How to Actually Move to Portugal (A Beginner’s Guide)
Portugal is a wonderful country with a slow pace of life, beautiful cobblestone streets, sandy beaches, friendly people, and a great healthcare system. As many people explore their options for moving abroad, Portugal is often part of the conversation.
We are an American family of four that moved to Portugal and settled in a neighborhood near Porto. Our kids are in school here, and we anticipate spending at least the next ten years living here. We are often asked how the process works and how to start making a similar move.
In this post, we’ll lay out the basic process for moving to Portugal, specifically from an American perspective, which also applies to most non-EU citizens. The details of this process are constantly changing and shifting, but the overall process is fairly stable.
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How to Move to Portugal: Step-by-Step Outline
These are the broad steps that you will need to navigate to obtain legal residency in Portugal. We cannot offer legal advice, nor can we promise that details will not change in the near future.
Here we will cover the purely logistical process. One could easily argue that there are earlier steps to determine if moving abroad is right for you, from mindset work to tax analysis to personal coaching.
For more details about culture and daily life, don’t miss our list of what we wish we knew before moving, as well as FAQ about life in Portugal.
Changing Immigration Landscape
It is important to note that Immigration policies are in flux in Portugal. In October of 2023, the old immigration agency (SEF) was wound down, and a new agency (AIMA) was created, to streamline the immigration process. Prior to July 2025, renewals were handled by a third agency (IRN).
In 2025, new legislation was introduced, debated, passed by parliament, and then struck down by the constitutional court. In 2026 revised versions of these law were passed, but the regulations behind them have not yet been written, so details are still in flux.
Step One: Choose the Right Visa
There are several long-stay visas that allow you to become a resident of Portugal. Short-stay visas are for scholarship or study, and for less than one year.
Regardless of which visa you choose to initially enter Portugal, you will be granted the same residence permit with the same rights, regardless of whether your financial situation changes.
Here is a brief introduction to the most common long-stay national visa types:
D7- “Residency for Pensioners Living on Own Income”. This is for anyone who is retired, lives on a pension, or lives on a remote income. This can include rental income in the US, dividends, royalties, online sales, etc.
The financial requirements for this are lower than for a D8. Any “passive income” counts toward minimum requirements and will be taxed at a lower rate than money earned in Portugal. Many people run as much as possible through a US-based LLC.
D8- “Residency for Remote Work”. When this visa was introduced, it was called a Digital Nomad Visa because it covers anyone working as an independent contractor or working remotely in Portugal. Because it takes a year to get this visa (like others), it is best for people intending to stay at least 2 years, rather than as a quick digital nomad visa.
D1- Residency Visa for Employment. If you are arriving with a contracted job already arranged in Portugal.
D6- Family reunification in Portugal. This is to bring a partner or child to Portugal once the original family member has a residence permit. This process is notoriously slow.
The Golden Visa
Wait, didn’t I hear about a Golden Visa? Yes, Portugal did have a Golden Visa program, which has been slowly phased out. This was a program where people could buy property and establish residency while only spending 1 to 2 weeks in Portugal per year.
In reality, many people have been waiting years for their paperwork to be approved and residency granted. The government admitted to processing the G.V. applications last. Some people have canceled their applications and started over on a D7 rather than continue to wait years for their golden visa application.
Currently, the remaining golden visa options start at a “cultural investment” of 250,000€ and go up from there. You can find more details here.
Step Two: Get a Visa Appointment
The next step is to secure a visa appointment to request a visa for Portugal. VFS is an agency hired to handle this process on behalf of the Portuguese embassy. There are some areas where the consulate handles applications directly.
-You will need a “Long Stay” appointment. If you take a different type of appointment, you may get turned away when you arrive.
-You may not apply more than 90 days before your “intended date of arrival” per VFS. Some consulates allow up to six months in advance. This date is stated on your application paperwork, though no plane tickets or other travel plans are required.
-Appointments can be difficult to get. Available slots are often released at the beginning of the month, but this is a “just keep trying” situation. It is common for people to try for two months before being able to secure an appointment.
-You must get an appointment at the appropriate VFS for your current residential address. You cannot pick any office. You must apply at the correct office location in your current country of residence.
Locations:
-Boston (consulate); Includes Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont;
-New Bedford (consulate); Includes specific MA counties, and Rhode Island;
-New York (VFS); Includes New York, Connecticut, Michigan, US Territories;
-Newark (Consulate); Includes New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania;
-San Francisco (VFS); Includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming;
-Washington, DC (VFS); Includes Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, District of Columbia.
*All states eligible for the Washington D.C. office also have the option of using the Houston or Miami offices.
Visiting Portugal as you make plans? Check out our top travel tips!
Step Three: Prepare Paperwork
Each member of your family will need a separate application for their visa appointment, even though many of the documents will be the same. All documents can be in English, except for a lease document, which must be in Portuguese.
There are 11 basic requirements. We will not go into detail on each one as our goal is to give you an overview of the process. Each appointment location may have slightly different requirements (for example, some accept credit cards, and others do not). See our resources section for more information.
- Official National Visa Application Form
- Passport and two Passport Photos- as of late 2025, you must leave your passport with your application for review.
Your passport will be returned to you with your visa attached at the address you used for your application.
You will also need a notarized color copy of the data page of your passport. Passports must be valid for at least six months after your intended date of arrival. - Proof of residency status if not a Citizen.
- Personal Statement- a short letter that summarizes what all of your other paperwork will demonstrate. Who you are, where you plan to live, how you will support yourself, etc. This should be clear and concise, to help the reviewer connect the dots.
- Financial documents. Each visa has specific requirements. These numbers change annually and are tied to the Portuguese minimum wage. Income statements must be from the last three months.
- Proof of a funded bank account in Portugal and Portuguese Tax Number (NIF).
- FBI Criminal Records Certificate- needed for ages 16+. Valid for 90 days after issue.
- Request for Portuguese Criminal Background Check. This is an authorization form you will simply need to sign and include with your package.
- Proof of private health insurance covering you in Portugal for 12 months from your intended arrival.
- Proof of Accommodation. You must show that you have 12 months of accommodation set up. This is typically a signed lease, but can also be ownership documentation as well.
- Marriage and birth certificates (not always required, but best to have).
Step Four: Attend Visa Appointment
Attend your visa appointment with your large stack of papers. Be prepared to sit with an agent while they go through a checklist and take your papers.
They will not review your paperwork and are only forwarding it to the consulate or embassy. A decision should be made in 90 days or less, though there is no guarantee.
Pay your visa application fee by credit card. Then wait. There is no tracking system. You may be notified when your application is forwarded to the consulate.
The agency may hold your application package for several weeks if the consulate is backlogged and not accepting more.
Either you’ll get an approval email, a request for more information, or your passport will be sent to you with a visa inside!
Step Five: Enter Portugal using your Visa
Your passport will be returned with a “Temporary Residence Visa” inside. This is valid for 120 days and allows for two entries into Portugal. You are expected to enter within 90 days.
You must enter Portugal with this visa to activate it. If you enter the Schengen border zone directly through Portugal, they should stamp your passport, but this is changing with a new electronic system. Keep your boarding passes as proof of entry, just in case.
Now that you are in Portugal, time to explore learning the basics of the language, learn how to get around Porto, and get yourself settled with basics like groceries..
Step Six: Get an AIMA Appointment
Now that you are in Portugal (Yay!), you will need to attend an appointment with AIMA (Portuguese Immigration Authority) to convert your Temporary Residence Visa into a Temporary Residence Permit, called Título de Residência.
-If you are lucky, when your visa is returned to you, it will include a pre-scheduled appointment with AIMA. If not, you will need to schedule an appointment.
This can be requested at www.contactenos.aima.gov.pt. (select Residence Permit/Residence Permit with Consular Visa (Non-CPLP).
-Appointments can be in any city in Portugal.
-Families can be assigned appointments in different cities on the same day. If this happens, take the child to a parent’s appointment and explain.
-It is very common to be assigned an appointment six months from arrival. While you wait for your appointment, you can legally stay in Portugal, but cannot travel beyond your initial 90 days in the rest of the Schengen region.
-Many people are finding that even if they are assigned an appointment, they can get an earlier date by requesting an appointment online using the same link as those without an appointment.
-Appointment requirements are changing often. Check updated sources in the weeks before your appointment.
-In 2025, there was confusion over whether a NISS (Portuguese social security number) was required. Get it before your appointment if you can.
-Starting in 2026 AIMA is asking for prepayment before the appointment. This request should come as an email. Bring your proof of payment to the appointment.
Note: Do not cancel an appointment if you don’t have to. Appointments are gold. Change your plans, rent the car, but just get there!
Ready to explore? Check out our explanation of coffee culture in Porto, and our 3-day itinerary for exploring the city.
Step Seven: Attend AIMA Appointment
Bring all the paperwork from your initial appointment to your AIMA appointment. Print out your appointment email to show to security to enter the AIMA Office.
-At your appointment, an agent will review your paperwork, take biometrics, and you will pay a fee if you haven’t prepaid. They don’t expect you to be fluent in Portuguese.
-Check paperwork before you leave for typos, errors, etc. It is not easy to get a mistake corrected once your card is printed, and this is the address to which the card will be mailed.
-You will receive a receipt with your picture on it. This is your temporary permit until your card arrives. You can use this to enter and exit Portugal (other Schengen countries won’t recognize it).
-Your card will arrive in the mail anywhere from three weeks to six months after your appointment.
-Once you have a valid Título de Residência, you can work in Portugal and register with the public health service. You may also travel through the EU as much as you like, as long as you respect the 8-month out of country limit of your permit.
Your AIMA appointment usually requires travel, so use this as an excuse to take a day trip or two around Portugal.
Renewals and Permanent Residency
Once you have your initial residency, you can look forward to future renewals and, if you choose, permanent residency.
-Your initial Temporary Residence Permit will be valid for two years from the date of issue.
-Once you renew your Permit, your second and subsequent permits will be valid for three years from the date of issue. You may renew an unlimited number of times.
-For each permit (regardless of 2 or 3 years), you can only be out of Portugal for a combined 8 months, with no more than 6 months consecutively.
-If you change your address, get a new passport, or add additional numbers (NISS or SNS), you must contact AIMA and will often need to make an additional appointment to update your file.
-Once you have been a temporary resident for five years, you may apply for Permanent Residency if you can show an A2 or higher certificate of language proficiency.
-Permanent Residency allows you to live and work in Portugal, and must be renewed every ten years. It does not grant the right to vote or live and work in other EU countries.
Attaining Portuguese Citizenship
As of mid-2026, the current law states that you are eligible for citizenship after ten years of residency. Most people apply for both permanent residency and citizenship.
-Currently, the wait time is approximately 3 years from the time of application before citizenship is granted.
-Parents must apply for citizenship first, then apply for minors after the parents’ application is accepted.
-In some situations (such as those getting a government pension), citizenship may affect tax rates and be inadvisable. Talk to a professional.
-In 2025, a law was passed that changed the waiting time from 5 years to 10 years (7 years for CPLP*). The law also calls for the addition of a civics test. That law was struck down as unconstitutional, revised, and passed in 2026. Details are still pending.
In the original law, there was no clause for “grandfathering” existing residents. There are many lawsuits pending over the change, and the actual rules behind the new law have not been written.
CPLP = community of Portuguese language countries, i.e., Brazil, Mozambique.
Resources
Here are ways to take this information and move forward.
Americans & Friends
If you want to pursue residency in Portugal, we highly recommend joining the free Facebook Group “Americans & FriendsPT“.
This group maintains meticulous files and documents, all the details for each requirement. Their information is updated weekly or more as needed. If you follow their guides and files, you will not need to hire a lawyer and can navigate this process yourself.
Beyond their files, they provide a community of fellow expats who are navigating the same process at the same time. You can see which offices have delays, or new requirements and not feel that you are tackling an overwhelming bureaucracy alone.
Expat Chats
We offer 1:1 online chats to discuss whatever you may need, related to moving abroad. We cannot give legal advice, but we can share how we navigated choosing a place to live, bringing children with us, and any questions about culture, lifestyle, language, healthcare, and more.
We live outside of Porto, and know Northern towns well; we have also spent several months in Lisbon. We are here to offer emotional support, local insight, and to help you decide whether moving to Portugal is right for you.
There You Have It
Without going into minute and ever-changing details, these are the steps to get a residence permit in Portugal. These steps are written from our personal experience, and from the perspective of an American, though other non-EU countries will find the process quite similar.
While the steps can feel overwhelming at times, you can do this, and we are here to cheer you on. We are so glad that we moved here, and love the lifestyle we are finding here in Portugal.
Still have questions? Check out our FAQ about moving to Portugal, we cover a lot of the concerns we hear the most. We also asked the kids! Read our interview to get their perspective on life in Portugal.
Still exploring options? our FAQ about life in Portugal covers more general topics like healthcare, taxes, and more.
Read Next: Top things to do in Porto, and rainy day activities in Porto.
Looking for souvenirs? Where to buy azulejos (tiles) in Porto.
