If you still work, remotely, for a company or clients outside Portugal, the D8 is your route, not the D7. It is the visa people mean when they say “digital nomad”, and the single most common mistake is applying for the wrong version of it.

The one distinction that trips people up

There are two D8s. The D8 Residence Visa leads to renewable residency, permanent residency at five years, and a path to citizenship. The Digital Nomad Temporary Stay Visa lets you spend up to a year in Portugal but leads nowhere, no residency, no citizenship path. If you are moving for good, the Residence Visa is the one you want. Check which one the form says before you submit.

What you need to show

The D8 (established by Decreto-Lei n.º 30/2021) asks for documented monthly income of about four times the Portuguese minimum wage, around €3,680 per month for 2026. You qualify in one of two ways:

• Employed: by a non-Portuguese company, with explicit written permission to work remotely from Portugal.
• Self-employed: with non-Portuguese clients, backed by twelve months of invoices and contracts.

Expect to provide home-country tax returns, three months of payslips or invoices, and bank statements that show the income actually landing.

The tax change nobody warns you about

The old Non-Habitual Resident regime, which exempted most foreign income from Portuguese tax for ten years, closed to new applicants in January 2025. Its replacement, IFICI, requires a Level 6 EQF qualification (a degree or higher) in a qualifying scientific, research or high-skills role. Most remote workers no longer qualify for a tax incentive, so budget your Portuguese tax as if there is none and treat any relief as a bonus.

Where it leads

The D8 Residence Visa follows the same ladder as the D7: a two-year permit, renewals, permanent residency at five years, citizenship after ten years, or seven for EU and CPLP nationals, with the A2 language test. You apply through VFS Global in your home country, then book your AIMA appointment within four months of arriving.

Plan your filing with the Bureaucracy Blueprint

Factual overview from official sources (Decreto-Lei n.º 30/2021, vistos.mne.gov.pt, aima.gov.pt). Income thresholds adjust each January. Not legal or tax advice, confirm current rules and speak to a qualified adviser for your situation.