Opening a Portuguese Bank Account from the UAE
A Portuguese bank account is not a formal condition of a D7 or remote-work visa, but it is how most applicants end up proving the condition that matters — that they have the means to live there. Portuguese law sets out exactly what a bank must collect from you, and it expressly contemplates an applicant who does not yet have a Portuguese tax number. What it does not do is guarantee you an account.
We should be straight about the shape of this before going further, because it explains why this guide reads differently from most.
What is law here, and what is not
Portugal regulates what a bank must ask you for in considerable detail. It does not regulate what any individual bank chooses to ask for on top, and Banco de Portugal says so itself: “As instituições de crédito podem solicitar outros elementos que considerem necessários atendendo ao tipo de conta de depósito” — credit institutions may request other elements they consider necessary given the type of deposit account.
So everything below that carries a link is law or regulator guidance. Everything about what a particular bank will do is our observation, marked as such, and we name no bank — not as a recommendation, not as an example, not as a warning. That is deliberate.
Why a Portuguese account comes into a residence visa at all
Portugal’s national residence visas require proof of means of subsistence, assessed against a scale pegged to the guaranteed minimum monthly wage. Our guide on the D7 and the remote-work visa sets out how that calculation works and where the figures come from.
Nothing in that requirement says the money must sit in a Portuguese bank. In practice a Portuguese account does two things a foreign one does not: it demonstrates commitment to the move in a way that reads well, and it gives you somewhere for rent, utilities and social security to come out of once you arrive. It is also, for most people, considerably easier to open before the move than to arrange remotely afterwards in the middle of everything else. The visa itself is the larger piece of work, and our D7 residence visa and Portugal residency pages cover what that involves.
What the bank must collect from you — the statutory list
One correction first, because it circulates widely: there is no current Banco de Portugal notice on opening deposit accounts. The old one, Aviso n.º 11/2005, was revoked in 2014; its replacement, Aviso n.º 5/2013, was itself revoked in 2018. Anyone citing either is citing revoked law.
The list is statutory. It is in Article 24.º of Lei n.º 83/2017, Portugal’s anti-money-laundering law, and it is reproduced on Banco de Portugal’s bank customer portal (an English version exists). For an individual, the bank must collect and record:
- A photograph
- Full name
- Signature
- Date of birth
- The nationality shown on the identity document
- The type, number, expiry date and issuing authority of the identity document
- Tax identification number — or, where there is none, the equivalent number issued by a competent foreign authority
- Profession and employer, where these exist
- Full address of permanent residence and, where different, of tax domicile
- Place of birth
- Any other nationalities not shown on the identity document
Point 7 is the one worth sitting with. The law expressly accommodates someone with no Portuguese tax number, accepting the equivalent number from a foreign authority. That is the accurate statement of the position, and it is a more useful one than the common claim that a NIF is legally mandatory to open an account.
We would still get one first. Not because the law demands it, but because the account is rarely the only thing you need it for, and because the practical friction of not having one tends to show up elsewhere. Our guide on getting a Portuguese NIF from Dubai covers the routes, including the provisional number that now comes with a residence visa.
On the identity document itself, Banco de Portugal specifies a valid citizen card, or an identity card, passport, Portuguese residence permit or equivalent public document showing the holder’s photograph and signature. A passport is squarely in the list.
The regulator’s current instrument in this area, implementing the law’s preventive duties, is Aviso n.º 1/2022.
Opening an account without being there
This is permitted, and by a specific mechanism rather than by silence.
Banco de Portugal states the general position: “A abertura de uma conta de depósito à ordem pode ser efetuada presencialmente ou através de meios de comunicação à distância, isto é, sem que os clientes tenham de as contactar presencialmente” — an account may be opened in person or through means of distance communication, without the customer having to attend in person.
The legal basis is Article 38.º of Lei n.º 83/2017, on distance contracting, which routes the verification of an individual’s documents back to Article 25.º. Two practical routes come out of that.
Video identification is the realistic one from the UAE. Banco de Portugal sets out the conditions: it applies only to individuals holding a valid identity document, and the session must be recorded by the credit institution, conducted in real time and without pauses, with the date and time indicated, with good sound and image quality, and with the customer’s consent obtained.
The electronic route in Article 25.º runs through Portuguese state electronic identification and qualified electronic signature via autenticacao.gov.pt. That presupposes Portuguese digital credentials, which somebody still in Dubai and not yet resident will not have. It is a route for later, not for now.
Can a bank refuse?
For an ordinary current account, yes, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. We found no Portuguese provision granting a general right to be given an ordinary deposit account.
What does exist is one specific protection, worth knowing because it is the ground on which people are most often turned away: Banco de Portugal states that “Não ter uma profissão ou encontrar-se desempregado não deve constituir motivo de recusa de abertura de uma conta” — not having a profession, or being unemployed, should not be a reason to refuse to open an account. Someone who is retired or unemployed provides information on their last profession instead. For a D7 applicant living on a pension or investments, that sentence is directly on point.
The minimum banking services account
This is a genuinely different product with a genuinely different legal footing, and it is where the only hard limit on refusal lives.
The conta de serviços mínimos bancários is governed by Decreto-Lei n.º 27-C/2000. Article 4.º(1) makes access depend on the applicant not already holding another current account at a credit institution established in Portugal. Article 4.º is headed “opening… and legitimate refusal”, and paragraph 5 gives a closed list: beyond situations already provided for in law and regulation, an institution may refuse only where the applicant already holds one or more current accounts in Portugal, or refuses to make the required declaration.
On residence, read this carefully, because it is widely misstated. The access article imposes no residence condition. Residence appears only as a ground for terminating the contract: Article 5.º(1)(d) covers the holder having ceased to be a legal resident in the European Union, subject to exceptions. So it is wrong to say you must be resident to open one; what is true is that ceasing to be legally resident in the EU is a ground on which the institution may end it.
Banco de Portugal’s page on the basic bank account sets out what the account includes and names the instruments that govern it.
How we usually handle this — our practice, not a rule
Marked as practice because no official source prescribes it, and deliberately free of figures, because any figure here would be invented.
We sort the tax number before the account rather than alongside it, since the account application is one of several things that go more smoothly with it in hand. We assemble the statutory list in Article 24.º as a checklist in advance — and the two items applicants most often cannot produce on request are the address evidence and the tax domicile where it differs from the residential address, so we resolve those first. We expect any institution to ask for more than the statutory minimum, because the regulator expressly allows it, and we treat a request for extra documents as ordinary rather than as a problem. Where an account is being opened remotely we prepare for a recorded video session rather than an exchange of scans, since that is the route the rules actually provide for individuals abroad. And we do not present any institution to a client as the one that will say yes, because what any given institution does with a non-resident application is its own commercial decision and it changes.
Once you have arrived, the sequence continues with the residence permit itself — we have a separate guide on the AIMA appointment.
What we could not verify
Three things, named plainly. There is no official Portuguese rule we could find imposing a distinct or heavier identification regime on non-residents specifically — the statutory list is the statutory list, and the accommodation for a foreign tax number is the only non-resident provision in it, so anyone describing a special non-resident document regime is describing bank practice rather than law. There is no published official statement that a non-resident is entitled to an ordinary current account. And we could not find, and so will not repeat, any official figure for a minimum opening deposit, a minimum balance or a processing time; those are set by each institution and belong in your conversation with it.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a NIF to open a Portuguese bank account?
Not as a matter of law. Article 24.º of Lei n.º 83/2017 requires a tax identification number or, where there is none, the equivalent number issued by a competent foreign authority. In practice we would get a Portuguese tax number first, because it is needed for several other steps in a move and its absence creates friction elsewhere rather than at the bank counter.
Can I open a Portuguese bank account from the UAE without travelling?
Banco de Portugal states that an account may be opened in person or through means of distance communication, and Lei n.º 83/2017 provides for distance contracting. For an individual abroad the workable route is video identification, which the regulator requires to be recorded, in real time, without pauses, with the date and time shown and with your consent. The alternative electronic route relies on Portuguese state digital credentials, which someone not yet resident will not hold.
What documents does a Portuguese bank need?
The statutory list is a photograph, full name, signature, date of birth, the nationality on your identity document, the type, number, expiry and issuer of that document, a tax number or the foreign equivalent, profession and employer where these exist, your permanent address and tax domicile where different, place of birth, and any other nationalities. A valid passport is an accepted identity document. Individual institutions may require more, and the regulator expressly permits that.
Can a bank refuse to open an account for me?
For an ordinary current account, we found no Portuguese provision granting a general right to one. There is a specific protection worth knowing: Banco de Portugal states that not having a profession, or being unemployed, should not be a reason for refusal. For the minimum banking services account, Decreto-Lei n.º 27-C/2000 gives a closed list of legitimate grounds for refusal, which is a considerably stronger position.
Do I have to be resident in Portugal to open a minimum banking services account?
The article governing access sets no residence condition; it requires that you do not already hold another current account at a credit institution established in Portugal. Residence appears elsewhere in the same decree, as a ground on which the institution may terminate the contract if the holder ceases to be a legal resident in the European Union.
Which Portuguese bank should I use?
We do not recommend one, and we would be suspicious of anyone who does without knowing your circumstances. What any institution will accept from a non-resident applicant is a commercial decision of its own that changes over time. What we can tell you is what every institution must collect from you by law, which is the list above, and that is the useful preparation.
Does money in a Portuguese account help my visa application?
The visa requirement is proof of means of subsistence assessed against a scale set by reference to the guaranteed minimum monthly wage, and nothing in it requires the money to be held in Portugal. A Portuguese account is a practical convenience for the move and a reasonable way to present the position, not a legal condition of the visa.