Portugal Work Visa for Americans and Britons: Employee Route

An American or a Briton who wants to live in Portugal as an employee applies for a residence visa for subordinate professional activity, or for the highly qualified version if the job and the salary meet the law’s thresholds. In both cases the file starts with a contract, a promise of a contract, or a statement of interest from a Portuguese employer, and the visa leads to a residence permit that AIMA issues after you arrive.

This guide covers the employee routes only, on top of the overview of Portugal’s residence routes. It is a reading of the official pages, not legal advice. We read the foreign ministry’s visa portal, the consolidated Foreigners Law (Lei n.º 23/2007) on the Diário da República, Law 62/2026 itself and three AIMA pages on 18 October 2026. The latest change they state is Law 62/2026 of 10 September 2026, in force from 11 September 2026, and the update date of this article refers to it.

Which work visa is for an employee?

The ministry’s table of residence visas gives two entries for employees. “Trabalho subordinado” (employment) maps to the visa for subordinate professional activity. “Atividade altamente qualificada subordinada” maps to the visa for teaching, highly qualified or cultural activity and for highly qualified work as an employee. A third path, the EU Blue Card, sits beside the second.

Article 61, paragraph 4, says the nationals covered by that article, the teaching, highly qualified and cultural visa, are not subject to the regime of article 59. If you are unsure which route your job falls under, the employer or a lawyer should settle it before you file. Article 61-A, paragraph 3, says that where there is doubt about how the activity is classified, or whether the person’s experience is adequate, the ministries responsible for employment and for education and science give an opinion before the visa is granted.

Who applies, and what does the employer do?

You file the visa application yourself; where, the overview linked above explains. The employer’s part is documentary. For the ordinary employee visa the ministry asks for one of three things from the employer side: an employment contract, a promise of an employment contract, or an individualized statement of interest by the employer. Article 59, paragraph 5, matches this: a visa may be issued to a third-country national who meets the general conditions of article 52 and either has a contract or promise of a contract, or has qualifications recognized and suitable for the activity and benefits from the employer’s individualized statement of interest.

For means of subsistence, the ministry says that funds from the contract or promise are taken into account, and so is a statement of responsibility, with a notarized signature, from the entity that takes responsibility for hosting the worker.

For the highly qualified route, AIMA’s page asks the employer for a declaration attesting that a contract exists with the minimum salary. After you arrive, for the ordinary employee permit, AIMA’s page asks for a declaration under oath of honor from the employer attesting the employment relationship.

Two public-sector duties sit in the law around this. Article 59, paragraph 4, makes the Employment and Vocational Training Institute (IEFP) and the autonomous regions’ services keep a permanently updated, publicly accessible information system of job offers on their websites. And article 88, paragraph 4, says AIMA tells the labor inspectorate, the tax administration and social security when it grants a work permit, so that they can check the employer’s legal obligations toward the permit holder. We did not read IEFP or Segurança Social pages on employer duties, so this guide does not describe them.

What contract and salary do you need?

For the ordinary employee visa, the pages we read set no minimum salary. What they set is the general means of subsistence test: the ministry measures it against the guaranteed monthly minimum wage, which it gives as 920 euros in 2026 (Decree-Law 139/2025 of 29 December), net of social security contributions, counted per person in the household at 100% for the first adult, 50% for each further adult and 30% for each child under 18 and each adult child who is a dependent. Money from the contract or promise counts toward it.

The highly qualified route has a floor. Article 61-A, paragraph 1, requires:

• a valid employment contract or promise of one lasting at least six months, with annual pay of at least 1.5 times the national average gross annual salary, or three times the social support index (IAS)
• for a regulated profession, high professional qualifications proven under Law 9/2009 of 4 March or the specific recognition law
• for a profession that is not regulated, high professional qualifications suited to the activity or sector in the contract

Paragraph 2 lowers the pay test to at least 1.2 times the national average gross salary, or twice the IAS, for jobs in major groups 1 and 2 of the international occupation classification (CITP) that a Council of Ministers resolution lists as particularly in need of third-country workers. The ministry’s page repeats the thresholds.

AIMA’s page gives euro figures for them, and says its reference values date from 2023 for the average salary and 2024 for the IAS: 1.5 times the average salary is 2,157.00 euros per month, 1.2 times is 1,725.60 euros per month, and twice the IAS is 1,018.52 euros per month. It does not print a figure for three times the IAS. Check the current reference values with AIMA before you rely on those numbers.

The EU Blue Card route has its own salary test, taken from AIMA’s page: at least 1.5 times the average gross annual salary, or 1.2 times in the cases of article 61-A, paragraph 2, with no social support index alternative. Article 121-B asks for a contract or promise of at least six months at 1.5 times the average gross annual salary, or 1.2 times in the cases of article 61-A, paragraph 2. It adds health insurance or proof of coverage by the national health service, and social security enrollment where applicable. The card is valid two years at first and renewable for periods of three years, unless the contract is shorter, in which case it is valid for the contract period plus three months. AIMA says the application can be filed by the worker or the employer, and the worker must be present for biometrics. If health cover is the question, see our guide to healthcare access for newcomers.

Which documents go in the visa file?

The ministry lists general documents for every residence visa, then those specific to the purpose of the stay.

The ministry’s page gives the travel insurance waiver as an example only for Brazil (PB4) and the United Kingdom (S1). The ministry’s page also asks for proof of lawful status if you apply from a country other than the one of your nationality. We have not listed apostille and translation mechanics here, which belong to the consulate step.

How long does it take, and what does it cost?

The ministry gives 60 days to decide a residence visa request, “salvo excepções prevista na Lei”, that is, unless the law sets otherwise. Article 61 sets 30 days for the teaching, highly qualified or cultural visa; the law sets no separate period for the article 61-A visa. A residence visa is valid four months for two entries, and the ministry’s fee page gives 110 euros for processing a national visa application, with a short list of exemptions that includes people coming for highly qualified research but does not list ordinary or highly qualified employees.

When a residence visa is granted, article 58, paragraph 6, says a pre-authorization of residence is issued with information on obtaining the residence permit and the provisional assignment of tax, social security and national health service numbers. You still need a Portuguese NIF for AIMA’s file, and it describes how to get one.

What did Law 62/2026 change for employees?

Law 62/2026 of 10 September 2026 was published in the Diário da República, Series I, number 176/2026, and the consolidated Foreigners Law shows its changes in force from 11 September 2026. Its title says it executes seven EU regulations on the migration and asylum framework, transposes Directives (EU) 2024/1346 and 2024/1233, and amends Law 34/94, Law 23/2007 and Law 27/2008. Much of the text we read concerns asylum, return at the border and screening procedures, not employees.

Article 4 of the law amends many articles, among them 78 (renewal), 81, 82, 85 and 122, which we did not compare. For employees we compared three articles, and the consolidated text lets us set the two versions side by side:

• Article 59, paragraph 4: the earlier wording said IEFP and the regions’ services keep a permanently updated information system on job offers, accessible to the public through the Internet, publicizing them on their own initiative or at the request of employers or of immigrant associations recognized by ACM. The new wording says they keep such a system, permanently updated and publicly accessible, on their websites. It drops the clause on publicizing at the request of employers and associations. Paragraph 5, the visa conditions quoted above, is marked unchanged in the amending law. So the visa conditions of article 59 are worded as before.
• Article 88, paragraph 8: new. The holder of a residence permit for professional activity can change employer by notifying AIMA, without a new title being issued. The version of article 88 in force before the law ended at paragraph 7.
• Article 52, paragraph 2: the requirement of a return transport ticket for temporary stay, job-seeker and short-stay visas now excepts seasonal work. It does not concern residence visas for employees.

We read the amending law’s text and the consolidated page’s before-and-after versions. We did not trace which provisions implement Directive 2024/1233, so we cannot say whether other parts of the law will affect work permits through regulations still to come.

What happens after the visa?

Once in Portugal, the permit is requested from AIMA. Article 88, paragraph 1, adds to the general conditions of article 77 that the permit for subordinate work is granted only to those with an employment contract made according to the law who are enrolled in social security. AIMA’s page for the ordinary employee permit asks for:

• a valid passport and the valid residence visa for subordinate professional activity
• the employer’s declaration under oath of honor attesting the employment relationship
• a declaration under oath of honor of your residence address, with the landlord’s declaration or property registry proof depending on how you live there
• proof of registration with the tax administration
• proof of registration with social security

The request is made by appointment, in person, with AIMA’s own form, at any AIMA shop (the page says an electronic platform is being implemented for visa holders). The highly qualified permit page adds an authenticated criminal record, authenticated proof of qualifications and, for employees, the employer’s declaration of the contract with the minimum salary.

The temporary residence permit is valid for two years from issue and renewable for periods of three years (article 75). Renewal is requested at least 30 days before expiry, and article 78 conditions it on means of subsistence, accommodation, tax and social security obligations being met and no disqualifying sentence. A permit for subordinate work lets its holder switch to independent work by replacing the title (article 88, paragraph 5). If your employer is abroad rather than in Portugal, the remote work visa is the route to compare.

Is anything different for Americans and Britons?

Not in the pages we read. The ministry states that a long-stay visa is required of all third-country nationals who intend to stay more than 90 days, with exceptions for nationals of EU and EEA states and of states with a free-movement agreement, and their family members. Americans and Britons are not in those exceptions, so both follow the same visa routes. The practical differences are at the consulate: the US and UK have different posts, and the travel insurance waiver named on the ministry page applies to the UK S1. For the UK side of the move, read the guide to moving as a Briton after Brexit.

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 Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ national visa pages (who needs a visa, types of visa, residence documents, means of subsistence, deadlines, fees, national legislation), the consolidated Foreigners Law (last amendment 10 September 2026) and Law 62/2026 on the Diário da República, and AIMA’s pages on the residence permit for subordinate work with a residence visa, the highly qualified permit and the EU Blue Card.