The Portugal Digital Nomad Visa was recently created as the country becomes one of the sought-after destinations for travellers or anyone who wishes to relocate.
Portugal offers beautiful and sunny weather, an attractive tax regime, a privileged location in Europe, beautiful landscapes, high security and low criminality rates, and historical connections with countries of Portuguese language, such as Brazil and European Union membership, which provides access to European space and market.
The option for remote work has been increasing among workers worldwide, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, which allowed companies to explore other work regimes, including telework.
In addition, we are currently living in the digital era.
As such, many businesses are run and managed one hundred per cent online.
This scenario allows employees and business owners to work abroad, performing their tasks through digital and electronic resources.
However, working abroad implies the need to obtain a residency permit in the country you are living in at a given time.
How to Apply for Portugal Digital Nomad Visa?
Portuguese law allows employees and independent workers to obtain residency permits to live and work in Portugal.
However, such residency permits are granted to employees with an employment contract with a company or person based in Portugal, a service provision agreement or who invest in Portuguese territory. These possibilities were excluded from the so-called “digital nomads”, namely, foreign citizens who remotely perform their professional activity for companies or people based in foreign countries.
As such, the residency visa of digital nomads has been covered by the D7 visa, granted to people with a steady income who relocate to Portugal.
Nonetheless, the D7 visa is not specific for remote work, so many applicants could not obtain the D7 visa for not meeting all the D7 requirements.
Considering this current reality, the Portuguese government created a new visa for remote workers to include digital nomads in the immigration legislation.
Law No. 18/2022, of August 25th and the Regulatory Decree No. 4/2022, of September 30th, came to establish the Portugal Digital Nomad Visa in the Portuguese legislation.
The new visa for remote work is granted to employees and independent professionals for the exercise of professional activities remotely provided to individuals or companies with their domicile or head office outside the national territory.
For this purpose, the employment relationship or provision of services, as the case may be, must be demonstrated.
What are the necessary documents?
- In situations of subordinate work, the applicant must present one of the following documents:
- Work contract;
- Declaration of the employer proving the employment relationship.
- In situations of exercise of independent professional activity, one of the following documents
- Articles of association;
- Service provision contract;
Document demonstrating the services provided to one or more entities.
- In addition to the above, the applicant must present the following:
- Proof of average monthly income earned in the exercise of a subordinate professional or independent activity in the last three months of a minimum amount equivalent to four guaranteed minimum monthly remunerations
- Document proving his fiscal residence.
If the digital nomad applicant does not possess a residency visa for remote work, they may try to obtain a residency permit through an expression of interest process.
The new norms are expected to be fully effected on October 30th, 2022.
The creation of this new residency visa is an essential and significant alteration to Portuguese law.
It adjusts the Portuguese legislation to the new realities in the world. It publicizes the Portuguese territory by allowing the entry and residency of citizens from all over the globe who have the possibility of performing their professional activity remotely.
The new visa for remote work is the alteration to the Immigration law foreseen as the one that will cause the most significant impact in the country.
This article is provided for general information purposes only and is not intended to be, nor should it be construed as, legal or professional advice of any kind. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Isabel graduated in 2015 with a Law Degree from the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra… Read more
