Visa support
Types of visa
Portugal has a variety of visas available for foreign nationals who wish to visit or stay in the country, including short-term and long-term visas, as well as the digital nomad and highly qualified visas.
Highly qualified visa
For highly qualified immigrants who already have a promise or a work contract in sight with national companies.
Digital nomad visa
A one-year visa for non-EU/EEA/Swiss citizens aimed at digital nomads with a work contract or an independent link.
StartUP visa
A residence visa for non-EU-Schenghen start-up founders who want to be part of the Portuguese start-up community.
Other visas
Softlanding is always up-to-date on the latest visas launched by the government and can help you decide which is best suited.
Highly qualified visa
This visa allows the holder and their family to enter the Portuguese territory for work purposes and establish residence.
After this visa expires, and if you would like to extend your stay in Portugal, you will have to apply for a Residence Permit for Portugal and the European Union (EU) Blue Card – which is the Residence Permit for highly qualified professionals with European scope.
What is a highly qualified activity?
A highly qualified activity is one whose exercise requires specialised technical skills of an exceptional nature or an adequate qualification for the practice of the function.
More specifically, the European Commission considers that the highly qualified activity is that exercised by professionals falling into either of the two lower groups:
- Skilled professionals: engineers and scientists, health professionals, teachers, business and management professionals, information and communication technology professionals, cultural professionals, skilled workers in agriculture and animal production, fishery and hunting, construction and crafts workers, and plant and machine operators;
- Other professionals: Directors and managers of companies that promote productive investment.
After this visa expires, and if you would like to extend your stay in Portugal, you will have to apply for a Residence Permit for Portugal and the European Union (EU) Blue Card – which is the Residence Permit for highly qualified professionals with European scope.
Tech Visa
This specific programme aims to make the process of granting visas faster for highly qualified immigrants working in the area of technology and innovation through the certification of contracting companies.
Information technology professionals, such as software engineers, data scientists, programmers, designers, and infrastructure architects, among others, currently in high demand by companies in Portugal, have come to rely on this even more special visa.
To be eligible, the candidate must be recruited by companies that have joined the Tech Visa programme at the Portuguese Ministry of Economy. Companies must follow specific criteria in order to receive certification, demonstrating that they fit in with the objectives of the Tech Visa Programme and meet the requirements set out in the particular Ordinance for this purpose.
Softlanding is a Tech Visa-certified company by IAPMEI.
Digital nomad visa
With this regime, dependent or self-employed workers for high-value-added professions have their income taxed at 20%, as opposed to the 50% that can be applied to Portuguese workers with the progressive rate. Also, another significant selling point is that Digital Nomad visa holders can travel visa-free throughout the Schengen Area. After the one-year period, they can apply for residency and stay longer in the country.
Family members of a Digital Nomad Visa applicant can apply for a visa to accompany the primary applicant when the family travels from the same country of origin.
Requirements
Minimum Wage of €2,836/month
the visa requires the applicant to receive four times the Portuguese minimum wage.
Proof of income for the past 3 months
it is required that you prove that you can provide for yourself during your stay and that you are not a burden to Portugal.
Employment contract
Proof of tax residency
StartUP visa
