Portugal has introduced new visa and residence rules for foreigners making it easy for appointments and reducing visits to migration office. This applies to golden visa residence permit holders seeking residence permit extensions.
The new Regulatory Decree of the Legal Regime of entry, stay, exit and removal of foreign nationals from the national territory has been published in Diário da República and meets the goals on the basis of the changes to the Aliens Act 2017.
- The scheduling of the appointment to any SEF’s directorate or regional delegation, regardless the area of residence will now be possible;
- SEF will have the possibility to reuse the documents already existing in the process, waiving your attendance in person;
- For renewing the Residence Permit or the Residence Card and the Extension of stay of holders of a valid visa, the appointments may be made online, by means of the register at SEF Portal in MySEF.
- SEF will use documents already existing in its working flow in all procedures for granting and renewal of the residence permit avoiding, therefore, those documents to be required to the applicants once again;
- Foreign nationals who are working in Portugal for over one year, with contributions to Social Security, may benefit from the exceptional regime for humanitarian reasons for a residence permit.
- Applications for visa or residence permit, submitted by foreign nationals with highly qualified activities, technologically entrepreneurial or developing cultural activities are now speeded up.
- Seasonal workers, workers transferred inside the companies, and students and investigators in mobility are able to have simpler proceedings.
| Temporary residence permit | Permanent residence permit |
| 1. The temporary residence permit shall be valid for a period of one year from the date of issue of the respective title and shall be renewable for successive periods of two years.
2 – The residence permit must, however, be renewed whenever there is a change in the identification elements registered therein. |
1 – The permanent residence permit has no limit of validity.
2 – The residence permit must, however, be renewed every five years or whenever there is a change in the identification elements registered therein. 3 – In the application for renewal of authorization, the holder is exempted from delivering any documents already integrated in the electronic workflow used by the SEF. |
Golden visa ARI investments
- Capital transfer with a value equal to or above 1 million Euros;
- Job creation: At least, 10 job positions;
- Real estate: The purchase of real estate property with a value equal to or above 500,000 Euros OR purchase of real estate property, with construction dating back more than 30 years or located in urban regeneration areas, for refurbishing, for a total value equal to or above 350,000 Euros;
- Scientific Research: Capital transfer with a value equal to or above 350,000 Euros for investing in research activities conducted by public or private scientific research institutions involved in the national scientific or technology system;
- Art and Public investment:. Capital transfer with a value equal to or above 250,000 Euros for investing in artistic output or supporting the arts, for reconstruction or refurbishment of the national heritage, through the local and central authorities, public institutions, public corporate sector, public foundations, private foundations of public interest, networked local authorities, local corporate sector organizations, local associations and public cultural associations, pursuing activities of artistic output, and reconstruction or maintenance of the national heritage;
- Venture capital investment funds: Capital transfer of the amount of 350,000 Euros, or higher, for the acquisition of units of investment funds or venture capital fund of funds dedicated to the capitalisation of companies, capital injected under the Portuguese legislation, whose maturity, at the moment of the investment, is, at least, of five years and, at least, 60% of the investments is realized in commercial companies with head office in national territory;
- Commercial investment with 5 jobs: Capital transfer of the amount of 350,000 Euros, or higher, for constitution of a commercial society with head office in the national territory, combined with the creation of five permanent working jobs, or for the reinforcement of the share capital of a commercial society with head office in national territory, already existing, with the creation or keeping of working jobs, with a minimum of five permanent jobs, and for a minimum period of three years.
Renewal of temporary residence permits
Residents must notify the SEF, within 60 days of the date of occurrence, of their change in marital status or domicile.
1 – The renewal of a temporary residence permit must be requested by the interested parties up to 30 days before the expiration of their validity.
2. The residence permit shall be renewed for nationals of third States who:
a) Have means of subsistence as defined by the decree referred to in Article 52 (1) d);
b) have accommodation;
c) they have fulfilled their tax and social security obligations;
d) Have not been sentenced to a sentence or sentence, which alone or cumulatively exceeds 1 year in prison.
3 – The residence permit may not be renewed for reasons of public order or public security.
4 – The appearance of diseases after the first residence permit is issued does not constitute sufficient grounds to justify the refusal to renew a residence permit.
5 – A residence permit shall not be renewed for any foreign citizen declared to be a contumatizer, as long as he does not prove that such declaration has expired.
6 – In case of rejection of the request, a copy of the decision, with the respective grounds, should be sent to ACIDI, IP, and to the Advisory Board.
7 – The receipt proving the application for renewal of a residence permit shall be valid as a residence permit for a period of 60 days, renewable.
8 – The SEF may conclude protocols with local authorities, as well as with the organs and services of the Autonomous Regions, with a view to facilitating and simplifying the procedures for receiving and forwarding applications for renewal of residence permits and their titles.
Rights of the holder of a residence permit
1. Without prejudice to the application of special provisions and other rights provided for in the law or in an international convention of which Portugal is a Party, the holder of a residence permit shall be entitled, without the need for special authorization regarding his status as a foreigner, namely:
(a) education and training;
(b) the pursuit of a subordinate professional activity;
(c) the pursuit of an independent professional activity;
(d) vocational guidance, training, further training and retraining;
e) Access to health;
f) Access to the law and to the courts.
Cancellation of residence permit
1 – The residence permit shall be canceled whenever:
(a) the holder has been the subject of a decision to expel the national territory; or
(b) the residence permit has been granted on the basis of false or misleading statements, false or falsified documents, or through the use of fraudulent means; or
(c) there are serious grounds for believing that he or she has committed serious criminal acts or that there are real indications that he or she intends to commit such acts, in particular within the territory of the European Union; or
d) For reasons of public order or security.
2 – Without prejudice to the application of special provisions, the residence permit may also be canceled when the person concerned, without reasonable grounds, is absent from the Country:
(a) holding a temporary residence permit, six consecutive months or eight months interpolated, within the total period of validity of the authorization;
b) Holding a permanent residence permit, 24 consecutive months or, within a period of three years, 30 interpolated months.
3 – Absence beyond the limits stipulated in the previous number must be justified by an application filed with the SEF prior to the departure of the resident of the national territory or, in exceptional cases, after leaving.
4 – The residence permit is not canceled for citizens who are absent for periods superior to those provided for in paragraph 2, when they prove that during their absence from the national territory they were in the country of origin and that in the same they developed a professional or business activity or cultural or social nature.
5 – The cancellation of the residence permit must be notified to the interested party and communicated, electronically, to ACIDI, IP, and to the Advisory Board indicating the grounds of the decision and imply the seizure of the corresponding title.
6 – The Minister of Internal Affairs, with the power to delegate to the Director General of SEF, is competent for cancellation.
7 – The decision of cancellation is susceptible of judicial challenge, with merely devolutive effect, before the administrative courts.
Granting of permanent residence permit
1. Without prejudice to the provisions of this law relating to the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents, foreign nationals shall be entitled to a permanent residence permit, cumulatively:
(a) have held a temporary residence permit for at least five years;
b) During the last five years of residence in Portuguese territory, they have not been sentenced to or punishable by more than 1 year in prison;
c) Have means of subsistence, as defined by the decree referred to in Article 52 (1) d);
d) Have accommodation;
e) Prove to have knowledge of basic Portuguese.
Long-term EC residence permit
1 – Long-term residents shall be granted a long-term EC residence permit.
2. The EC long-term residence permit shall be valid for at least five years and shall be automatically renewable upon application at the end of the period of validity.
3. The EC long-term residence permit shall be issued in accordance with the rules and the uniform format for residence permits for third-country nationals in force in the European Union and the heading ‘Type of title’ shall be marked ‘Resident EC ‘.
Residence permit for investment activity
Article 65
Application for renewal of the permanent residence permit
1 – The application for renewal of the permanent residence permit is accompanied by an application for consultation of the Portuguese criminal registry by SEF.
2 – In exceptional circumstances, associated with doubts regarding the identity of the applicant or the absence of national territory for long periods, the SEF may require the presentation of a valid passport or a certified copy thereof.
3 – If the application for renewal of the title is submitted after the expiry of its period of validity, the application must always be accompanied by proof of permanence in the national territory or proof of the reasons for absence.
4 – The renewal of the permanent residence permit by alteration of the identification elements will apply the provisions in paragraphs 12 and 13 of article 63.
5 – The application for renewal may be requested between 90 and 30 days before the expiry of the title.
Article 65a
Requirements relating to the investment activity
1 – For the purposes of residence permit for investment activity, the minimum quantitative investment requirements are the verification in the national territory of at least one of the situations provided for in Article 3 (1) (d) of the Law no. 23/2007 , of July 4, in its current version.
2. The investment in immovable property shall be deemed to be fulfilled whenever the applicant proves ownership of the same, and may purchase them through a sole proprietorship for shares of which the partner is or under a joint ownership scheme, provided that each owner invests the value minimum required.
3 – (Repealed.)
4 – An applicant who makes an investment through the acquisition of real estate may encumber them in a part that exceeds the minimum amount of investment fixed by law or leases them or for commercial, industrial, agricultural or tourist purposes.
5 – In the temporary impossibility of acquiring ownership of the immovable property, the applicant may present a contract-promise to buy and sell, with a signal equal to or greater than the minimum investment amount provided for by law.
6 – (Repealed.)
7 – The investments foreseen in article d) of article 3 of Law no. 23/2007 , of July 4, as currently drafted, may be carried out individually or through a sole proprietorship for which the applicant is a member .
8 – (Repealed.)
9 – Investments foreseen in article 3 (d) (ii) to (vi) of Law no. 23/2007 , of July 4, as currently drafted, may be 20% lower when be carried out in low-density areas.
10 – For the purposes of the previous paragraph, low-density territories are considered those of level III of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistical Purposes (NUTS III) of less than 100 inhabitants per km2 or a per capita gross domestic product less than 75% of the national average, according to the official statistics produced by the National Statistics Institute.
11 – (Repealed.)
12 – Investments must be made at the time of application for a residence permit.
13 – Whenever the investments are carried out through a sole proprietorship, the applicant for the granting or renewal of a residence permit must present a certificate of the updated commercial register, proving that the applicant is the sole shareholder of the sole shareholder company.
Article 65b
Minimum time requirement of investment activity
The minimum time requirement of five years for the maintenance of the investment activity is counted from the date of granting the residence permit.
Article 65c
Minimum length of stay
For the purposes of renewing a residence permit, the petitioning citizens referred to in article 90-A of Law no. 23/2007 , of July 4, in their current version, must comply with the following minimum stay periods:
a) 7 days, followed or interpolated, in the 1st year;
b) 14 days, followed or interpolated, in the subsequent two-year periods.
Article 65d
Investment Proofs
1 – In order to prove compliance with the requirement set forth in sub-paragraph i) d) of article 3 of Law no. 23/2007, of July 4, in its current version, the applicant must present:
a) Declaration of a credit institution authorized or registered in the national territory with the Bank of Portugal attesting the ownership, free of charges and charges, of deposit accounts with a balance equal to or greater than 1 million euros, resulting from an international transfer, or share in the same amount when collective accounts are concerned; or
b) In the case of acquisition of public debt instruments of the Portuguese State, namely treasury bonds, savings certificates or treasury certificates, certificate attesting ownership, free of charges and charges, issued by the Treasury and Public Debt Management Agency – IGCP, EPE (IGCP, EPE), for instruments with a value of EUR 1 million or more; or
c) In the case of acquisition of book-entry securities, a certificate proving ownership thereof, free of charges and charges, issued by the respective registrant under the terms and for the purposes of paragraphs 1 and 2 of article 78 of the Securities Code Furniture; or
d) In the case of acquisition of bearer securities deposited with depositary in accordance with article 99 of the Securities Code, a certificate proving ownership thereof, free of any encumbrances and charges, issued by the depositary; or
e) In the case of acquisition of nominative securities not included in a centralized system, a certificate proving ownership thereof, free of charges and charges, issued by the respective issuer; or
f) In the case of acquisition of titled securities integrated in a centralized system, a certificate proving ownership, free of charges and charges, issued by the financial intermediary with which the account integrated in a centralized system is open; or
g) In the case of acquisition of a social participation not covered in the previous paragraphs, a certificate of the updated commercial register, attesting to the holding of the participation, and the agreement through which the respective acquisition was made, indicating the acquisition value;
h) (Repealed.)
(i) (Repealed.)
2 – In order to prove compliance with the requirement set forth in Article 3 (d) (ii) of Law No. 23/2007 , of July 4, in its current wording, the applicant must submit individual contracts of employment with the workers.
3 – In order to prove compliance with the requirement set forth in Article 3 (d) (iii) and (iv) of Law 23/2007 , of July 4, in its current version, the applicant must submit:
a) Acquisition or promise of purchase and sale of real estate;
b) Declaration of a credit institution authorized or registered in the national territory with the Bank of Portugal attesting the international transfer of capital for the acquisition of immovable property or for the payment, as a signal in the contract of sale and purchase, of value equal to or higher than legally required;
c) Up-to-date certificate of the registry of the land registry, with registrations, endorsements and registrations in force, showing ownership of immovable property, free of charges or charges or certificate of the land register which contains the provisional registration of valid acquisition of the contract- a promise to buy and sell, whenever legally viable, with a signal equal to or greater than the legally required amount;
d) Property record of the property, whenever legally possible;
e) (Repealed.)
4 – In order to prove compliance with the requirement set forth in sub-paragraph d) of article 3 of Law no. 23/2007 , of July 4, in its current version, the applicant must also submit:
(a) (Repealed.)
b) (Repealed.)
c) (Repealed.)
d) (Repealed.)
e) Prior notification or request for a permit to carry out the urban rehabilitation operation or works contract to carry out rehabilitation works on the properties to be acquired, signed with a legal entity duly authorized by the Institute of Public Markets, Real Estate and Construction, IP; and
(f) (Repealed.)
(g) (Repealed.)
h) Proof of the completion of the construction of the real estate or property for at least 30 years, if this does not result from the certificate of land registration; or
i) Declaration by the competent entity stating that the property is located in urban rehabilitation area.
5 – If the applicant submits the documents provided for in sub-paragraph i) of the preceding paragraph and the amount of the investment resulting from the purchase of the property and the works contract does not reach the minimum legal amount, the difference between the purchase price of the property property and the minimum amount of investment required to be deposited in a credit institution authorized or registered in the national territory with the Bank of Portugal for deposits account, free of charges and charges, of which he is the holder.
6 – If the applicant submits the documents provided for in paragraph 4 (e), the applicant must present a receipt of discharge of the contract price or deposit in a deposit account, free of charge or holder of the contract, at a credit institution authorized or registered in the national territory with the Bank of Portugal, and must present a statement from said credit institution attesting the effective transfer of an amount equal to or greater than the price of the credit agreement. undertaking.
7 – In order to prove compliance with the requirement set forth in sub-paragraph d) of article 3 of Law no. 23/2007 , of July 4, in its current version, the applicant must present:
(a) (Repealed.)
b) Declaration issued by a public or private scientific research institution integrated in the national scientific and technological system attesting the effective transfer of that capital;
c) (Repealed.)
8 – In order to prove compliance with the requirement set forth in Article 3 (d) (vi) of Law 23/2007 , of July 4, in its current version, the applicant must submit:
a) Declaration issued by the beneficiary entity, attesting the effective transfer of legally required capital;
b) Statement issued by the Office of Strategy, Planning and Cultural Evaluation, after hearing the service of the area of culture with attributions in the sector, attesting the nature of investment or support to artistic production, recovery or maintenance of the national cultural heritage;
c) (Repealed.)
9 – To prove compliance with the requirement set forth in Article 3 (d) (vii) of Law 23/2007 , of July 4, in its current version, the applicant must present:
a) Certificate evidencing the ownership of the units, free of charges and charges, issued by the entity to which it is responsible for maintaining an up-to-date register of the unit holders, in accordance with the law, its management regulations or instrument contractual;
b) Declaration issued by the management company of the respective investment fund attesting the viability of the capitalization plan, the maturity of at least 5 years and the application of at least 60% of the investment in commercial companies based in the national territory;
c) (Repealed.)
d) (Repealed.)
10 – In order to prove compliance with the requirement set forth in Article 3 (d) (viii) of Law 23/2007 , of July 4, in its current wording, the applicant must present a certificate proving commercial company with a share capital equal to or greater than the legally required and the respective certificate of the updated commercial register or, in the case of acquisition of a social participation, a certificate of the updated commercial register, attesting to the holding of the participation, and the contract by which the respective acquisition, indicating the acquisition value, the SEF verifying the situation before the social security.
11 – In addition to the documents provided for in the previous numbers, the applicant must submit a statement from the credit institution authorized or registered in the national territory to the Bank of Portugal, attesting the effective transfer of an amount equal to or greater than legally required.
12 – (Repealed.)
13 – (Repealed.)
14 – Proof of the tax and regularized tax situation is made through the submission by the applicant of a negative statement of updated debt issued by the TA and the social security or, in its impossibility, a declaration of non-existence of registration with these entities.
15 – The applicant must submit a declaration, under an honor commitment, certifying compliance with the minimum quantitative and temporal requirement of the investment activity in national territory.
16 – The means of proof and the declaration referred to in the previous numbers are presented at the time of the request for the granting of a residence permit, preceded by an electronic registration in a platform for that purpose.
17 – The decision on the request is the responsibility of the national director, upon proposal of the regional director of the SEF.
18 – The SEF may request from the competent national authorities an opinion on compliance with the legal requirements as a result of the investment.
Article 65e
Proof of renewal of residence permit
1 – For the renewal of a residence permit issued under article 90-A of Law no. 23/2007 , of July 4, in its current wording, the applicant must prove that the investment in the national territory is maintained through:
a) Declaration of a credit institution authorized or registered in the national territory with the Bank of Portugal, attesting the ownership, free of charges and charges, of deposit accounts with an average quarterly balance equal to or greater than 1 million euros, part of the same amount during such period when collective accounts are concerned; or
b) In the case of acquisition of public debt instruments of the Portuguese State, a statement from IGCP, EPE, attesting ownership, free of charges and charges, of debt instruments with an average quarterly balance equal to or greater than 1 million euros; or
c) In the case of acquisition of book-entry securities, a certificate proving ownership thereof, free of charges and charges, issued by the respective registrant under the terms and for the purposes of paragraphs 1 and 2 of article 78 of the Securities Code Furniture; or
d) In the case of acquisition of bearer securities deposited with depositary in accordance with article 99 of the Securities Code, a certificate proving ownership thereof, free of any encumbrances and charges, issued by the depositary; or
e) In the case of acquisition of nominative securities not included in a centralized system, a certificate proving ownership thereof, free of charges and charges, issued by the respective issuer; or
f) In the case of acquisition of titled securities integrated in a centralized system, a certificate proving ownership, free of charges and charges, issued by the financial intermediary with which the account integrated in a centralized system is open; or
g) In the case of acquisition of a social participation not included in the previous paragraphs, a certificate of the updated commercial register, attesting to the holding of the participation and contract by means of which the respective acquisition was made, indicating the acquisition value;
h) (Repealed.)
i) In the case of application of amounts not provided for in the declaration issued pursuant to no. 15 of the previous article, a statement of a credit institution authorized or registered in the national territory with the Bank of Portugal, attesting the effective transfer of capital to the realization of investment.
2 – The applicant may also prove the maintenance of the investment provided for in the previous number by proving that any of the investments provided for in subparagraphs d) ii) to vii) of article 3 of Law no . July 4, in its current version, as long as they reach a value equal to or greater than 1 million euros, and the provisions of the following numbers for this type of investments will be applicable with the appropriate adaptations.
3 – For proof of maintenance of the investment provided for in Article 3 (d) (ii) of Law no. 23/2007 , of July 4, in its current wording, the SEF verifies the maintenance of the minimum number of jobs required.
4 – For proof of maintenance of the investment provided for in Article 3 (d) (iii) and (iv) of Law No 23/2007 of July 4, in its current version, the applicant shall submit:
a) Acquisition title of the property of real estate and updated certificate of the registry of the land register, with the registries, endorsements and inscriptions in force, demonstrating ownership of real estate;
b) Property record of the updated real estate.
c) (Repealed.)
d) (Repealed.)
e) (Repealed.)
5 – In the first application for renewal of the residence permit, the applicant can enter into a contract-promise to buy and sell and, where legally permissible, a certificate of the land register containing the provisional registration of purchase of the contract-promise to buy and sell , with a signal equal to or greater than the legally required minimum.
6 – For evidence of maintenance of the investment provided for in Article 3 (d) (iv) of Law 23/2007 , of July 4, in its current version, the applicant must also submit:
a) In the case of works subject to licensing to carry out reconstruction or alteration of buildings that constitute urban rehabilitation works, a permit, when applicable, a works contract executed for the realization of the rehabilitation works of the property and, when applicable, statement from the managing body of the competent urban rehabilitation operation attesting that the urban rehabilitation operation is in full execution or execution; or
b) In the case of work subject to prior notification, a statement from the managing body of the relevant urban rehabilitation operation, attesting that the urban rehabilitation operation is in full execution or execution, and a works contract executed for the rehabilitation works of the property;
c) In the case of work not subject to licensing or prior notice, a contract for works to carry out rehabilitation works on the real estate object of the acquisition;
d) Receipt of discharge of the price of the contract of contract, whenever possible.
7 – (Repealed.)
8 – (Repealed.)
9 – (Repealed.)
10 – (Repealed.)
11 – In case of impossibility of payment in full of the contract price, for reasons not attributable to the applicant, the applicant must submit a statement of credit institution authorized or registered in the national territory to the Bank of Portugal, attesting the ownership of accounts of deposits with an average quarterly balance equal to or higher than the price of the works contract, or a share in the same amount during such period, when collective accounts are concerned.
12 – In case the applicant has made partial payment of the price of the works contract, he must present the respective partial discharge receipt, as well as a statement from a credit institution authorized or registered in the national territory to the Bank of Portugal, attesting the ownership of deposit accounts with an average quarterly balance equal to or greater than the amount corresponding to the remainder of the price of the works contract, or of a share, in the same amount, during such period, when collective accounts are concerned.
13 – For proof of maintenance of the investment provided for in Article 3 (d) (v) of Law 23/2007 , of July 4, in its current wording, the applicant must present a declaration issued by a public institution or deprived of scientific research integrated into the national scientific and technological system, attesting that there have been no supervening alterations attributable to the applicant that have compromised the support granted.
14 – For proof of maintenance of the investment provided for in Article 3 (d) (vi) of Law 23/2007 , of July 4, in its current wording, the applicant must submit:
a) Declaration issued by the Office of Cultural Strategy, Planning and Evaluation, attesting that there have been no supervening changes attributable to the applicant that have compromised the investment or support made or granted;
b) Declaration issued by the beneficiary entity, attesting the maintenance of the investment or support made or granted.
15 – For evidence of maintenance of the investment provided for in Article 3 (d) (vii) of Law 23/2007 , of July 4, in its current version, the applicant must submit:
a) Certificate evidencing the ownership of the units, free of charges and charges, issued by the entity to which it is responsible for maintaining an up-to-date register of the unit holders, in accordance with the law, its management regulations or instrument contractual;
b) Statement issued by the management company of the respective investment fund attesting to the maintenance of the investment conditions.
16 – For proof of maintenance of the investment provided for in Article 3 (d) (viii) of Law 23/2007 , of July 4, in its current wording, the applicant must present an updated commercial registration certificate , to certify the maintenance of the company incorporated or the ownership of the acquired social participation, with the SEF verifying the maintenance of the minimum number of jobs required.
17 – The SEF may request from the competent national authorities an opinion on compliance with the legal requirements due to the investment.
