portuguese government decision, so we check the date on the card before every step. Moving from temporary protection to a regular permit (work, D7, D8) is a separate procedure with its own ground and a full document file. The law gives no explicit answer on whether years under temporary protection count towards permanent residence, so for a long-term plan we set up a regular permit.

Path to permanent residence and citizenship

After 5 years of temporary permits you can apply for permanent residence: you need basic Portuguese, means, housing and no debts to the tax authority or social security. Citizenship by naturalisation for Ukrainian citizens now takes 10 years of legal residence within a 12-year window plus a test on language and culture. Applications filed before 19 May 2026 follow the previous version of the law.

What we do

• Match a lawful route to your goal, income, family and business.
• Check the conditions: income and means, documents from Ukraine, insurance, housing.
• Prepare the national visa file and the AIMA application, with translations and apostilles.
• Plan renewals, permanent residence and citizenship, and connect the immigration side with your company, accounting and tax.

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Related services

Lda company formation in Portugal is handled by RegServ, bookkeeping and reporting by Keys, and company and owner taxation, including the IFICI regime, by Crystal Tax. Market entry through a subsidiary or branch: INNOVA Consulting Group (Portugal).

Sources (as of 9 October 2026): MNE: residence visa documents; MNE: means of subsistence, minimum wage €920; MNE: national visa charges; MNE: skilled job seeker visa; AIMA: temporary permit, 2 + 3 years; AIMA: ARI; AIMA: permanent residence; Law 61/2025; Organic Law 1/2026; Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1912.