Portugal's Remote Work Visa for Americans and Britons

Portugal’s remote work visa is the one built for people whose employer or clients are abroad. It is a creation of the Foreigners Law, and the foreign ministry’s visa portal lists it as “Remote work / Digital Nomad”. If you want the wider picture of how the visa types fit together first, read the overview of residence routes.

This guide is an overview of what the official pages say on the day we read them, not legal advice. The consular post that receives your file decides what it needs.

What the law says

Article 61-B of the Foreigners Law (Lei n.º 23/2007) says that a residence visa is granted to employees and independent professionals for professional activity provided remotely to individuals or companies with a domicile or registered office outside Portuguese territory, and that the applicant must demonstrate the employment relationship or the provision of services, as the case may be.

The same law, in article 54, gives a temporary stay visa for the same kind of activity, and says that issuing it requires showing the employment relationship or the provision of services.

Two versions of the visa

The ministry’s page on visa types lists the remote work visa twice.

The ministry states that a residence visa lets its holder enter Portugal and ask AIMA for a residence title during the four months. The law adds that a residence visa comes with a pre-authorization of residence that includes provisional tax, social security and national health service numbers. The decision periods come from the ministry’s page on deadlines.

This guide does not cover moving from a temporary stay visa to a residence permit, because the pages we read do not describe that step. If you may want to stay longer than a year, ask the consular post which version it expects.

Documents the ministry lists

For the residence version, the ministry lists these documents specific to remote work, on top of the general documents for any residence visa:

• for an employee, one of: an employment contract, or a statement from the employer proving the employment relationship
• for an independent professional, one of: a company contract, a service contract, or a document showing services provided to one or more entities
• proof of average monthly income over the last three months, from the employment or the independent activity, of at least four times the guaranteed monthly minimum wage
• a document that attests your tax residence

For the temporary stay version the list is the same, with two additions: an employee can also use a promise of an employment contract, and an independent professional can also use a written proposal for a service contract.

The ministry says these are the base documents and the consular post may ask for more.

The general documents for a residence visa are the signed form, two photographs, a passport valid at least three months beyond the planned stay, proof of lawful status if you apply outside your country of nationality, travel insurance (the ministry says this may be waived under a bilateral agreement, for example for UK S1 holders), a criminal record certificate with an apostille or legalized, and proof of means of subsistence. The overview lists them in full.

The income test

The ministry words the income test as proof of average monthly income, earned in the last three months, worth at least four times the guaranteed monthly minimum wage. The same ministry gives that wage as 920 euros in 2026, set by Decree-Law 139/2025 of 29 December. Four times 920 is 3,680 euros; that product is arithmetic of ours, and the ministry’s pages do not print it.

Two points are worth noticing in the wording. The test looks at income from the job or the independent activity, and for means of subsistence the page counts what comes from an employment contract, a company contract or a services contract; it does not say whether savings count. And it looks back over three months, so someone who has just started a job or a freelance business should read the ministry’s page and ask the post how it treats a short track record. The page does not say.

The ministry’s separate page on means of subsistence has a heading for remote work with no text under it, so the income test above is the one the page on documents gives.

Tax residence document

The ministry asks for a document that attests your tax residence. The pages we read do not say which authority’s document is accepted for Americans or Britons, or whether a translation is needed. Ask the consular post before you order anything.

Fee, and where to apply

The ministry gives the administrative fee for a national visa application as 110 euros, with listed exemptions, such as children up to six years old.

You apply at the Portuguese consular post that covers your country. The ministry’s list names, for the United States, 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, the consulates general in London and Manchester, with VFS, and VFS in Edinburgh.

Family and the permit that follows

The law says a residence visa can also be for accompanying family members of someone who applies for a residence visa, and that the requests may be made at the same time. After arrival, the temporary residence permit is valid for two years from the issue of the title and renewable for successive periods of three years, and renewal must be requested at least 30 days before expiry. Obtaining the permit requires, among other conditions, a valid residence visa, means of subsistence and accommodation.

What changed in the law most recently

The consolidated text of the Foreigners Law shows its latest amendment as Law 62/2026 of 10 September 2026. Article 61-B itself was added by Law 18/2022 of 25 August 2022, and the consolidated page shows no later change to it. Because the law and the consular lists are revised from time to time, check the ministry’s page for your post before you pay for translations and apostilles.

To compare it with the retirement and passive income visa, see D7 or D8, which fits you.

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