If you’re applying for a D7 or the digital nomad visa, you’ll almost certainly need a Portuguese bank account. It usually has to hold your savings or show your means of support.
It’s one of the questions I get asked most, mostly by visa applicants and occasionally by people buying property here.
People are always surprised they can’t just go online and open an account with Millennium or Novo Banco themselves. But I couldn’t easily open an account in America without living there, either.
So as a non-resident you’ll almost certainly pay a service or a lawyer to open it for you, and you’ll need a NIF first.
Which service you use comes down to one question that didn’t matter a year ago: do you have your consulate or VFS appointment booked yet?
The short version
- Can a non-resident open one? Yes, including Americans, Canadians and Britons. You go through a service or a lawyer, because the banks’ own online sign-up needs a Portuguese ID card. Why ↓
- What you need first: a NIF, Portugal’s tax number. You can get one online in about a week.
- Documents: your passport, NIF, proof of your home address, your home tax number and proof of income. The checklist ↓
- Cost: €300–€395 for the service, plus a monthly account fee of €6–€15.60. Budget €400–€525 for the first year, plus a €250 opening deposit that stays your money. Compare ↓
- How long it takes: 2–4 weeks is typical, but allow two months, and more in August. Why ↓
- Which service: it depends on whether your visa appointment is booked, because most services won’t start without one. The trap ↓
- Wise, Revolut or N26 instead? Not for a visa application. None of them gives a non-resident a Portuguese IBAN. More ↓
🔑
You’re not choosing your bank for life
The account you open from abroad is an entry account. Its job is to get your visa application through, so choose it on eligibility, timing and total cost, not on which bank you’d like in ten years.
Once you’re resident you’ll have far more choice: you can switch banks or move to a cheaper account. What changes once you’re resident ↓
Here’s who I’d go with, depending on your answer:
No appointment yet
📅 Visas.pt: €395
It told me it doesn’t ask American, Canadian or British applicants to prove a visa application is underway. The others do.
It’s the slowest route, at 4–6 weeks, but that stops mattering when you’re not racing a date. Its €6 monthly fee is also the lowest of the four.
Booked, want it fast
⚡ Novomove: €300
Two to four weeks, and no notarization or apostille. It’s the cheapest service fee, but the account it opens has the highest monthly fee, so it costs the most to keep.
Booked, lowest first-year cost
💶 Anchorless: €309
€309 through my link (€359 direct). It opens a cheaper account tier than Novomove, which gives it the lowest first-year total of the four: about €80 less than Novomove.
Already paying a lawyer
⚖️ Your Immigration Lawyer
If a lawyer is handling your visa, let them fold the account in. They have wider bank relationships than any of the services, and they’ll handle the sequencing problem below for you.
Provider logos, “Open account” buttons and links marked with an asterisk (*) are affiliate links. Portugalist earns a commission if you sign up through them, at no extra cost to you, and the prices shown are the ones you get through my links.
Commission rates differ between these companies and don’t set the order above: the one I recommend for speed pays the least of the four. The free routes are further down ↓
What’s changed on this page (last update September 2026)
- September 2026: corrected how Millennium’s Prestige fee can be reduced and what the refund guarantees cover; updated Anchorless and Novomove timings to 2–4 weeks; downgraded the ActivoBank route for UK residents; added two-year costs, a countdown from your appointment, and what to do after the account opens.
- August 2026: rechecked every service’s price, bank and requirements.
Prices and requirements checked by James Cave.
✈️
I wouldn’t fly to Portugal just to open an account
The trip costs more than the service, and you can still be turned down. I’ve known people visit five banks in a week and get rejected at all five.
If you’re coming anyway, try it: here’s how to give yourself the best chance ↓
Find your best option
Find the Best Way to Open Your Account
Answer a few quick questions and you’ll see the service I’d use to open yours. No email needed.
My pick for you
Ask your lawyer to open it
Lawyers have wider bank relationships than any of the services, and because they’re handling the visa too, the appointment problem stops being yours.
My pick for you
Visas.pt: €395, no appointment needed
It told me it doesn’t ask American, Canadian or British applicants to prove a visa application is underway, so you can open the account first. It’s the slowest, at 4–6 weeks, but it has the lowest monthly fee.
My pick for you
Novomove: €300, in 2–4 weeks
It needs no notarization or apostille and handles the widest range of visas. The catch is the €15.60 monthly fee on the account it opens, so it costs the most to keep.
My pick for you
Anchorless: €309, the lowest first-year total
It’s €309 through my link and opens a cheaper account tier than Novomove, so the first year comes to about €409 with fees. It takes 2–4 weeks.
My pick for you
Novomove: €300, no appointment needed for British passports
Novomove’s published requirements don’t ask UK passport holders for visa proof, so you can open the account first, in 2–4 weeks. Visas.pt also takes British applicants without proof, and has the lowest monthly fee.
Before you pay anyone
Check your passport is on the bank’s list
Each bank keeps its own list of nationalities it accepts, and Visas.pt’s “no appointment needed” only covers American, Canadian and British applicants. Anchorless publishes its list. If your country is often declined, an immigration lawyer is the better route.
My pick for you
Anchorless: €309, and it takes property buyers
Novomove won’t open an account for a purchase without a visa, but Anchorless will, and it has the lowest first-year total. Visas.pt also accepts buyers, and e-Residence does once you’ve signed the promissory contract (Contrato de Promessa de Compra e Venda, or CPCV).
Open an account with Anchorless Do buyers need an account? ↓
Compare the four services ↓ · Why your appointment matters ↓
Where Do You Want to Start?
✅
Check it’ll work for me
The four things that decide whether a remote opening is possible at all.
🔎
Just show me the costs
Four services sorted by first-year cost or speed, including the monthly fees nobody publishes.
🆓
Is there a free way?
Three routes that cost nothing, and who they actually work for.
Before you pay anyone
Will a Remote Account Opening Work for You?
Four things decide whether a remote opening is possible at all, and none of them is on the providers’ front pages. Check these first.
Which Visas Each Service Handles
| Visa | Novomove | Anchorless | Visas.pt |
|---|---|---|---|
| D7 (passive income) | ✔ Yes | ✔ Yes | ✔ Yes |
| D8 (digital nomad) | ✔ Yes | ✔ Yes | ✔ Yes |
| D2 (business) | ✔ Yes | ✔ Yes | ✔ Yes |
| D3 (highly qualified) | ✔ Yes | ✔ Yes | — |
| D4 (student) | ✔ Yes | ✖ No | — |
| D5 (teaching/cultural) | ✔ Yes | ✖ No | — |
| Golden Visa | Via Bison Bank | ✔ Yes | Unconfirmed |
| Buying property, no visa | ✖ No | ✔ Yes | ✔ Yes |
“—” means the service didn’t list it. Checked August 2026.
e-Residence doesn’t list visa types. It works from income profiles instead: passive income above the Portuguese minimum wage, a salary of €5,000 a month or more for non-EU citizens, savings over €35,000, or a signed CPCV if you’re buying.
📈
This is getting stricter, quickly
Visas.pt told me they don’t ask Americans, Canadians or Britons for visa proof—”at least not yet.” Two of the four added the requirement within the past year.
More change is coming: the EU’s new anti-money-laundering rules apply from July 10, 2027, with more uniform identity and source-of-funds checks at every bank. Assume it gets stricter, and confirm before you pay.
The trap
The Order Is the Hard Part, Not the Paperwork
Here’s the trap, and it’s new. Your visa application needs a statement from a Portuguese account showing your savings, so the account has to exist first.
But with Novomove and Anchorless, the bank won’t start until you can prove your visa application is underway. In practice, that means an appointment already booked.
Book the appointment
US consulate slots are hard to get and harder to move.
Prove it
Send the confirmation to the service.
Open the account
2–4 weeks, longer if compliance has questions.
Fund it, let it sit
The balance needs to have been there a while.
Attend the appointment
The one you booked before any of this existed.
You’re racing a clock you started before you knew the length of the race. There are two ways out of it:
📅 No date yet?
- Use a provider that doesn’t require one, like Visas.pt*.
- Open the account, then book the appointment when a slot appears. The deadlock never forms.
⚖️ Using a lawyer?
- They’re doing both, so the sequencing stops being your problem.
- When your dates are tight, that’s worth more than the price difference.
Counting Back From Your Appointment
If your appointment is already booked, this is the latest I’d leave each step. Earlier is better.
| When | Do this | Why then |
|---|---|---|
| 10 weeks before | Order your NIF | Online services take about a week, and the bank can’t start without it. |
| 9 weeks before | Start the bank account | 2–4 weeks is typical; ten weeks has happened. |
| As soon as it opens | Log in, then transfer your savings | Fix any login problem while there’s still time. |
| 1–2 weeks before | Download or request your bank statement | It should show the balance has been there a little while. |
| Any time in August | Add two weeks to everything | Portugal largely stops working for the month. |
Timing
Start Earlier Than You Think You Need To
Usually takes
2–4 weeks
Allow
2 months
Worst month
August
Two months isn’t a pessimistic estimate. Compliance departments have tightened considerably on non-resident applications.
On one of my webinars, the immigration lawyer Inês Silva described a client whose account took ten weeks. A year earlier, she said, she’d have walked in with a power of attorney and had it done the same day.
Compare costs
What a Portuguese Bank Account Actually Costs in the First Year
The lowest first-year total is Anchorless, at €409 including twelve months of account fees. Visas.pt has the lowest monthly fee, and Novomove the lowest service fee.
Here’s the part nobody publishes: the service fee is the smaller number. These companies open premium accounts. The bank takes on a non-resident it wouldn’t otherwise touch, and in return the account carries a monthly fee.
Which tier you land on depends on the service, and over a year that gap is wider than the gap in their headline prices.
Provider logos, “Open account” buttons and links marked with an asterisk (*) are affiliate links. Portugalist earns a commission if you sign up through them, at no extra cost to you, and the prices shown are the ones you get through my links.
| Provider | First year | Service fee | Monthly fee | Speed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Millennium bcp · Cliente Frequente | €409 | €309 with my link €359 direct · you save €50 | €8.32 | 2–4 weeks | Open account |
 Millennium bcp or CGD | €467 + notarization | €395 | €6 | 4–6 weeks | Open account |
 Millennium bcp · Prestige | €487 | €300 | €15.60 | 2–4 weeks their average: 3–4 | Open account |
 Novo Banco · Prestige | €521 incl. €49 for cards | €374 with my link €499 direct · you save €125 | €8.20 | 3–4 weeks | Open account |
Prices and fees checked August 2026; monthly figures include Portuguese stamp duty.
Every route also needs a €250 opening deposit. That’s your money, not a fee, and you can spend it once the account is active.
Novomove and Anchorless include card delivery; e-Residence charges €49. Visas.pt includes it, but you arrange and pay for notarizing a power of attorney yourself.
💡
Cheapest to buy isn’t cheapest to keep
Novomove has the lowest service fee and the highest monthly fee: about €7 a month more than Anchorless, and the gap grows every year.
Visas.pt costs the most up front but has the lowest monthly fee, so by the end of year two it’s cheaper than both Novomove and e-Residence.
What It Costs if You Keep It Two Years
Most people keep the account at least until their residence card arrives, and often longer. Here’s the service fee plus the monthly fee over 12 and 24 months:
| Service | First year | Two years | Monthly fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorless | €409 | €509 | €8.32 |
| Visas.pt | €467 + notarization | €539 + notarization | €6 |
| e-Residence | €521 | €620 | €8.20 |
| Novomove | €487 | €674 | €15.60 |
Assumes you stay on the account the service opens and don’t qualify for a fee reduction. Once you’re resident you can usually move to a cheaper account—see once you’re a resident ↓
A closer look
The Four Bank Account Services, Reviewed
Lowest first-year cost
Anchorless: €309
The one I’d pick if my appointment was booked and I wanted to keep costs down over the first two years.
When I checked in August 2026 it opened Millennium’s Cliente Frequente tier rather than Prestige, so the monthly fee is roughly half Novomove’s.
It also opens accounts for property buyers without a visa. If your consulate’s booking confirmation isn’t in a usable form, it says it’ll look at your case individually.
No apostille
Novomove: €300
No notarization or apostille, and the widest range of visas. It quotes 2–4 weeks; its own average is 3–4.
You print, sign and mail the agreement to its partner lawyer here, who certifies your signature locally. That’s how it avoids the apostille.
It also confirms your mobile number with the bank up front, which heads off the login problem. The catch is the Prestige account’s €15.60 monthly fee.
No appointment needed
Visas.pt: €395
The only one of the four that told me it doesn’t ask American, Canadian or British applicants to prove a visa application is underway—”at least not yet.” That makes it the way out of the appointment trap.
It’s the slowest, and you arrange a notarized power of attorney yourself (it certifies documents by video call). But the €6 monthly fee is the lowest here.
It works with Millennium bcp and Caixa Geral de Depósitos, which helps if Millennium has already said no.
Uses Novo Banco
e-Residence: €374
The only one of the four that opens with Novo Banco rather than Millennium. That matters if Millennium has turned you down: a service using the same bank will usually give you the same answer.
It accepts a signed CPCV as a reason, so it works for property buyers too. It’s the most expensive first year once the €49 card fee is added.
Reader reports
How Long Did Your Account Actually Take?
The times above are what the providers advertise. I want to show you what Portugalist readers actually got.
If you’ve opened an account through one of these services, tell me how it went: how long it took, whether compliance came back with questions, and whether you could log in at the end. It takes a minute.
⏱️
Weeks, not promises
How long each service actually took, next to what it advertises.
📨
Questions from compliance
How often the bank came back asking for more documents.
📱
Could you log in?
Whether readers got into the account straight away, or fought the text-message problem.
Report your account
Which Service Did You Use, and How Did It Go?
Until the report form is ready, email me at info@portugalist.com with four things: which service you used, the date you sent your documents, the date the account opened, and whether you could log in straight away.
Why you’re paying someone
Why You Can’t Just Open an Account Online
Short answer
The banks’ online sign-up is built for people with a Portuguese citizen card, and you don’t have one.
You’ll find Portuguese banks advertising online account opening. Millennium bcp has a page for it, and ActivoBank is built around it.
Try either and you’ll hit the same wall: the app wants a Cartão de Cidadão, the Portuguese citizen card. ActivoBank’s app has turned away EU citizens for that reason.
Millennium’s own online-opening page says so too, and points anyone abroad without one to its representative offices in the UK, Switzerland and France.
Portuguese law doesn’t forbid opening an account remotely. Banco de Portugal sets out rules for opening at a distance, including video identification.
In practice, the banks’ own onboarding asks for documents a non-resident doesn’t have, and which routes are open changes without notice. Direct online opening isn’t impossible; it’s just not something to rely on with a visa appointment in the calendar.
Nobody enjoys paying to open a bank account. You didn’t pay at home, but you were resident there, and residency is most of what a bank is checking.
Non-resident accounts exist in plenty of countries, including this one. They’re just slower, more conditional and more work than the version you’re used to.
D7 vs D8
Does It Have to Be a Portuguese Bank?
🏖️ D7: effectively yes
- The US checklist asks for proof your funds are available in Portugal, through a Portuguese account.
💻 D8: not on paper, but get one
- The US checklist asks for qualifying income without spelling out a Portuguese account.
- We’ve seen D8 applications go through with foreign statements, and we’ve seen them questioned.
I’d get one either way. Sandra Gomes Pinto, one of the immigration lawyers on my webinars, recommends a Portuguese account for the D8 as well.
Lawyers err on the side of caution here, because Portugal is a bureaucratic country and a lot depends on who reviews your file.
A Portuguese bank operates under Portuguese and EU supervision, and its statements are in a format consulate and AIMA staff read every day. A foreign statement is something they have to take on faith, and they’d rather not.
I wouldn’t use a foreign account unless I was certain that particular consulate or VFS office had no issue with it and I had recent proof of that. “Someone on Facebook got away with it last year” isn’t recent proof.
The checklist
What Documents Do You Need to Open a Portuguese Bank Account?
Roughly the same list whichever service you use. Assemble it before you start rather than in response to emails: every request for another document adds a week.
🛂 Passport
Scans only; photos taken on a phone are refused. Novomove wants at least 12 months’ validity remaining.
🧾 Your NIF
Non-negotiable. Get it first →
🏠 Proof of address from where you live now
A utility bill or bank statement, usually from the last three months. Your home address is fine; you don’t need a Portuguese one.
🔢 Your home-country tax number
Social Security Number for Americans, SIN for Canadians, National Insurance number for Britons.
💼 Proof of income or financial means
Pay stubs, an employment contract, a pension statement, tax returns, investment statements—whatever fits.
Also worth knowing
The Small Print
🌐 Language: English or Portuguese (Novomove also takes Spanish and French). Anything else needs a certified translation, at your cost.
📱 A Portuguese phone number helps with the text-message problem. Hard to arrange from abroad, but get one if you’re coming over anyway.
🧓 Retired, between jobs, or living off savings? Not a problem in itself. Not being able to explain your income is. A written declaration of your situation plus evidence of what you’re living on does the job.
You’ll also be asked to show you meet your visa’s financial requirements: passive income of at least €920 a month for a D7, or a contract or payslips of at least €3,680 a month for a D8.
A D2 needs a business plan, and a Golden Visa documented origin of funds. Most of that overlaps with your visa application, so the work isn’t doubled.
But clearing the threshold doesn’t guarantee the account. The bank runs its own compliance, sanctions and source-of-funds checks, and can decline on those grounds alone.
What Happens After You Sign Up
Send your documents
Scans, not photos.
Compliance review
The bank can ask for more at any point.
Verify identity
Sometimes a short video call.
Sign and return
Use a courier, not regular mail.
Send €250
Your opening deposit.
Log in
IBAN, logins, then cards by mail.
Two steps catch people out. Compliance can come back with questions even after your file has been approved and the agreements have gone out for signing.
And if you’re mailing signed documents (Novomove’s partner lawyer certifies your signature locally), use a courier. International mail is the one part of this nobody can chase.
Don’t assume you’re finished when the email arrives. You’re finished when you’ve logged in.
Keeping it working
After It Opens: Logins, Freezes and Closing the Account
Most of the complaints I see about Portuguese banks aren’t about opening the account. They’re about what happens afterward, usually to someone living abroad who can’t just walk into a branch.
For your visa
How Much Money Should Be in the Account?
These are the D7 figures—twelve months of the Portuguese minimum wage for the main applicant, plus additions for everyone else on the application. Other visas use different tests, so always ask your lawyer what they recommend for your case. There’s more in my guide to the D7 savings requirement.
| D7 applicant | EUR | USD approx. | GBP approx. | CAD approx. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single applicant | €11,040 | $12,422 | £9,367 | CA$17,670 |
| Couple | €16,560 | $18,633 | £14,051 | CA$26,504 |
| + each dependent child | €3,312 | $3,727 | £2,810 | CA$5,301 |
| + each dependent adult | €5,520 | $6,211 | £4,684 | CA$8,835 |
These match the figures Anchorless quotes its own applicants, which is a useful cross-check—the services see what gets accepted every week. A couple can use one joint account: there’s no extra fee for the second holder, and you both supply documents.
Getting the Money There
You can wire it straight from your own bank. Nothing wrong with that: one institution, one paper trail, no third party.
Personally I’d use Wise, because the exchange rate and fees on an international wire are usually worse than people realize. On €15,000 the difference is real money.
That’s Wise as a way to move money into your Portuguese account, not a substitute for it.
Whichever you use, make sure the transfer is traceable and comes from an account in your own name. Money arriving from a third party is exactly what triggers compliance questions.
🇺🇸
Americans: funding this account creates a filing obligation
If your foreign accounts add up to more than $10,000 at any point in the year, you have to file an FBAR (FinCEN Form 114). Funding this account with the D7 savings puts you over that line on day one.
Depending on your balances and filing status, Form 8938 may apply too. Neither costs anything to file or means extra tax, but missing them carries penalties.
Talk to a US tax professional before you send the money, not the following April.
Is the Money Locked Up?
Not by the visa. The lawyers on my webinars are consistent that consulates want to see the savings exist, not that a specific figure sat frozen for a year.
It’s your account and your money, and if your visa is refused the account is still yours. The constraint is timing: the balance needs to be there, and to have been there a little while, when you produce the statement.
Three Things You’ll Hear, Checked
✗ What you’ll hear
- “Banks won’t let you move money out until you’re resident.”
- “The big banks refuse non-residents.”
- “Brits can open an ActivoBank account with just a NIF.”
✓ What I found
- No bank policy to that effect that I could find. The real risk is a freeze when your ID or details need updating—here’s how to avoid it ↑
- True for walk-ins, increasingly. Not true through a service or a lawyer.
- It used to work. Reports since March 2025 say it doesn’t.
Choosing a bank
Millennium bcp or Novo Banco?
In practice this is the main bank choice most readers face, and it’s largely decided by which service you pick.
Most services open Millennium accounts. e-Residence uses Novo Banco, and says Millennium, Santander and Caixa Geral are in-person only for them.
Several providers have moved from Novo Banco to Millennium over the past year or so. These relationships don’t usually change, so when several shift the same way, it tells you something.
Millennium bcp
Anchorless, Novomove, Visas.pt
Novo Banco
e-Residence
Branches in Portugal
389 at the end of 2025, the widest coverage in the country
289 at the end of 2025
Background
Portugal’s largest private bank; many services use it
Created in 2014 from the collapse of Banco Espírito Santo; France’s BPCE completed its takeover in April 2026
Satisfies your visa requirement
✔ Yes
✔ Yes
Once you’re established
Mortgages, insurance, credit cards
Mortgages, insurance, credit cards
Every Bank You’ll Hear About
Walking in without a residence card is getting harder everywhere. This is what readers and other sources report as of September 2026; branch decisions vary, so treat it as a guide rather than a rule.
| Bank | Remotely, through | Walking in without a residence card |
|---|---|---|
| Millennium bcp | Anchorless, Novomove, Visas.pt | Many branches now ask for a residence permit |
| Novo Banco | e-Residence | No clear pattern in recent reports |
| Caixa Geral de Depósitos | Visas.pt | Reportedly one of the few still opening for non-EU clients |
| Bison Bank | Novomove, for the Golden Visa | — |
| ActivoBank | None of the four | Since March 2025, reportedly wants a residence permit or EU citizenship |
| Santander Totta | None of the four | Most branches reportedly want proof of your AIMA residence application |
🏞️
Moving somewhere rural? Check the branch first
Banking in Portugal is still a face-to-face business. Mortgages, credit cards, disputes, anything unusual: you’ll end up in a branch, probably more than once.
That’s fine in Lisbon, but in the interior, the Azores or Madeira your bank may be a forty-minute drive away. In a small town, the branch you can walk into beats the app you can’t get support for.
The free routes
Can You Open a Portuguese Bank Account for Free?
Three routes cost nothing. None is reliable, all three are effectively closed to Americans and Canadians, and even the British options have narrowed since 2025. Treat them as long shots.
🇬🇧
ActivoBank, if you’re British
Before 2025, several UK readers opened remotely with nothing more than a NIF.
Since March 2025, reports say ActivoBank wants a residence permit or EU citizenship. Worth ten minutes, not a plan.
Probably closed since 2025
🏢
Millennium’s offices abroad
Millennium sends non-residents without a Portuguese ID card to its offices in the UK and Switzerland, and to Banque BCP in France.
Readers have opened accounts at the London office, 63 Queen Victoria Street, EC4N 4UA. Phone ahead. There’s nothing equivalent in the US or Canada.
UK and Europe only
🐢
Banco Atlântico Europa
Free, and popular around 2020 and 2021 when the alternatives had shut down.
Since then we’ve consistently heard about openings dragging on for months and emails going unanswered. Fine if you’re a year out, but not with a visa appointment in the calendar.
Slow · only with time to spare
If you’re coming anyway
Opening an Account in Person
It’s worth an attempt. Go in knowing that rejections are common and even a yes can eat half a day.
You’ll read on Reddit that Millennium, ActivoBank, Santander and Crédito Agrícola all refuse non-residents outright. That’s broadly right about walk-ins, and it’s getting truer.
It’s wrong as a general claim, because those same banks will open your account through a lawyer or a service. The services deal with specific people inside the bank who handle non-resident applications routinely.
Walk in yourself and you get whoever’s on the desk: someone who deals with local customers all day, may never have opened a non-resident account, and has no particular reason to work out how.
You’re not paying for a form to be filled in. You’re paying for access to the one person in the building who knows what they’re doing.
What Shifts the Odds
And if you’re here on a short scouting trip, weigh a day in a bank against the time you’d spend working out where you want to live or viewing rentals. Those are the things you can’t do from another continent.
When it goes wrong
What If Your Application Is Rejected?
It happens, and it’s rarely personal. Here’s the order I’d work through.
If Your Account Isn’t Ready in Time for Your Appointment
Don’t cancel anything before you’ve asked. A lawyer can issue a formal declaration confirming that the account application has been submitted and is being processed.
Inês Silva’s experience is that consulates and VFS centers have been understanding about this, because it’s happening to everyone. She’s had clients accepted on that basis.
But the official checklists say a missing document can mean refusal, and I’ve no way of knowing how your consulate will handle it. Treat this as something that has worked for some people at some consulates, not a plan.
It’s worth a call to a lawyer before you assume the appointment is lost. Just don’t build your timeline around it.
Alternatives
Can You Use Wise, Revolut or N26 Instead?
All three are useful once you’re here. None replaces a Portuguese bank account for a visa application.
💸
Wise
Not a bank account, and a Wise statement won’t reliably satisfy a consulate. It’s a good way to move money into one.
Not for the visa Good for transfers
💳
Revolut
Operates here through Revolut Bank UAB, licensed in Lithuania, with a Portuguese branch.
It issues Portuguese IBANs only once Portugal is your registered country of residence. As a non-resident you’d get a Lithuanian IBAN, which isn’t the account you need.
Not for the visa Good after you move
🇩🇪
N26
Available in Portugal, but it issues a German IBAN. Fine for spending, wrong for a visa file that’s meant to show funds held in Portugal.
Not for the visa Fine for spending
Buyers
Do You Need a Portuguese Bank Account to Buy Property?
Buyers are the second group who ask me about this, and the sequence isn’t what most people assume.
Promissory contract (CPCV)
No Portuguese account needed. The 10% deposit can come from any bank in the world.
The deed
Settled through a Portuguese account in practice—but it can be your lawyer’s client account.
Owning it
Property taxes, utilities and condo fees are far easier with your own account.
At the deed, the money is usually a certified check or a transfer, with taxes paid the same day. If you have a lawyer here, you can send them the funds and they settle the deed and the taxes from their client account; ask how they want to handle it.
If you’re going to spend time here you’ll want your own account anyway, for the annual property taxes, utilities, condominium fees and a Portuguese debit card.
And if you’re financing, the mortgage will be with a Portuguese bank.
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Novomove won’t help here
Novomove won’t open an account for a property purchase without a visa application. Anchorless* and Visas.pt* will, and e-Residence* accepts a signed CPCV.
Start early. Completion dates move, and an account that isn’t open is a bad reason to lose a house.
Later on
Once You’re a Resident, Everything Relaxes
You can switch banks, ask your bank to move you to a cheaper account, or downgrade to a conta de serviços mínimos bancários. That’s the legally capped basic account: the fee is 1% of the IAS a year, about €5.37 in 2026.
You generally can’t hold another current account alongside it, and it’s only for EU residents. The bank can close it if you stop living in the EU.
I’d keep the premium account for the first few months regardless. It comes with an English-speaking account manager, and when you’re new here one person you can email is worth more than ten euros a month.
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Coming from North America? Adjust your expectations
Banking here is fine. It is not exciting. Instant SEPA transfers are better than anything I had before and MB Way is genuinely good, but there are no rewards programs.
The Prestige account advertises two Gold credit cards, but issuing them depends on an assessment. Portugal has no FICO equivalent, so your US or Canadian score means nothing here.
What counts is time, income landing in the account, and a branch that knows you.
Common questions
Portuguese Bank Account FAQs
Can a foreigner or non-resident open a Portuguese bank account?
Yes. You’ll need a NIF, a passport, proof of address and proof of income, and in practice you’ll go through a service or a lawyer rather than the bank’s own app. Walking into a branch without a residence card works less often than it used to. Compare the services ↑
How much does it cost to open a Portuguese bank account as a non-resident?
The services charge €300–€395, and the account they open carries a monthly fee of €6–€15.60. All in, budget €400–€525 for the first year, plus a €250 opening deposit that stays your money. Compare the four ↑
How long does it take?
Two to four weeks is typical through Anchorless, Novomove or e-Residence, and 4–6 weeks through Visas.pt. Allow two months, because compliance can come back with questions, and add two weeks in August.
Can Americans open a Portuguese bank account?
Yes, though Americans have a harder time walking in than anyone else, because US FATCA reporting makes American customers more work for the bank.
Through a service it’s routine: all four services I compare take US applicants. Expect a W-9, and remember the FBAR once the balance passes $10,000.
Do I need a NIF before I open a bank account?
In almost all cases, yes. A bank may occasionally issue a temporary NIF, but don’t count on it. Some services bundle both, though with the discount codes on my NIF page it’s usually the same price or slightly cheaper to buy them separately.
Can I open the account before I start my visa application?
Yes, but only with a provider that doesn’t require proof the application is underway. Visas.pt doesn’t ask American, Canadian or British applicants for it; Novomove and Anchorless do. Why this matters ↑
Can I open a Portuguese bank account online as a non-resident?
Not directly with the bank, in practice: the banks’ own online sign-up is built for people with a Portuguese citizen card. You can do it remotely through a service or a lawyer, which is what most people do. Compare the services ↑
Do I need a fiscal representative to open a bank account?
That’s a NIF question rather than a bank one. Most people moving on a D7 or D8 don’t need a fiscal representative at all.
You mainly need one if you have a tax tie to Portugal, like owning property, while living outside the EU/EEA. My NIF guide explains who needs one.
Do I have to visit Portugal to activate the account?
Not to open it, but some banks ask for a short branch visit once you arrive to activate everything. Ask your service whether yours does. After it opens ↑
Why isn’t my verification text arriving?
Portuguese banks send codes from short numbers, which some phones and US carriers block. Check your phone isn’t blocking short-code messages, then contact your service’s account manager. Once you’re in, switch to the app’s own approval method if there is one.
Can the bank freeze my account?
Yes, usually because your ID has expired or the bank needs updated details. Upload a new passport or residence card as soon as you have it, and answer any request to update your information quickly. How to avoid it ↑
How do I close a Portuguese bank account from abroad?
Empty it, cancel any direct debits, then send a signed written request to close it and ask for a letter confirming nothing is owed. Both holders sign on a joint account.
Can I switch to a cheaper account after I move?
Usually, yes. Once you’re resident you can ask your bank to move you off the premium account, switch banks, or use the basic minimum-services account. Once you’re a resident ↑
Can I use a Portuguese account for the Golden Visa?
Yes, and you’ll need one. Anchorless handles Golden Visa accounts, and Novomove places them with Bison Bank. Expect a much fuller source-of-funds file than for a D7. The Golden Visa guide covers the investment routes.
How long does the money need to be in the account before my appointment?
There’s no published minimum. The statement should show the balance has been there a little while rather than arriving the day before, so fund the account as soon as it opens. If your consulate has a specific expectation, your lawyer will know it.
Do I need a Portuguese address?
No. Non-residents open accounts with a foreign address.
Should a couple open one account or two?
One joint account. There’s no extra fee for the second holder, you both supply documents, and consulates accept a joint account for a couple’s savings requirement.
Are my deposits protected?
Yes—up to €100,000 per depositor, per bank, through the Fundo de Garantia de Depósitos, whether or not you’re resident. On a joint account the limit applies to each holder separately, so a couple is covered to €200,000. It’s the same standard as the rest of the EU.
What happens to the account if my visa is refused?
It’s still your account. Keep it, or close it and stop the monthly fee. If you’re closing it, do it properly rather than letting the balance run down—an abandoned account keeps charging.
Why do I need a Portuguese account beyond the visa?
Multibanco. Portugal’s payment network handles utility bills, taxes, transport and subscriptions through reference numbers, paid via your bank or a Multibanco terminal.
EU rules say a euro account from any SEPA country should be accepted for transfers and direct debits. In practice, Portuguese systems often expect a Portuguese IBAN, so living here without one is possible but thoroughly inconvenient.
Thinking about Moving to Portugal?