Immigration
enter, stay and work.

We work on immigration matters every day. The initial consultation ends with a written assessment — the applicable route, a document checklist, a timeline estimate for each stage and a fee proposal where the matter permits.

When to seek legal support

There are points in the process where legal support can help prevent delays and reduce the need for corrections later:

• before filing the initial application, when choosing between routes with overlapping requirements (D7 versus D8, or Golden Visa among the remaining routes);
• in documentary preparation, particularly with foreign documents subject to specific apostille and translation rules;
• in responding to AIMA requests for additional information;
• when a file is refused, where the appeal deadline is short and requires a technical reading of the decision;
• before renewal, to confirm that the permit issued covers the activities actually performed;
• when administrative inaction extends and warrants a court action to compel the Administration to act.

The three main routes

Immigration to Portugal is, in practice, organised around three routes with dedicated matter pages:

Golden Visa — residence permit for investment activity, provided for in Law no. 23/2007 and substantially reformed in October 2023 by Law no. 56/2023. Five statutory routes are currently available: the creation of at least 10 jobs; investment in scientific research; support for artistic production or cultural heritage; subscription of units in eligible non-real-estate collective investment undertakings; and the incorporation of a company or reinforcement of its share capital, subject to the statutory job-creation and maintenance requirements. The real-estate route and the autonomous transfer-of-capital route are no longer available. It carries a reduced physical-presence requirement compared with the effective-residence routes, with the specific periods resulting from the applicable regulations. It is the route for investors with a multi-year horizon.

D7 Visa — residence visa for holders of regular own income, foreseen in article 58 of Law 23/2007. Retirees, pensioners, holders of rental income and professionals with stable passive income (pensions, rentals, dividends, royalties). It does not require a minimum investment — only evidence of monthly income above the statutory threshold, set by reference to the Portuguese minimum wage. It implies effective residence in Portugal.

D8 Visa — residence visa for remote professional activity, introduced in 2022 by Law 18/2022. Dependent employment with a foreign employer, or independent service provision to foreign entities. Informally known as the digital nomad visa. It implies effective residence in Portugal and evidence of the remote professional relationship.

There are also other routes covered, with their own dedicated matter pages or treated alongside them:

• D2 visa — entrepreneurial or independent professional activity in Portugal, for entrepreneurs, independent professionals and investors in operating economic activity;
• Family reunification — spouses, minor children, adult children still dependent, ascendants in a state of economic dependence, partners in a recognised de facto union;
• CPLP regime — for nationals of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries: it now requires the legally applicable prior visa or permit (the previous declaration-of-interest mechanism has been definitively abolished), and the residence permit is issued in the uniform European Union format, with validity and renewal under the current rules.

Law no. 61/2025 of 22 October reformed the framework in ways that bear directly on these routes: it definitively abolished the declaration-of-interest mechanism, redefined the job-seeking visa, now reserved for qualified work, tightened the family reunification requirements, set decision deadlines and a dedicated regime of judicial protection against AIMA decisions and inaction, and increased the consequences of irregular entry and stay. Residence permit renewals were subsequently adjusted by Decree-Law no. 126/2025.

How to choose the appropriate route

The choice between the Golden Visa, D7 and D8 is based on concrete criteria:

• Source of income. Regular passive income (pensions, rentals, dividends, royalties) → D7. Income from remote professional activity tied to a foreign entity → D8. Income from eligible investment activity in Portugal → Golden Visa.
• Capital availability. The Golden Visa requires a minimum investment on the remaining routes, with minimum amounts foreseen in the law for each route. The D7 and D8 do not require capital — only monthly income above the statutory threshold.
• Minimum stay in Portugal. The Golden Visa carries a reduced physical-presence requirement, under the applicable regulations. The D7 and D8 imply effective residence, with substantially longer time spent in Portugal.
• Professional relationship. Employment relationship with a foreign employer, fully remote → D8. Entrepreneur or independent professional with operating economic activity in Portugal → D2 (not Golden Visa, not D8). Without an employment relationship, sustained by own income → D7.
• Nationality horizon. All routes allow an application for naturalisation once the legal residence period is met — seven or ten years depending on nationality, under Organic Law no. 1/2026 of 18 May, as corrected by Declaration of Rectification no. 17/2026/1; applications pending on 18 May 2026 remain subject to the previous regime. The Golden Visa has the particularity that its reduced physical presence may bear on the verification of effective residence at the moment of the naturalisation filing.
• Contentious risk. Each route has its own risk profile — documentary defects, misalignment between the actual profile and the chosen route, criminal records — assessed at the initial consultation.

The initial consultation exists precisely to map these criteria in concrete terms and produce a written assessment of the recommended route — with the alternatives and their respective trade-offs.

Documents, timelines and administrative risk

The documentary component is often the decisive factor. Foreign documents require an apostille or consular legalisation depending on the country of issue, and almost always a certified translation into Portuguese. The required recency of criminal record certificates must be confirmed for the relevant procedure and competent authority. Income evidence must cover the period required by the consulate.

AIMA processing times in 2026 are not uniform: they vary by application type, by the office handling the file and by the administrative phase. We communicate estimates within reasonable horizons, not promises, and we update them whenever there is a relevant development.

A response to an AIMA request for further documents is distinct from the legal remedies available in cases of prolonged administrative inaction: those remedies include an action to compel the Administration to act and administrative court proceedings where warranted, now framed by the regime of judicial protection against AIMA decisions and inaction introduced by Law no. 61/2025. Each of these has its own cost and timing implications, assessed case by case.

How we work this area

The responsible partner reads the entire matter before the first reply. The initial consultation usually lasts 25 minutes and ends with a written assessment of the applicable route, a document checklist, a timeline estimate per phase and a fee proposal where the matter permits.

From that point, the team handles documentary preparation — apostilles, certified translations, Portuguese and foreign criminal records, evidence of income and accommodation — and the filing itself. We follow the file with the consulate and with AIMA through to the issue of the residence permit and the first renewal. Where a file is refused or extended inaction occurs, we lodge the appeal and, where required, bring proceedings before the administrative courts.

We are bound by the Statute of the Portuguese Bar Association (Law 145/2015) and by Law no. 6/2024 on legal advertising. We do not publish results-based metrics, we do not make comparisons with other firms, and we do not promise outcomes.

Responsible author

Jorge Ferraz. Admitted to the Portuguese Bar since 2002. Leads DefesaLegal.pt. University lecturer in Portugal. Practises immigration and relocation law in Portugal, with experience across the three main routes and in cross-border individual and family matters.