Moving to Portugal

What Counts as Passive Income for Portugal’s D7 Visa?

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If you’re thinking about moving to Portugal, the D7 visa is one of the most straightforward residency pathways. It’s designed for people who earn income from non-active sources—income that arrives regularly without requiring day-to-day work. To qualify, you must show a stable monthly income of at least per month for a single applicant in . For dependents, add: This is significantly lower than the Digital Nomad Visa, which requires per month in . What Exactly Is Passive Income? For the …

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Portugal’s has one of the most popular golden visa programs in the world, and one of the ways that you can obtain this visa and obtain residency in Portugal is by investing in a qualifying fund (or funds), such as a private equity or venture capital fund. There are a number of qualifying funds, in sectors ranging from startups and technology to renewably technologies, wine, and football teams. After five years of residency, it’s possible to apply for Portuguese citizenship, …

An envelope labeled "Roth IRA" with a 100 euro note partially visible, surrounded by various euro bills, documents, and a green pencil on a wooden table. Two people are partially visible on either side of the table.

For Americans interested in Portugal’s Golden Visa, one question comes up again and again: Can I use my 401(k) or IRA to fund the investment — without triggering huge U.S. tax penalties? Technically, the answer can be yes. In practice, the answer is far more complicated. While some advisors present this approach as a clean workaround, the reality is that using U.S. retirement funds for Portugal’s Golden Visa sits in a legally ambiguous and potentially high-risk area of U.S. tax …

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Yes — for many veterans, VA disability compensation can be a solid fit for Portugal’s D7 visa, because it’s stable, recurring, and not tied to working in Portugal. The key is simple: So the real question isn’t “Does Portugal accept VA disability?” It’s: does your monthly VA amount (plus any other passive income you have) meet the D7 minimum for your household? The D7 minimum income requirement in Portugal’s official visa documentation ties “means of subsistence” to the minimum monthly …

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It might seem unusual to compare life in Mexico and Portugal, but it’s a common comparison for many Americans considering moving abroad, particularly for retirement. In the past, Mexico and other Latin American countries like Panama, Costa Rica, and Ecuador were where most Americans set their sights. Recently, however, more and more Americans have been looking for ways to move to Europe and Portugal has come into the limelight as a place Americans can easily move to. Both offering a …

On October 28, 2025, Portugal’s Parliament dropped a bombshell that sent shockwaves through the global investment migration community. In a single vote, they approved legislation that would double the residency requirement for citizenship from five to ten years—affecting not just Golden Visa holders, but every foreign resident hoping to become Portuguese. The change isn’t law yet. It still awaits the President’s signature, and there’s a real possibility it could be sent to the Constitutional Court for review. But the message …

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If you’re thinking about moving to Portugal, you’ve probably encountered two very different residency routes: the Digital Nomad Visa (D8) and the Golden Visa. Both eventually lead to the same end-point — residency, then permanent residency, and ultimately citizenship. But they’re built for completely different life situations. So how do you decide which one is right for you? Let’s walk through the key questions to help you make that decision. Quick Comparison Feature Digital Nomad Visa Golden Visa Income Requirement …

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Yes — you can bring dependent parents to Portugal. Portuguese family reunification rules explicitly include your dependent parents and your spouse’s dependent parents as eligible family members, provided you can prove the family relationship, sufficient means of support, and accommodation. The real question is not usually “can I bring them?” It’s this: Are they genuinely dependents, or would they be better off applying for their own visa instead? That one distinction changes everything — the visa route, the paperwork, the …

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The 2026 situation A few years ago, this was a much easier question to answer Portugal’s Golden Visa was one of the most attractive residency-by-investment programmes in Europe. You could buy a property, spend very little time in Portugal, and still work toward citizenship after five years. It was easy to see the appeal. Now the picture is more complicated. The real estate route is gone. The NHR tax regime is gone. Citizenship now takes 10 years for most people, …

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If you’re looking for the cheapest way to qualify for Portugal’s Golden Visa, the answer is simple on paper: donate €250,000 (or even €200,000 if you can find a qualifying low-density cultural project). No property. No €500,000 fund subscription. Just a single contribution to a government-approved cultural project. But that immediately raises the real question: is anyone actually doing this — and does it make sense? Most investors still choose the €500,000 fund route, despite the higher upfront cost, because …

What Counts as Passive Income for Portugal’s D7 Visa?

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