D7 or D8 Visa: Which Fits Americans and Britons

The D7 is for people who live on a pension or other income and the D8 is for people who work remotely for someone outside Portugal. If you have no foreign employer or clients and your money comes from a pension, property or investments, the D7 pages describe you; if you earn from remote work, the D8 pages do. For where both sit among the other routes, read the overview of residence routes.

“D7” and “D8” are the names people use; the foreign ministry’s visa portal does not use them. It lists “Reformados” and “Pessoas que vivam de rendimentos” for the first and “Trabalho remoto / Nómada Digital” for the second. This comparison uses only the ministry’s pages, which we read on 18 October 2026. The most recent change they state is the 2026 guaranteed monthly minimum wage of 920 euros, set by Decree-Law 139/2025 of 29 December 2025. It is an overview, not legal advice, and the consular post that receives your file decides what it needs.

What is the difference between the D7 and the D8?

The D7 is a residence visa to settle residence for retirees, religious ministers and people living on their own income. The D8 is a residence visa for professional activity provided remotely to outside Portugal. Both have a longer read in their own guides: the retirement and passive income visa and the remote work visa.

D7 and D8 side by side

Which one is for me if my income is a pension or savings?

The D7 pages ask for documents about the money itself. For a retiree the ministry lists a document proving the amount of the pension and a document proving that it will be received, or that other income is available in Portugal. For someone living on their own income it lists a document proving income from movable or immovable property, intellectual property or financial investments, and proof that this income is available in Portugal.

The ministry’s page on means of subsistence says the criterion is the guaranteed monthly minimum wage, 920 euros in 2026, net of social security contributions, counted per person in the household: 100% for the first adult, 50% for each further adult and 30% for each child under 18 and each adult dependent child. It does not print a euro figure for a retiree. Treat 920 euros as the reference wage, not as the amount to show, and ask your post what it applies.

Which one is for me if I work remotely?

The D8 pages ask for a work relationship and for income earned from it. An employee gives an employment contract or a statement from the employer proving the employment relationship. An independent professional gives a company contract, a service contract or a document showing services provided to one or more entities. Both give proof of average monthly income over the last three months of at least four times the guaranteed monthly minimum wage, and a document that attests their tax residence. Four times 920 euros is 3,680 euros; that product is our arithmetic, not a figure on the page.

The page says that for proving means of subsistence the ministry counts income from an employment contract, a company contract or a service contract. It does not say whether savings count for the D8. Someone who has just started a job or a business should ask the post how it treats a short track record.

How do the temporary stay versions compare?

Both appear on the ministry’s visa types page in a temporary stay version, valid for the duration of a stay under one year and for multiple entries; the ministry’s deadlines page gives 30 days for the decision. The difference is in who can use it. For the D8 the temporary stay visa is a listed option, with a slightly wider document list (an employee may also use a promise of an employment contract, an independent professional may also use a written proposal for a service contract). For retirees and people living on income, the page lists the temporary stay visa only for stays over three months in exceptional, duly justified cases. For someone who is moving, the residence versions are the ones the pages describe as the way to settle.

What do they cost and how long do they take?

The ministry gives one administrative fee for processing a national visa application, 110 euros, with exemptions that include children up to six years old. It gives 60 days for the decision on a residence visa, apart from exceptions in the law, and 30 days for a temporary stay visa. The fee and the decision period are the same for the D7 and the D8, so neither one is cheaper or faster on these pages.

What is the same for Americans and for Britons?

The documents do not change with your passport, with two points to know. The ministry says the travel insurance requirement may be waived under a bilateral or international agreement on medical care, and names the United Kingdom S1 as an example, which is relevant to Britons; the pages do not name an equivalent for Americans. And you apply at the consular post that covers your country. For the United States the ministry’s list names the embassy in Washington, the consulates general in Boston, Newark, New York and San Francisco, the consulate in New Bedford, and VFS offices in Chicago, Houston and Miami. For the United Kingdom it names the consulates general in London and Manchester, with VFS, and VFS in Edinburgh. For the wider picture for Britons, see moving to Portugal as a Briton after Brexit.

What happens after the visa is issued?

For both, the residence visa is valid four months for two entries, and during that time its holder asks AIMA for a residence title. Two things you will want soon after arriving are a Portuguese NIF and a bank account. Both files ask for proof of means of subsistence.

After arrival the permit is the same for both. Article 75 of the Foreigners Law (Lei 23/2007), read on the Diário da República on 18 October 2026, says a temporary residence permit is valid for two years from the issue of the title and is renewable for successive periods of three years. The page’s notes show the article was last amended by Law 61/2025 of 22 October 2025.

What if neither fits?

If you have an employer in Portugal, see the work visa for employees. If you want to look for a job in Portugal first, see the job seeker visa. For the other routes, the overview lists them.

Related guides: working in Portugal as an American or a Briton, applying for the national visa from the United States and applying for the national visa from the United Kingdom.

Official pages read for this guide, all on 18 October 2026: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ national visa pages on types of visa, documents for residence and for temporary stay, means of subsistence, deadlines, fees where to apply, and article 75 of the Foreigners Law on the Diário da República.