Portugal D8 Digital Nomad Visa: residence for remote work — 2026 requirements

The D8 is a consular residence visa for remote work for an employer or clients outside Portugal. It is valid for 4 months with two entries: in that time you travel to Portugal and apply to AIMA for the residence permit. The permit is issued for 2 years and renewed for 3 years.

Average monthly income over the last 3 months of at least 4 Portuguese minimum wages. In 2026 the minimum wage is EUR 920 (Decree-Law 139/2025), so the threshold is EUR 3,680 a month, or EUR 44,160 a year. The income must come from employment or self-employment. We recommend filing with headroom: the consulate may request further documents and looks at how regular the income is.

By its basis. The D8 is for people who keep working: income from employment or self-employment for clients outside Portugal, threshold EUR 3,680 a month. The D7 is for people living on passive income: pension, dividends, interest, rent, royalties, threshold EUR 920 a month. Permit terms and the path to PR are the same. More on the D7 on its own page.

The law provides both. The temporary-stay visa (art. 54) is issued for under a year with multiple entries, decided in 30 days; the stay on it can be extended up to 1 year. It grants no residence permit and does not count towards the 5 years of temporary residence needed for PR. The residence visa (art. 61-B) leads to a 2-year residence card. If the goal is relocation and PR, that is the one we choose.

Under the current wording — no. The permit is granted on general conditions to holders of a residence visa (art. 77 of Lei 23/2007). Decreto Regulamentar 84/2007 refers to in-country filing under articles 88 and 89, but those provisions of the law were repealed by Decree-Law 37-A/2024. So we file through the consulate for your place of legal residence. This is where Portugal differs from Spain, where the remote-work permit can be obtained while legally present in the country.

The visa is based on remote work for clients outside Portugal. With the residence permit, the law (art. 83) allows employment and self-employment without a separate authorisation. But at renewal you show that the employment or self-employment continues, so it is wise to keep the main foreign income. If the work moves to Portugal, we change the residence basis.

The law and the regulation set no fixed savings amount for the D8: the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs counts the means coming from the employment contract, company agreement or service contract. In practice we open the Portuguese bank account and obtain the NIF before filing, transferring funds within LRS limits, and keep statements and a savings buffer ready: the consulate may request further documents.

Yes, the D8 is a relocation visa. The temporary permit can be cancelled if, without good reason, you are away for more than 6 consecutive months or 8 months in total during the card's validity. For permanent residence the limit is 24 consecutive months or 30 months within 3 years.

The consular fee for a national visa is EUR 110. At AIMA, under the fee table (update of 26.02.2026): EUR 133.00 for receipt and review of the application and EUR 114.30 for the issue or renewal of the temporary permit; permanent residence costs EUR 351.10. Each family member pays; children up to 6 are exempt from the visa fee.

By law the consulate decides on the residence visa in 60 days (the temporary-stay visa in 30 days) and AIMA on the permit in 90 days, extendable by 30 days; renewals in 60 days. In practice the AIMA appointment and card issue take longer than the statutory terms — this is not a statutory term, and we will not promise 'one month'. If the visa runs out before the permit is issued, we arrange an extension of stay.

At the Portuguese mission or visa application centre for your place of legal residence: the Embassy of Portugal in New Delhi for residents of India, the mission in the UAE for UAE residents. You need proof of legal residence valid beyond the requested visa. Police clearance comes from your country of nationality or the country where you have lived for more than a year — MEA-apostilled for India, legalised through the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the UAE. The tax-residence document comes from the country where you currently pay tax.

If Portugal becomes your place of habitual residence, you generally become its tax resident and declare worldwide income, including salary from a foreign employer. The D8 carries no preferential regime by itself: the IFICI regime is granted on its own conditions — profession, employer, legal basis of the relief. We run the tax calculation before the move, taking the India–Portugal double tax treaty into account.

Permanent residence — after 5 years of temporary residence with means, housing and basic Portuguese; the status has no expiry, the card is replaced every 5 years. Citizenship — under the law of 18 May 2026, after 10 years of legal residence (7 for EU and Portuguese-speaking-country citizens), with a language and culture test. India does not permit dual citizenship, so a Portuguese passport would replace the Indian one.

Yes. Lei 23/2007 counts as family the spouse, minor children, dependent adult children who are unmarried and studying in Portugal, and dependent parents of the applicant or the spouse. They can file at the same time as you on accompanying visas — then there is no 2-year wait. Filing later through reunification, adult family members face a 2-year wait (Lei 61/2025).

The D8 threshold of EUR 3,680 a month applies to the main applicant. For family members the consulate requires means under Portaria 1563/2007: 50% of the minimum wage (EUR 460) for each further adult and 30% (EUR 276) for each child. We add them on top of the threshold: a couple — EUR 4,140 a month, a couple with two children — EUR 4,692 a month. The main applicant proves the income.

Yes. If the application is refused through the fault of our team or an error in building the case, we refund the company's service fee less a minimal retention for costs actually incurred. Refund terms, the payment schedule and the rules on retaining service costs are fixed in the contract before work begins. Before we start, we check your documents and risk history free of charge and tell you about any risks in advance.