Portugal Self-Employment Visa for Digital Nomads and Freelancers: The Definitive Guide
So, your company gave you to go ahead to work remotely and you want to move to Portugal? Or are you a digital nomad, a freelancer, or an entrepreneur that wants to settle in Portugal?
Well, unless you are already an EU citizen, you will need a visa or a residence permit in Portugal. Luckily, Portugal has a specific residence visa for self-employed workers, freelancers, and digital nomads!
Below, you can find the details.
Tips about the process:
- You need a clean criminal record,
- You can either apply online or offline:
- If you’d like to apply online: you should register on SAPA and complete the corresponding forms indicating your interest and situation, and uploading the necessary documents,
- If you’d like to apply offline: you would like to submit your application in paper to the SEF office
- SEF assesses the application and then gives you an appointment date,
- The initial visa will be valid for two years and the subsequent visas will be each valid for three years at a time
You can either apply yourself or use a legal representative to apply on behalf of you. In either case, you will need the following documents:
- Evidence of having set a company in Portugal, or
- Contract for services for the carrying out of a liberal profession and statement by the professional association with evidence of the registration (whenever applicable)
- Passport or another valid travel document,
- Evidence of sufficient means of subsistence,
- Clean criminal record:
- from the country of origin and of residence (if different)
- from Portugal; for this, you just need to give SEF the permission to check it in Portugal
- Evidence of adequate accommodation in Portugal,
- Evidence of having registered with the Social Security,
- Evidence of registration in the tax authority
- you can obtain your tax number – NIF – in Portugal from a Finanças office
If your lawyer asks under which legal framework you would like to apply for the self-employment visa in Portugal, you can say that it is:
ARTICLE 89, PARAGRAPH 2 OF LAW N. º 59/2017 31ST JULY
ORDER NUMBER 1563/2007, OF 11/12
Technical? Yes, we know. But, it may be necessary.
Besides the self-employment visa, Portugal offers a (1) an entrepreneur visa, and (2) a passive income holder visa, among other types of visas.
Check out an extensive list of the types of visas that Portugal offers on our guide to different visas in Portugal.