Portugal Job Seeker Visa for Americans and Britons in 2026
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The Portuguese job seeker visa, officially the visa for qualified job search, is in the Foreigners Law (Lei n.º 23/2007, article 57-A), but you cannot apply for it today. The foreign ministry’s page, read on 18 October 2026, says it is not yet available at Portuguese consular posts and waits for the regulation of that article. This applies equally to Americans and Britons, because both are nationals of non-EU states.
This is one of the routes in our overview of residence routes to Portugal for Americans and Britons. It describes what the official pages say on the day we read them, not legal advice. The article’s information runs up to 23 October 2025, when Law 61/2025 changed article 57-A and took effect; we found nothing newer about this visa on the pages below.
Is the Portugal job seeker visa available now?
No. On 18 October 2026 the ministry’s national visa page titled “Procura de Trabalho Qualificado” carries the heading “Ainda não disponível nos postos consulares portugueses” and the line “A aguardar a necessária regulamentação do artigo 57.º-A da Lei de Estrangeiros”. In English: not yet available at Portuguese consular posts, awaiting the necessary regulation of article 57-A. The page has no required documents, no fee and no date for when it might open.
The Consulate General of Portugal in Manchester published a notice dated 23 October 2025 that explains why. Law 61/2025 of 22 October 2025 amended article 57-A. From 23 October 2025, consular posts and VFS Global application centers cannot accept job search visa applications, because that type “deixou de existir nos moldes anteriormente definidos na Lei” (in the notice’s wording, it no longer exists as previously defined). It says a skilled job search visa replaces it, and that requests can be filed only once the new type has the necessary regulation.
The ministry’s legislation page lists the laws, regulatory decrees and ministerial orders (portarias) behind the Foreigners Law. On 18 October 2026 it listed Law 62/2026 of 10 September 2026 first among the laws that make up the Foreigners Law, did not list Law 61/2025, and listed no order on skilled job search. The consolidated text on the Diário da República, which we read in a browser the same day, notes on article 57-A only Law 61/2025, in force from 23 October 2025, and Law 18/2022, which added the article, so those notes show no change to it by Law 62/2026. We could not search the Diário da República’s full text for a new order, so we rely on the ministry’s pages and the consolidated law, none of which mention one. If one is published, the ministry’s page should change; check it before you plan around this visa.
What does the law say about the qualified job search visa?
Article 57-A of the consolidated Foreigners Law, as read on the Diário da República on 18 October 2026, says in substance the following. These are the law’s terms, not an application route you can use today.
| Point | What article 57-A says |
|---|---|
| Who it can be granted to | A holder of specialized technical skills, if the general conditions of article 52 are met |
| What it allows | Entering and staying in Portugal to look for work, and highly qualified professional activity until the visa ends or until a residence permit is granted |
| Duration | 120 days, extendable by 60 days |
| Entries | One entry into Portugal |
| Appointment | The visa includes a date with the services that grant residence permits, within the 120 days |
| Residence permit | After starting professional activity in that period, the holder may request a residence permit if the general conditions in article 77 are met |
| If no work is started | The holder must leave and can only apply again one year after the visa expired |
| Which skills count | To be defined by a portaria of the ministers for foreign affairs, migration, education and labor |
The last row is the gap. The law leaves the definition of “specialized technical skills” to a ministerial order. Until that exists, nobody can say from the official pages which profiles qualify, what a consulate would ask you to prove or how long it would take to decide.
What general conditions would apply?
Article 52 lists the conditions the law applies to residence, temporary stay, short stay and qualified job search visas for non-EU nationals. Among them: not being subject to an expulsion measure or a Schengen entry ban, having means of subsistence defined by a portaria, a valid travel document and travel insurance. For the job search visa, article 52 also asks for a transport ticket that ensures your return. A conviction for a crime punishable in Portugal by more than one year in prison leads to refusal of a residence or temporary stay visa, and a visa is refused to people who threaten public order, security or public health.
For the amount of money, the ministry’s page on means of subsistence gives the 2026 guaranteed monthly minimum wage as 920 euros, net of social security (Decree-Law 139/2025 of 29 December). The page counts 100% for the first adult, 50% for each further adult and 30% for each child under 18 or dependent adult child. We read that page for the residence visa routes; it does not say that the same amounts will apply to the qualified job search visa, so treat them as an indication only.
The ministry’s page on deadlines says the decision period for a job search visa is 60 days. That page does not say whether it already reflects the 2025 change.
What can you do instead?
If you do not hold skills that fit the future definition, or cannot wait, the usual alternatives are visas tied to a purpose you can show now. Those are an employment contract or a promise of one, remote work for a foreign employer, or income from a pension or other sources. Our guides cover the remote work visa and the retirement and passive income visa, and the overview linked above shows how the rest are organized.
Short visits are a different matter. Americans and Britons may stay in the Schengen area for 90 days in any 180; see the 90/180 rule for how that is counted. This guide does not say whether looking for work during such a visit is allowed, because we did not read a page on it.
Why check again before you plan around it?
The visa is defined in the law but works only once the regulation exists. Both the ministry page and the Manchester notice say requests can be filed only after that. Portuguese immigration law has been amended often in recent years, as the consolidated text shows. So before paying for translations, apostilles or flights on the assumption that this route opens, read the ministry’s page again.
For the wider picture of working in Portugal, see working in Portugal as an American or a Briton.
Official pages read for this guide, all on 18 October 2026: the foreign ministry’s national visa pages on qualified job search, types of visa, deadlines, means of subsistence and national legislation; the consolidated Foreigners Law (article 52, 57-A and 77) on the Diário da República; and the notice of the Consulate General of Portugal in Manchester dated 23 October 2025.
FAQ
Can I apply for the Portugal job seeker visa today?
No route is open. The foreign ministry's page, read on 18 October 2026, says the visa is not yet available at Portuguese consular posts and is waiting for the necessary regulation of article 57-A of the Foreigners Law. The Manchester consulate general said on 23 October 2025 that consulates and VFS Global centers could no longer accept job search visa applications.
Is the job seeker visa open to Americans and Britons?
The law does not name nationalities. Article 52 sets the general conditions for nationals of non-EU states, which covers both Americans and Britons, and article 57-A adds the skills requirement. Because the visa cannot be applied for yet, nothing more can be said about how an application would work.
How long would the visa last?
Article 57-A says 120 days, extendable by 60 days, with one entry into Portugal. It authorizes highly qualified professional activity until the visa ends or until a residence permit is granted.
What happens if I find no job within the visa period?
Article 57-A says the holder must leave the country and can submit a new application for this visa only one year after the previous visa expired.
Sources
Official pages this article was checked against, with the date we last read them.
- Vistos Nacionais, Procura de Trabalho Qualificado
- Vistos Nacionais, Tipo de visto
- Vistos Nacionais, Prazos
- Vistos Nacionais, Meios de subsistência
- Vistos Nacionais, Legislação Nacional
- Lei n.º 23/2007, de 4 de julho, versão consolidada (Lei de Estrangeiros)
- Alteracao do regime respeitante aos pedidos de visto para procura de trabalho (notice of 23 October 2025)
About the author
See author pageMaxime Roseau is a French entrepreneur and co-founder of EasyFranceNow and EasyPortugalNow. His work covers immigration and residency procedures for U.S. citizens moving to Europe: long-stay visa applications, the residence card that follows arrival, appointment systems, permit renewals and changes of status, and the operational side of relocation that decides whether a move settles smoothly or wobbles in the first months.
He studied at Université Nice Sophia Antipolis and comes from a communication background centered on structuring practical information, administrative coordination and client-facing operational support. Over the years his work became specialized in guiding international residents through European immigration systems and the administrative dependencies that follow them: the sequence in which documents have to be issued, what a consulate reads beyond the official checklist, and what to do when a file is delayed or refused.
For Portugal, he applies the same method he built on the French side: every step is taken from the competent authority's own pages and dated. He writes the visa and residence guides on this site.
His work is procedural, not legal advice. When a situation calls for an immigration lawyer, he says so and helps you get to that appointment prepared.
