Frequently Asked Questions
Own/Passive Income Visa
The Own/Passive Income Visa Portugal is a popular residence visa option for non-EU citizens looking to live in Portugal for more than six months on their own income. It allows you to enter Portugal to apply for legal residency.
Any non-EU citizen who meets the Portugal Own/Passive Income visa requirements can apply, and if successful, enter Portugal. No countries or citizens are excluded from the Own/Passive Income visa program. Members of the EU and some other countries like the US can enter Portugal visa-free, but only for a limited time.
The primary applicant must be over 18 years, but there is no upper age limit.
Yes, the Own/Passive Income visa is an excellent option for anyone looking to retire in Portugal.
Yes, you can include dependent members of your family on your Own/Passive Income visa application. Qualifying members include your spouse or de facto partner, minor children, parents, and parents-in-law. You can request family reunification for direct members of the family if you are currently living in Portugal with a Own/Passive Income residence permit.
You can live, work, or study in Portugal. You have access to Portugal’s healthcare and education systems. The Own/Passive Income visa has no restriction on working, either remotely or in Portugal. You have freedom of movement (visa-free access) in the SCHENGEN area and the 26 European Union Countries. It is a pathway to obtaining citizenship in Portugal or a permanent residence (PR) permit.
You should deposit the equivalent of the Own/Passive Income minimum income requirement into a Portuguese bank account before submitting your application. You will have to provide bank statements with sufficient funds as proof of income.
Yes, but you should get advice from a qualified Own/Passive Income expert Portuguese immigration lawyer to prepare a successful application.
You must have health insurance (travel, private, or Expat) for your initial trip to Portugal. Once you are living in Portugal, private healthcare is recommended for many Expats.
For the first appointment at the Portuguese consulate, you should have your Own/Passive Income visa application form, a personal motivation letter, proof of income and savings, plus a copy of your passport. The Own/Passive Income Visa Portugal application fee varies depending on the Portuguese consulate you visit, Please contact us to know more about the fees.
You can stay in Portugal for two years on your Own/Passive Income visa. After that, you extend your residency for three years as often as you like. For permanent residency, you need to legally live in Portugal for five years.
Yes, you can renew your Portugal Own/Passive Income visa after the initial two-year period. The visa can be renewed for unlimited three-year periods if you still meet the Own/Passive Income visa requirements.
For the residence permit renewal, you must be living in Portugal, and there are minimum times you must be in the country. You can leave for up to six months or eight months if there are separate trips.
Yes, you can. The Portuguese non-habitual residency (NHR) means you pay no Portuguese tax for up to ten years.
Yes, there are no restrictions on working in Portugal on the Own/Passive Income visa. You can work for a Portuguese company, remotely for an international company, freelance, or as a self-employed person. But if you are looking to purchase a home for your retirement, the Portugal Golden Visa may be a better option.
Entrepreneurship Visa
That visa is meant for the new business start-up, independent professionals, immigrant entrepreneurs, company owners, shareholder, partner, the board of directors, can apply for Portuguese Entrepreneurship Visa, so-called residence long term visa.
This visa falls under the residence category, which it considers as a long-term visa for more than 90 days.
Request to Portuguese consulate at your home / resident country
There is no prescribed investment amount by the Portuguese authorities for Entrepreneurship visa, it always depends on your plan/project in Portugal.
It is not obligatory if you are having independent profession skills like IT specialization, doctors, plumber, carpenter, technicians or other freelancer credibility and certifications along with solid experience in your independent activities may request without opening a company for Entrepreneurship visa
You can open a company in Portugal basis on legal power of attorney delegated to Portuguese
representative/lawyer/consultant or may any physical person who is residing in Portugal. The power of attorney should be an attested ministry of a foreign affair or Portuguese consulate in your home country.
Yes, under partnership in your business/company subject to the active shareholder of the company can request for a business / professional visa for Portugal.
No, it is not an obligation to invest in Portugal before obtaining a successful visa but it is also important for you to demonstrate your plan and budget of investment to the embassy.
After requesting an Entrepreneurship visa at the Portuguese consulate expected time 60-90 days. Still depend on the duration of time confirmation by the SEF (Foreigners and Borders Service)
The validity of the Entrepreneurship visa, so-called long-term visa, is 120 days. Further on landing, you should present your visa at SEF (Foreigners and Borders Service) for biometric concerning obtaining residence card under the article, 89.1. Which is valid for 2 years.
The minimum requirement for the maintenance (basic living expenses) is around € 665 x 12 months apart from the investment budget.
Yes, you can do multiple legal works along with the present status in Portugal.
The employee category is entirely different from a Entrepreneurship visa in this case you need to take prior permission from competent Portuguese authority.
Golden Visa
The Portugal Golden Visa Residence Permit Programme, is a fast track for foreign investors from non-EU countries to obtain a fully valid residency permit in Portugal (otherwise known as a 'Golden Visa').
It was launched by Portuguese authorities in October 2012, and under the Portugal Golden Visa programme, non-EU citizens can through investment activities in Portugal (acquire real estate, transfer capital or to create jobs) can qualify for a residency permit in Portugal. This permit allows the investor to enter and/or live in Portugal, and to travel freely within the vast majority of European countries (Schengen Area).
The Portugal Golden Visa Residence Permit Programme is a straightforward, flexible programme, aimed at attracting foreign investment into Portugal. It is considered one of the most attractive residency programmes in the world, since investors do not need to live in Portugal and can include both dependent children and dependent parents.
The holders of a Portuguese Golden Visa Residence Permit have many advantages:
- You do not need a visa to enter Portugal or travel through Europe (Schengen Area).
- You can live and work in Portugal, even with residency in a different country.
- Portuguese residency can be extended to family members.
- It has extremely low minimum stay periods compared to other residency / citizenship programmes.
- You can obtain permanent residency after five years.
- You can attain citizenship after six years.
Three types of investment qualify for the Portugal Golden Visa Residence Permit. You only need to make of these investments:
- Acquisition of property in the amount of or greater than € 500,000
- Transfer of funds above € 1,000,000
- Creation of at least 10 (ten) jobs in Portugal
- Please note, only investments made after 8th October 2012 are eligible for the Portugal Golden Visa Residence Permit programme.
The Portugal Golden Visa Residence Permit Programme is one of the most popular residency by investment programmes because of its simplicity, speed and limited number of requirements.
The Portugal Golden Visa Residence Permit Programme requires investor to comply with the following general requirements across all types of qualifying investments:
- Maintain the investment for a minimum period of 5 years
- Ensure funds for the investment come from abroad
- Entry into Portugal should be with a valid Schengen visa
- There must be no breaches or reference in the Portuguese Immigration and the Schengen services
- Absence of conviction of crime both in Portugal and in home country
- Minimum stay in Portugal: 7 (seven) days during the first year and 14 (fourteen) days during each subsequent period of two years
The Portugal Golden Visa Residence Permit Programme allows considerable freedom in each type of investment
(a) Property investment:
- Minimum investment of € 500,000
- Purchase of one or multiple properties
- All property types qualify
- Possibility of co-ownership;
- Freedom to use, rent or lease
(b) Transfer of Funds
- Minimum investment of € 1 million
- Funds transferred from abroad to a bank in Portugal
- Total freedom to invest the funds
- Possibility of using the funds to invest in shares of companies
(c) Job Creation
- Creation of a minimum of 10 jobs
- No minimum investment value
- No limitation on areas/activities
- Compliance with Social Security obligations
The Portugal Golden Visa Residence Permit Programme will be valid for an initial period of 1 (one) year and then will be renewed for subsequent periods of 2 years.
The Portugal Golden Visa Residence Permit Programme will be extended to family members, namely children, spouse and dependent family members.
The family members will also be eligible for Permanent Residency after 5 years Portuguese Citizenship after 6 years.
Residence permits can also be granted to family members of a successful main applicant through the family reunification procedure. The Golden Residence Permit is individual, yet the investor may apply for family reunification and the procedures may run concurrently or at a later stage, according to the preference of the investor. In all cases, approvals are subject to the successful application of the main applicant.
Portuguese law defines family as:
- The spouse of the applicant
- Minors of the couple or of one of the members of the couple
- Adopted children by an unmarried applicant or by his/her spouse, provided such adoption was authorized by the relevant authority of the country of origin and has the same legal effects to those natural children, and that such decision is recognised in Portugal
- Children of age, who are financially dependent on one or both parents, provided they are single and studying
- First degree ascendants (parents) of the couple on the condition that they are financially dependent
- Minor siblings (on the condition that they are legally under the responsibility of the resident in their country of origin).
Under the laws of Portugal, any person that has held a valid Portuguese temporary residency card (Portugal Golden Visa Residence Permit) for a minimum period of 5 years, will be entitled to obtain Permanent Residency in Portugal.
- The investor and family members will have to meet the following criteria in order to be able to apply for Permanent Residency in Portugal:
- Absence of conviction of crime during the last 5 (five years)
- Proof of income / financial independence
- Proof of accommodation in Portugal
- Basic knowledge of Portuguese
The Portuguese legislation also sets out that any person who has been validly resident in Portugal for at least 6 (years (either under a temporary or permanent residency title), is eligible for obtaining Portuguese Citizenship.
In order to be able to obtain Portuguese Citizenship, the investor and family members will also have to comply with the following requirements:
- Be at least 18 years old (or at least 16 but married or legally responsible)
- Absence of conviction of any crime
- Pass a simple Portuguese language test, which will serve to show sufficient knowledge of the language
The application for the Portugal Golden Visa Residence Permit requires submission of the following documentation:
- Proof of Investment
- Passport & Valid Schengen Visa
- Portuguese Fiscal number
- Clean Criminal Record statement from country of residency
- Clean Portuguese Criminal Record
- Declaration from the Portuguese Tax Department proving the absence of debts to the Portuguese Tax Authorities
- Declaration from Portuguese Social Security proving the absence of debts to Portuguese Social Security Authorities
- Declaration from the investor confirming compliance with the investment requirements
- Health Insurance valid in Portugal
It should be noted that:
- Any document that is not in the Portuguese or English languages needs to be translated to Portuguese and the translation must be certified.
- Documents issued by foreign authorities need to be legalized before being submitted in Portugal. This legalization means obtaining the Appostille of the Hague Convention (when applicable) or legalization by the Portuguese Consular services.
Should you have any queries, please contact us.
If you would like us to do a simulation of the total costs specifically for your family size, please Contact Us
For the Portugal Golden Visa Residence Permit via property investment, an investor must also consider the following taxes and costs:
- a) Payable when the property is purchased :
- “IMT '' or Property Transfer Tax”, is the tax on transfer of ownership of property and varies with price of the property (. It is sliding scale based on the purchase price - a guideline figure is circa 5-6%)
- Stamp Duty - normally 0.8% of the property price
- b) Payable on an annual basis:
- “IMI” or Council Tax, which is the annual municipal property tax; it is levied between 0.3% and 0.5% on the property’s tax value
- c) Payable on an annual basis:
- Rental income will be taxed at a rate of 28%.
There is no obligation for the investor to live in the property that he has bought for the Portugal Golden Visa Residence Permit. It can be rented if the investor wishes. It must be noted that rental income will be taxed at a rate of 28%.
The investor is also free to sell this property and purchase another (within 2 months) but of the Golden Visa residence permit via property investment, the minimum investment of 500,000 Euros must be maintained for the full 5 year period
If the holder of the golden visa does not stay in Portugal for more than 183 consecutive days, he/she will not be required to pay taxes for income generated outside of Portugal.
Only income arising in Portugal (e.g. from rent, interest) is taxed in Portugal at 28%.
Yes, the investor is free to sell the property / investment if he no longer wishes to continue with the Golden Visa programme. However to qualify fully, investors must hold the investment during Portugal Golden Visa’s validity period – 5 years.
The investor (or any family member) will be refused the Golden Visa, or its renewal, if:
- The investor has not maintained the investment for the minimum period of 5 (years)
- The investor has not complied with the minimum periods of stay in Portugal
- The investor has been convicted of a crime
- The investor in a period where he/she has been banned entry into Portuguese territory following a removal measure of the country
- The Golden Visa may be also refused on the grounds of public order, public security or public health.
