Immigrating

More and more people, European and non-European citizens, are choosing Portugal as their country of residence. Portugal offers an atmosphere of tranquility and security, a fantastic climate and the people will make you feel welcome.

What is required to immigrate to Portugal?

When you decide to move to Portugal, you should find out about all requirements that will apply to you specifically. These vary depending on your country of origin. Find out more about the types of immigration visas available in Portugal, click here.

If you are an European Union National, you will not need a residence visa to live in Portugal. You just need to go to the City Council of the city where you live and apply for a Certificate of Registration of European Union Citizens. As a European citizen, after residing for 5 years in the country, you will have the legal right to acquire permanent residence.

If you are not an European Union citizen, you must apply for a visa in order to reside in the country. Visa approval will be provided according to the specific needs of each individual.

Tax Regime for Non Habitual Residents

Competitive Advantages:

Taxation, for a period of 10 years, at a fixed income tax (IRS) rate of 20% on income earned from employment in Portugal.
The absence of double taxation, in the case of pension income and income from dependent and independent work from abroad.

How can I acquire the status of Non Habitual Resident?

Not having been resident in Portugal in the last 5 years;
Register as a tax resident in Portugal at the local tax office (to do this, you must have stayed in Portugal for more than 183 days, consecutive or interpolated; or, if you stayed there for less time, you must have accommodation there, on 31 December of that year, under conditions that suggest the intention of maintaining and occupying it as your habitual residence);
The application for registration as a non-habitual resident must be made electronically on “Portal das Finanças”, after registering as a resident in Portuguese territory until the 31st of March of the year following that in which you became resident in that territory.

Once the Non Habitual Resident Status has been obtained, what is the rate and bracket of taxation applied to income earned in national territory?

In the case of employed or self-employed work, the applicable tax rate is 20%.

Taxation on income earned from activities of high value of a scientific, artistic or technical nature:

Architects, engineers and similar technicians
Plastic artists, actors and musicians
Auditors
Doctors and dentists
Teachers
Psychologists
Liberal, technical and assimilated professions
Investors, administrators and managers

Registering as a Non-habitual Resident offers the right to be taxed as such for a period of 10 years from the year of your registration as a tax resident in Portuguese territory.

Once the Non Habitual Resident Status has been obtained, in what cases does the tax exemption apply to income earned abroad by Non Habitual Residents in Portugal?

In the case of pensioners and retired persons, when:

the income is taxed in the country of origin, according to the convention to eliminate double taxation co-signed by Portugal with that country; or;
according to the criteria set out in the IRS code, income which is not considered obtained from a Portuguese source.

In the case of income from dependent employment, when:

the income is taxed in the country of origin according to the convention for the elimination of double taxation co-signed by Portugal with that country, or;
such income is taxed in another country with which Portugal has not co-signed any convention for the elimination of double taxation, provided that the income is not deemed to have been obtained in Portuguese territory under the criteria of Article 18 of the Personal Income Tax Code;

In the case of income from self-employment (from high value services, of a scientific, artistic or technical nature, or from intellectual or industrial property, income from capital, income from property or income from capital earnings and other increases in assets), when:

the income may be taxed in the country, territory or region of origin, in accordance with the convention to eliminate double taxation entered into by Portugal with that State, or;
when there is no convention to eliminate double taxation entered into, the OECD Model Convention may be applicable (considering the observations and reservations made by Portugal) and provided that the country, territory or region of origin does not have a privileged taxation regime, and provided that the income is not considered obtained in Portuguese territory by the criteria of article 18 of the IRS Code.

Health

The Public Health Service in Portugal is one of the best classified at European level, being in 13th place among 35 countries, following Germany.

The Portuguese National Health Service is not free, however, the values of the services are quite symbolic. The following are exempt:

pregnant women and parturiente women;
children and young people up to the age of 18;
users with a disability of 60% or more;
blood donors, living donors of cells, tissues and organs;
firefighters;
transplanted patients;
military and former military personnel with permanent disability due to the provision of military service;
unemployed people with valid registration at the employment centre receiving unemployment benefit equal to or less than 1.5 of the IAS (in 2018 equal to 643.35€) who, due to a temporary situation or of a duration of less than one year, cannot prove their condition of economic insufficiency under the terms provided by law, and the respective spouse and dependents;
young people in the process of promotion and protection running under the terms of a commission for the protection of children and young people or in court;
young people who are in compliance with a guardianship measure of internment, precautionary measure of guardianship in an educational centre or precautionary measure of guardianship in a public or private institution;
young people integrated in any of the social reception responses by virtue of a judicial decision rendered in a civil guardianship process, and by virtue of which the guardianship or the simple exercise of parental responsibilities are granted to the institution where the child is integrated;
asylum seekers and refugees and their spouses or equivalent and direct descendants;
users, under the scope of Voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG);
the exemptions provided for in the previous three subparagraphs apply only in cases where the users do not benefit from the exemption provided for in the second subparagraph or where they cannot prove their economic insufficiency.

Once living in Portugal, you may request a family doctor to accompany you and your family while you are registered at the local Health Centre.

Education

The Educational System in Portugal is organized in 5 study cycles: Pre-School, Basic, Secondary, Post-secondary Non-Higher Education, Higher Education.
Pre-school education is for children between 3 and 5/6 years of age and is optional, while basic education, divided into two cycles, is for the teaching of various themes for children of ages between 5/6 and 14/15 years; higher education is also optional. There are 290 Universities and Polytechnics in Portugal.
In order to enroll your child in a school in Portugal, you should go to the school closest to your place of residence, find out if there are any vacancies available at the school and find out about the possibility of the school receiving your child if he or she does not speak Portuguese, since one teacher will have to be made available to teach the child Portuguese and another to help him or her in the other classes.

Application to Higher Education

If you want to apply to Portuguese higher education, you should consult online all universities, polytechnics, and courses available in them according to your degree of study. You can consult this information and apply online through the following website: https://www.dges.gov.pt/pt

Residence Visa

Immigrate to Portugal