Portugal D7 vs D8 Visa: Which One Fits You?

The choice comes down to where your money comes from: the D7 is for people living on income they already receive without working — pensions, rent, dividends — while the remote-work visa is for people still earning a salary or fees, from an employer or clients outside Portugal. Both lead to Portuguese residence. Both are applied for from Dubai through VFS before you move.

Before anything else, a naming problem worth knowing about, because it will save you an argument at a counter.

“D8” is not an official code

Portugal’s own consular visa list runs D1, D2, D3, D4, D6, D7, DP and DR — and DR is the remote-work visa, officially “Exercício de Atividade Profissional Prestada de Forma Remota ‘Nómadas Digitais'”. There is no D8 on that list. Some consulates label their own checklists D9.

“D8” is industry shorthand that has spread through relocation blogs. Everyone in the business will know what you mean, but the form you fill in will not say it, so do not expect to find it.

The D7: living on income you already have

The D7 is officially the residence visa for “reformados, religiosos e pessoas que vivem de rendimentos próprios” — retirees, religious workers, and people who live on their own income. It is open to non-EU nationals, and the government service page gives a 60-day decision period.

The income it is built around is passive: a pension, rental income, dividends, interest, royalties. Income that arrives whether or not you get out of bed.

The remote-work visa (DR): still working, just not in Portugal

This is the route for someone employed by a company outside Portugal, or contracting for clients outside Portugal, who wants to do that work from Portuguese soil. Portugal’s national visa framework runs both a temporary-stay track and a residence track, and consulates publish separate checklists for remote work under each.

Both tracks were created on the same day by Lei n.º 18/2022, which amended Portugal’s immigration law (Lei n.º 23/2007). They sit in different articles and they behave differently:

• Temporary stay — Article 54.º, paragraph 1(i). For a stay of under a year. Paragraph 2 of the same article makes a temporary-stay visa valid for multiple entries and for the length of the stay granted, and the decision deadline is 30 days.
• Residence — Article 61.º-B. This is the one that leads to a residence permit, and it carries the residence visa’s own validity rules, set out further down.

Both articles require you to prove the employment relationship or the services contract, and nothing more — the income test does not come from the law itself. That distinction matters, and we explain it in the next section.

The money test — how it actually works

This is where most published advice goes wrong, so here is the mechanism rather than a number.

Portugal does not set a separate euro figure per visa type. The means-of-subsistence requirement is defined by Portaria n.º 1563/2007, de 11 de dezembro, which pegs it to the guaranteed minimum monthly wage (RMMG), net of social security contributions, on a household scale:

• First adult — 100%
• Second and each additional adult — 50%
• Each child under 18, and each dependent non-minor child — 30%

Crucially, the same regulation says these amounts “são atualizados anual e automaticamente, de acordo com a percentagem de aumento da RMMG” — updated annually and automatically in line with the minimum wage. No new regulation is issued when the wage rises; the threshold simply moves.

So the figure you need is a function of this year’s minimum wage. For 2026 the RMMG is EUR 920 per month, set by Decreto-Lei n.º 139/2025 and published by DGERT, up from EUR 870 in 2025 and EUR 820 in 2024.

One caution. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ own means-of-subsistence page still displays EUR 820 — the 2024 wage. It is two cycles out of date. If a consultant quotes you EUR 820 as a current threshold, they have copied a stale page.

The remote-work visa asks for more — four times the minimum wage

The remote-work route is judged against a higher bar than the household scale above, and it is worth understanding exactly where that bar comes from, because it is not where most articles say it is.

It is not in the law. Article 61.º-B, the article that creates the residence version of the visa, reads in full: “É concedido a trabalhadores subordinados e profissionais independentes visto de residência para o exercício de atividade profissional prestada, de forma remota…” — and then asks only for proof of the employment relationship or the services contract. No income figure, no multiple, no mention of the minimum wage. The same is true of the temporary-stay article.

It is in the documentation rules. The requirement appears on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ own visa portal, in the instructional document list for this visa category, and it is worded as a multiple rather than an amount:

“Comprovativo de rendimentos médios mensais auferidos no exercício de atividade profissional subordinada ou independente nos últimos três meses de valor mínimo equivalente a quatro remunerações mínimas mensais garantidas” — proof of average monthly income over the last three months of at least the equivalent of four guaranteed minimum monthly wages. It is published on the MFA portal for both the residence track and the temporary-stay track, in identical words, and it appears in the same words on the consular checklists Portuguese missions hand out — for example this official MNE checklist for the remote-work residence visa (PDF). So the two tracks ask for the same income; what differs is the paperwork around it, and the temporary-stay checklist will accept a promise of a contract where the residence checklist wants the contract itself.

No official page publishes a euro figure. The multiple is official; the amount is arithmetic. On the 2026 mainland minimum wage of EUR 920, four times is EUR 3,680 a month — but understand that this is our calculation from two official numbers, not a threshold Portugal has printed anywhere. Madeira and the Azores set their own regional minimum wage by regional decree, so the figure is different there.

Two practical consequences. The three-month look-back means a salary increase agreed last week does not help you yet. And because the requirement is pegged to the minimum wage rather than to a published amount, it rises every January without anyone announcing a new visa rule.

Documents — the common core

Every Portuguese national residence visa requires, per the MFA visa portal:

1. The official application form
2. A passport valid for three months beyond the duration of the stay
3. Two recent passport photographs
4. Valid travel insurance covering medical care, medical emergencies and repatriation
5. Proof of regular status, if you are applying outside your country of nationality — which is exactly the position of a UAE resident, so your Emirates residence visa does real work here
6. Authorisation for the immigration authority to check your criminal record, plus a criminal record certificate from your country of origin or from any country you have lived in for over a year (children under 16 exempt)
7. Proof of accommodation
8. Proof of means of subsistence

Means can alternatively be evidenced by a termo de responsabilidade — a signed statement of responsibility from a Portuguese national or a legally resident foreign national in Portugal.

Because a UAE resident has usually lived in more than one country, plan the police clearances early. Ours on document attestation covers getting UAE-issued documents recognised abroad.

The two-step process

The visa is not the residence permit. A Portuguese residence visa exists to let you enter the country and then apply for the residence permit from inside Portugal, through AIMA — the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum. Budget for two steps and two sets of paperwork, not one.

The residence visa’s validity is set by statute, in Article 58.º of Lei n.º 23/2007, paragraph 2: “O visto de residência é válido para duas entradas em território português e habilita o seu titular a nele permanecer por um período de quatro meses.” Two entries, and four months in Portugal. That wording is in the consolidated text of the law as it stands today, and the same four-month window appears on the MFA’s visa-types page, which adds that it is the period during which the holder must apply to AIMA. Paragraph 1 of the same article says plainly what the visa is for: it exists to let you enter Portugal in order to request a residence permit.

So the four months are not a grace period. They are your working window, and the permit application has to be made inside it, from inside Portugal.

One thing in your favour, from paragraph 6 of the same article: when the residence visa is granted, a pré-autorização de residência is issued with it, carrying information on obtaining the residence permit and provisional tax, social security and national health service numbers. You arrive with a provisional NIF and NISS rather than starting from zero.

We have separate guides on the steps around it: the AIMA appointment and the residence permit, getting a Portuguese NIF from Dubai, the NISS, and opening a Portuguese bank account from the UAE.

From the UAE, applications are lodged through the Portugal Visa Application Centres operated by VFS in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, not at the embassy counter.

Which one fits you

Ask one question: if you stopped working tomorrow, would the income continue?

• Yes — pension, rent, dividends, a portfolio. That is the D7.
• No, it depends on me working — a salary from a foreign employer, or client fees. That is the remote-work route.

Mixed cases are common and are worth advice rather than guesswork, because the visa you choose determines which checklist you are judged against.

What we could not verify

One thing, and we would rather name it than bury it. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ means-of-subsistence page still shows the 2024 minimum wage, so the general household figures published there are two cycles out of date; we have used the current wage instead, and cited the decree that sets it. We could not find any official page that publishes the remote-work income requirement as a euro amount — only as the four-times multiple quoted above — so the EUR 3,680 on this page is our arithmetic, not an official threshold. And the D7 has no separate published multiple of its own: it is assessed against the general household scale, which is why we have set the two out separately rather than pretending they are one rule.

Frequently asked questions

Is there really no D8 visa?

Not under that name. Portugal’s official consular visa list uses DR for the remote-work visa; some consulates label their checklists D9. “D8” is informal shorthand.

What income do I need for the D7?

Portugal sets it as a proportion of the guaranteed minimum monthly wage rather than a fixed figure: 100% for the main applicant, plus 50% for each additional adult and 30% for each child. The 2026 minimum wage is EUR 920 per month. Note the MFA website still shows the 2024 figure of EUR 820.

How much extra for my family?

Officially, 50% of the baseline for the second and each additional adult, and 30% for each child under 18 or dependent non-minor child.

Is the visa the same as residency?

No. Article 58.º of Lei n.º 23/2007 makes the residence visa valid for two entries into Portugal and a stay of four months. Its purpose, in the words of the same article, is to let you enter in order to apply for the residence permit — which you then do from inside Portugal, through AIMA, within those four months.

What income does the remote-work visa need?

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ document list asks for proof of average monthly income over the last three months of at least four times the guaranteed minimum monthly wage. It is written as a multiple, not an amount. On the 2026 mainland wage of EUR 920 that works out at EUR 3,680 a month, but that euro figure is a calculation rather than a published threshold, and it moves every January.

Is the four-times rule in Portuguese law?

No, and this catches people out. Article 61.º-B, which creates the remote-work residence visa, requires only proof of the employment relationship or services contract; it sets no income figure at all. The four-times requirement comes from the visa documentation rules the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the consulates apply, which is where you should check it before you plan around it.

How long does the D7 take?

The Portuguese government service page states a 60-day decision period for the D7 visa application.

Where do I apply from Dubai?

Through the Portugal Visa Application Centres run by VFS in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, not at the embassy directly.

Can I work for a Portuguese company on a D7?

The D7 is built around income you already receive rather than work you perform. If you intend to work, that is a different visa category, and choosing the wrong one is the most expensive mistake on this page.