Portugal's new digital nomad visa

How can a digital nomad move to Portugal? The famous Portuguese visa law for digital nomads, which is attracting attention from abroad, came into force on 30th October 2022 and will allow foreigners to stay for a year in Portugal working remotely. The creation of a residence visa for the exercise of professional activity, provided remotely outside the national territory, is part of the revision of Portugal's Immigration Law, which applies from the end of October 2022. We explain what is at stake in the new law, with the help of legal experts, and all the details about Portugal's new digital nomad visa 2022.

Portugal's new digital nomad visa 2022

This digital nomad visa in Portugal, introduced among the several changes foreseen in Law no. 18/2022, of 25th August, enables its holder to reside in Portugal with the purpose of working in the country, even if remotely, for an individual or company with residence or head office outside national territory.

D7 Visa: the previous residence visa in Portugal for remote workers

"It was already possible before for these professionals to obtain a residence visa for Portugal, applying to the case the general provision foreseen in art. 58, no. 3 of Law 23/2007, for the framework of this type of process - the so-called D7 visa", Lamares, Capela & Associados clarifies, noting that the D7 visa is the appropriate visa for pensioners and holders of passive source income, among others, and was the one that, until now, was largely applied by the Portuguese Consulates around the world to allow the legal residence in Portugal of remote workers/service providers".

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The submission of the D7 visa for remote workers/service providers was made based on the general documents for the issue of any residence visa, as well as proof of the employment relationship with the company based abroad, namely through an employment/service provision contract, a declaration signed by the company or any salary receipts.

As for the value of the monthly remunerations, they would have to be equal or higher than the national minimum wage at the date of the application.

New requirements for digital nomad visas Portugal 2022: application process

How do digital nomad visas work in Portugal? Currently, the residence visa application for digital nomads (for the exercise of professional activity remotely provided outside national territory), besides requiring the presentation of the general documents for any type of residence visa, is accompanied by the following documents.

In situations of subordinate work, one of the following documents:

• Work contract;
• Promise of employment contract;
• Declaration of the employer proving the employment relationship.

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In situations of independent professional activity, one of the following documents:

• Articles of association;
• Service provision contract;
• Written proposal for a contract for the provision of services;
• Document demonstrating the services provided to one or more entities;
• Proof of average monthly income earned in the last three months in the exercise of a subordinate professional or independent activity of a minimum value equivalent to four guaranteed minimum monthly remunerations;
• Document proving fiscal residence.

As can be seen from the analysis of the documentation for the application for a residence visa for remote workers, there are only two requirements that differ from the previous D7 visa:

• proof of average monthly income in the last three months with a minimum value equivalent to 2820 euros (in 2022) and 3040 euros (in 2030);
• document proving the fiscal residence of the Applicant.

Remaining questions about Portugal's digital nomad visa

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Of this legislative revision carried out by António Costa's Socialist Government, it remains to be understood:

• How will the control on the veracity of contractual ties with individuals abroad be carried out;
• What criteria will have been used to arrive at the "four guaranteed minimum monthly remunerations".

Regarding the first point, specialists anticipate that it will be very difficult, or even impossible, for the Consulate to be able to assess if a service provision contract signed between two individuals, even if it translates into some bank transfers to the Applicant's bank account, is or is not based on a real contractual relationship and was not just fictitious between the parties for the mere purpose of obtaining a residence visa.

In relation to the second point, the doubt has more to do with a question of legal coherence, since until recently the applicable criterion was the national minimum salary and now the requirement is four times that. One might ask on what basis?

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It should be noted that a highly qualified worker/service provider working for a company based in Portugal only has to prove that he earns 1400€/month in order to obtain a residence visa for Portugal, however, a remote worker will have to demonstrate more than double, not understanding the reason for such a requirement.

If the idea, effectively, was to attract remote workers, experts consider that it might have been important to look at the example of other countries that also offer this type of visas and realise that they offer less strict conditions for those who want to work remotely in Europe and this may lead these applicants to choose to move to these countries (e.g. Italy, Hungary, Malta, etc.) instead of Portugal.