Any foreigner working remotely for himself or for any company in the world (except Portuguese) can apply for a visa for freelancers and digital nomads.
The requirements are:
- A valid passport;
- Filling out a form and 2 photos to request a visa;
- Availability of travel medical insurance for the entire period of stay in the country;
- Must document your remote work for a specific company (by providing work contract, certificate of employment, etc.), or confirm that you are self-employed;
- You must provide proof of your income for the last 3 months, and the average of this income cannot be less than 4 times the national minimum wage. For the year 2022 the minimum wage in Portugal is 705 euros, accordingly you must prove that you earned at least 2,820 euros per month during the last quarter. In 2023, there will be an increase in the minimum salary to 760 euros, in which case you will have to earn at least 3040 euros per month;
- You must provide a document proving your tax residency (e.g. income tax return);
- You must have a return air ticket to your home country with a date before the end of your visa;
- You must have a certificate of no criminal record and give permission to the Portuguese authorities to check your criminal status;
- You must not have any prohibition of entry into the country or into the Schengen area.
We will also make some important clarifications for professionals, with different types of employment.
If you are a self-employed professional (for example, you have a sole proprietorship), then as supporting documents can be accepted:
A service contract;
- A document that you have a functioning sole proprietorship with appropriate turnover;
- Proposal (in writing) to conclude a contract for the provision of services;
- Documents confirming the provision of services to one or more clients.
Read even more about the Portugal digital nomad visa in the detailed CitizenRemote guide.
Can I come together with my family?
If you are a freelancer or remote worker and you have a family, you have nothing to worry about, because your relatives can come to Portugal with you by obtaining a reunification visa, as is the case with any other type of type D resident visa.
It is worth recalling that, following recent changes in the law, requests for the main visa (in this case a remote work visa) and for family reunification can now be submitted simultaneously, but these nuances are best clarified at the Portuguese consulate in your country of residence.
For how long is the new visa for remote work issued?
It is important to note that at the moment all the official sites indicate that the new resident visa for remote workers and digital nomads is issued both for short-term and long-term stay.
It will all depend on the length of time you plan to stay in Portugal. Temporary stay visas must be requested for stays less than 12 months, and resident visas for stays longer than 12 months. Regardless of the length of stay, the requirements and documents required to obtain a visa are the same.
If you are looking for work and want to work from different countries, check out the list of remote jobs at https://citizenremote.com/digital-nomad-jobs/