D7 vs D8 Portugal Visa: Which One Is Right for Americans?

Why This Choice Matters

“Moving to Portugal” is not one legal route. Americans staying longer than 90 days need a national visa from a Portuguese consulate before they travel⁵, and the visa you apply for has to match where your money comes from. The D7 is built around passive income. The remote-work visa is built around active income earned from outside Portugal. Both lead to a residence permit, but the evidence each one asks for is different.

The mistake to avoid is choosing by which visa sounds easier. Choose by where your income actually comes from, what you will do while you live in Portugal, and whether your documents tell that story consistently.

D8, D9 or E11? The Names Explained

The remote-work visa is widely searched as the “D8” or “digital nomad visa”. The Portuguese Embassy in Washington, which serves many U.S. applicants, uses different codes on its visa list and checklists⁴:

• D9: residence visa for remote work, for people who want to live in Portugal and apply for a residence permit⁶.
• E11: temporary-stay visa for remote work, which does not lead to a residence permit^7,8.
• D8: residence visa for a family member accompanying someone who holds a residence visa⁹.

In this article we write “remote-work visa (D8)” because that is the name most readers know. When you fill out forms or book an appointment, use the code your own consulate uses; picking the D8 form at the Washington embassy would put you in the family category.

D7 vs Remote-Work Visa at a Glance

What Is Portugal’s D7 Visa?

The D7 is the residence visa for pensioners and for people living on their own income². For Americans, typical income sources are:

• U.S. Social Security retirement benefits.
• Pensions and annuities.
• Rental income from property.
• Dividends, interest and other investment income.
• Royalties or other recurring passive income.

The Washington embassy’s checklist is specific about what else goes in the file. Beyond proof of income, it asks for savings equal to 12 minimum wages for the first adult (plus 50% for each further adult and 30% for each child under 18), permanent accommodation for at least 12 months, and, if you have lived in the United States for over a year, an FBI record that is apostilled and less than 90 days old when you apply².

What Is the Remote-Work (D8) Visa?

The remote-work visa is for people who will keep working, as employees or self-employed, for employers or clients outside Portugal⁶. It may fit you if you are:

• A remote employee of a U.S. or other non-Portuguese employer.
• A freelancer or consultant with clients outside Portugal.
• An online business owner whose income is earned outside Portugal.

Its advantage is clarity: you present active income honestly instead of trying to fit it into a passive-income route. The trade-off is the threshold. The income test is four times the Portuguese minimum wage, measured as the average of the last three months^3,11, so €3,680 a month in 2026 against the D7’s €920.

Income Requirements in 2026

Both routes use the minimum wage as their yardstick. From January 1, 2026, Portugal’s minimum monthly wage is €920¹⁵.

Sources: means-of-subsistence rule and 2026 reference^1,10; savings rule²; exchange rate¹⁶.

For the remote-work visa, the test is €3,680 a month for the main applicant³. Family members who come with you apply for their own visa; at the Washington embassy that is the D8 accompanying-family visa⁹.

Minimum thresholds are not comfort thresholds. In the 12 months to June 2026, median rents on new leases were €17.43 per square meter a month in Lisbon, €16.83 in Cascais and €14.48 in Porto, against €9.76 for Portugal as a whole, which was 9.4% higher than a year earlier¹⁷. At the Lisbon median, a 70 m² apartment comes to about €1,220 a month (our arithmetic), more than the whole D7 test for one person.

Common Mistakes Americans Make

1. Trying to fit remote work into the D7

If your income is a salary, freelance fees or active business income, the D7 is the wrong route. It is not a cheaper version of the remote-work visa; it is a different visa for a different income model^2,6.

2. Looking only at the income figure

The consulate looks at the whole file: income, savings, 12 months of accommodation, insurance and a clean record². A plan that meets the income number but leaves no room for rent at today’s prices is fragile.

3. Buying the wrong insurance

For the national visa, Portugal asks for travel insurance that covers medical expenses, urgent care and repatriation¹². Once you live there, the national health service (SNS) covers your care when your SNS record shows your ID, tax number, address in Portugal and a valid residence permit¹⁸. Other countries work differently: Spain, for example, refuses travel insurance for its non-lucrative visa¹⁹.

4. Using the wrong visa code

At the Washington embassy, D8 is the family visa and D9 the remote-work visa⁴. Check the code on your own consulate’s list before you book.

5. Leaving U.S. tax until later

U.S. citizens are taxed on worldwide income wherever they live²⁰. Portugal taxes its residents on their worldwide income too²¹. Plan both before you move, not after the first return is due.

Which Visa Fits You?

One honest question usually settles it: what kind of income will pay for your life in Portugal?

The D7 may fit if…

• You are retired or financially independent.
• Your income is mostly passive: Social Security, a pension, dividends or rent.
• You do not need Portuguese employment.
• You can show savings equal to 12 months of the income test².

The remote-work visa may fit if…

• You work remotely for a U.S. or other foreign employer.
• You freelance or consult for clients outside Portugal.
• Your average income over the last three months is at least €3,680 a month³.
• You can document contracts, payslips or invoices.

Mixed households are common: one spouse retired, the other still consulting, or a remote worker planning to stop working after arrival. Those cases need a closer look at which income supports which application.

The Tax Question to Ask Early

A visa gives you permission to live in Portugal. Tax residence decides how your income is taxed once you do. Points to check before you file:

• Portugal taxes residents on worldwide income²¹. The former non-habitual resident (NHR) regime is closed to new applicants²²; its replacement, IFICI, is limited to listed professions and activities^23,24.
• The United States keeps taxing you on worldwide income²⁰. The foreign earned income exclusion covers work income only, up to $132,900 for 2026; pensions and Social Security are not foreign earned income^25,26. The foreign tax credit can offset Portuguese tax paid on the same income²⁷.
• The 1994 U.S.–Portugal tax treaty sets further rules, for example on pensions and Social Security²⁸.
• Remote workers: the U.S.–Portugal totalization agreement decides which country’s social security system you pay into²⁹.

Our sister site eTaxNexus explains the U.S. side in more depth: U.S. taxes when moving to Portugal.

Family, Permanent Residence and Citizenship

Both routes lead to a residence permit, and the long-term rules changed in 2025 and 2026:

• Family. Family members can apply for the accompanying-family visa together with you⁹. Bringing family over later is harder: since October 23, 2025, family reunification generally requires you to have held a residence permit for at least two years (15 months for a spouse or partner who lived with you for 18 months before you came), with no wait for minor children and a spouse who is their co-parent^8,30.
• Permanent residence. After five years with a temporary residence permit you can apply for a permanent permit; you need basic Portuguese, shown for example by a CAPLE test or an A2 certificate^8,31.
• Citizenship. Since May 19, 2026, U.S. citizens need 10 years of legal residence to apply for Portuguese nationality, up from five^32,33.