Working in Portugal from abroad: where to find an employer and which visa to get
This guide is for people who live outside the EU — in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Georgia, Serbia, Israel or another country — and want to come to Portugal to work as an employee. First, what no longer works: you can no longer enter as a tourist and get hired once you're here, and consulates are not issuing job-seeker visas at the moment. Then the visas that let you come in as a worker: the ordinary work visa, the visa for highly qualified workers, the EU Blue Card, the seasonal visa and the fast-track visa through employers. After that: where to look for work from abroad, what the employer must give you and how to check them, where to submit your documents, what to do after you arrive, and where people lose money and time.
What no longer works
A few years ago many people came as tourists, found work and filed an expression of interest in getting a residence permit — manifestação de interesse — while already in Portugal. This route has been closed since 4 June 2024. What happened to applications filed before then is explained in the glossary: manifestação de interesse.
If you entered on a tourist visa or without a visa, you cannot get hired as an employee once you're here. A residence permit for work is given to people who entered on a residence visa obtained from a consulate.
The law does have exceptions, but not for people who came to look for work: those who get a residence permit without a visa include, for example, children born in Portugal and graduates of Portuguese universities who stay on to work (Lei n.º 23/2007, Article 122).
In October 2025 the law was tightened again (Lei n.º 61/2025). The job-seeker visa was kept only for qualified specialists, and for now it isn't issued to anyone (more on this in step 5). A husband, wife or adult relatives are now usually brought over through family reunification after two years on a residence permit. Today there is only one route: find an employer while you're still at home and get a visa from a consulate.
Work visa for employees
The ordinary work visa is a residence visa for paid employment; people commonly call it the D1. You get it if you have an employment contract with an employer in Portugal or a promise of one — promessa de contrato de trabalho. There is also a third option: the employer states in writing that they want to hire you specifically, and your qualifications are recognised and suit the job (Lei n.º 23/2007, Article 59).
The salary in the contract must be no lower than the minimum wage (€920 a month in 2026) and no lower than the rate in the sector's collective agreement. It also serves as proof that you have enough to live on. If the profession requires authorisation to practise in Portugal — doctor, nurse, engineer, lawyer — you attach a document showing that you are entitled to practise it.
You apply yourself, at a consulate or a visa centre. The fee is €110 and the decision takes up to 60 days. The visa is valid for four months and allows two entries. Along with it you get a pre-authorisation of residence (pré-autorização de residência): it contains a temporary tax number (NIF), social security number (NISS) and health service number, as well as information on how to get a residence permit (Article 58).
Your family can apply for visas at the same time as you. The consulate will then check whether your salary and savings are enough for everyone.
“I'd say this is an option that almost never gets you a D1. There used to be a legal way in via 88.2 from inside the country through manifestação, now it's gone. Counting on a Portuguese consulate in any country approving some odd type of visa on minimum wage with an employment contract or a promise of a contract in the future is highly doubtful”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkru_Portugal_pt07.09.2026
Visa for highly qualified workers
The visa for highly qualified work — known in conversation as the D3 — is for programmers, engineers, doctors, university lecturers and managers. You need a contract or a promise of a contract for at least six months (Lei n.º 23/2007, Article 61-A). The salary must be at least three times the IAS social index, i.e. €1,611.39 a month in 2026, or one and a half times the national average annual salary. The authorities do not publish how many euros this average comes to. Qualifications are proved with a diploma; if the profession requires authorisation to practise, the diploma has to be recognised in Portugal.
A decision on this visa takes up to 30 days (Article 61). If the employer is certified under the Tech Visa programme with the IAPMEI agency, the law accepts its written undertaking (termo de responsabilidade) instead of a contract.
The main difference from the ordinary work visa is the family. A husband, wife, children and dependent parents can be brought over through family reunification as soon as you get your residence permit, without the two-year wait (Article 98). Or you can apply for visas together with them.
If the job lasts less than a year, you get a temporary stay visa (Article 57). With it you can stay on and get a residence permit without leaving the country, if the work continues.
“Nothing's changed for applying from abroad: the D3 is a visa for employees, you won't get it as a sole trader, only on an employment contract or a promise of one. Sole traders apply for the D2, but then you need an actual working business with Portuguese clients, a business plan won't cut it.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkleft4portugal20.11.2025
“Usually it's exactly 60. D3 + 2xDF run in parallel – they should have been submitted together on the D3 date and got their visas at the same time.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkleft4portugal22.10.2025
EU Blue Card
The EU Blue Card (cartão azul UE) is a special residence permit for highly qualified workers, issued under common European Union rules. You need a contract or a promise of a contract for at least six months with a salary of at least one and a half times the national average annual salary. For professions where the government has recognised a shortage of workers, the threshold is lower — 1.2 times the average (Lei n.º 23/2007, Article 121-B). You also need a diploma or recognised qualifications, and health insurance.
From abroad, you first get the same highly qualified worker visa from a consulate; if you already live legally in Portugal, you apply to AIMA (Article 121-D). The first card is issued for two years, then renewed for three.
For the first 12 months you can only work in an equally qualified job. A change of employer is reported to AIMA in writing, preferably in advance, and AIMA may object within 30 days. If you lose your job, you also notify AIMA and look for a new one; you don't lose the card (Article 121-G). Your family can come straight away, without the two-year wait.
With a Blue Card it is easier to move to work in another EU country later on (Articles 121-L and 121-M). For living in Portugal, the highly qualified worker visa gives you almost the same.
“In theory yes, in practice in the last five years I've only heard of a couple of people with a Blue Card.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkleft4portugal29.04.2026
Job-seeker visas are not being issued at the moment
The job-seeker visa (visto para procura de trabalho) let you come without an employer, look for work on the spot and, once you had a contract, get a residence permit. Since 23 October 2025 consulates and visa centres have not accepted applications for it, and appointments to apply have been cancelled.
The law replaced it with a visa to look for qualified work (Lei n.º 23/2007, Article 57-A). It will only be for people with specialist technical qualifications — exactly which professions is to be set by a separate order from four ministries. As of 11 October 2026 there is no such order, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says plainly that this visa is not yet available at consulates.
Once it opens, it will be valid for 120 days, extendable by another 60, and will allow a single entry. If you don't find work in that time, you have to leave, and you can only apply for this visa again after a year.
Anyone currently offering a ‘job-seeker visa’ for money is offering something that doesn't exist.
“As I understand it, it's not exactly a work visa, it's a job-seeker visa. From now on it'll only be for certain qualified professions.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkchatlisboa28.10.2025
Seasonal work
Seasonal visas are used to hire people for the harvest and for hotels and restaurants during the season. For up to 90 days it is a short-stay visa marked for seasonal work (Lei n.º 23/2007, Article 51-A). For longer, it is a temporary stay visa, for no more than nine months in any 12 (Article 56).
The sectors were set by the government: agriculture and forestry, fishing, hotels and restaurants, food production, retail, construction and transport. You need a contract or a promise of a contract with an employer or a temporary work agency in Portugal, stating the place and type of work, the hours, the length of the job, the pay and paid holiday. You also need a document about accommodation (a rental agreement or a letter from the employer), health insurance and insurance against accidents at work, which the employer provides.
If the employer provides accommodation, it can cost no more than 20% of your pay, and it cannot be deducted from your pay automatically (Article 56-D). On a seasonal visa you can also work for several employers one after another.
The decision takes up to 30 days, or up to 15 if you've worked on a seasonal visa in the last five years and left on time. A seasonal visa does not lead to a residence permit, and your family cannot come with you on it.
Fast-track visa through an employer
Since April 2025 large employers have been hiring from abroad through a ‘green lane’ — the Protocolo de Cooperação para a Migração Laboral Regulada. It doesn't create a new visa: you get the same work visa, but outside the general queue. You get a consulate appointment as a priority, and the visa no later than 20 days after you apply.
You can't apply this way yourself: the employer submits the application for you. These are firms that belong to one of five confederations — industry (CIP), farmers (CAP), trade and services (CCP), tourism (CTP) and construction (CPCI) — or that have signed an agreement with AIMA themselves: for that they need at least 150 employees and €20 million in turnover. In return, the employer undertakes to provide an employment contract, training, Portuguese lessons and housing.
By 1 July 2026, 5,833 visas had been issued this way. About 60% of applications are for agriculture, and most of the rest for construction. If an employer hires a lot of foreigners, ask whether they work through the ‘green lane’.
Where to look for work from abroad
The IEFP job centres have a separate vacancies page for people who live outside the EU and haven't moved yet: ‘Vagas para não residentes — Países Terceiros’. It lists employers who have agreed to accept CVs from abroad. You apply right there: the employer gets your CV by email and contacts you.
The European job portal EURES shows vacancies in all EU countries, and you can select Portugal in the filter. But its services are there to help EU citizens move; for everyone else it is just a big jobs board. People also look at net-empregos, LinkedIn and the careers sections of companies' own websites.
Through the ‘green lane’, most hiring from abroad is for agriculture and construction (step 7). In IT, engineering and medicine people are hired on the highly qualified worker visa — and for these jobs you need a recognised diploma. You can get it recognised before you move: how this works and who employers are looking for is in the guide Working in Portugal: what it pays, which professions are in demand and where to look.
Many employers don't want to bother with a visa and wait for months. Your chances are better if you already speak Portuguese or English and your CV says up front which visa you need and how long it takes.
“Practically no way. They weren't keen on work visas before, and now even less so. Try writing to the official Mercedes service centre in Portugal, send them your CV.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkRussosEmPortugal02.07.2026
What the employer must give you and how to check them
For the visa, the employer gives you a signed contract or promise of a contract. Check that it includes: the firm's name, its tax number (NIPC) and address; the job title and place of work; the start date and length of the contract; the gross base salary; working hours; signatures. The base salary must be no lower than the minimum wage and the rate in the sector's collective agreement; rates by job title are published in the BTE.
What else to check in the contract itself is covered in the guide Right to work and employment contracts: which documents you need and what to check before signing.
Make sure the firm is real. You can look it up by name or NIPC on the Ministry of Justice publications website: it shows when the firm was registered, who the director is and whether it is being wound up. Find the company's website and reviews from its employees, and call the HR department on the number from the official website, not the one the middleman gave you.
The state checks the employer too. For the seasonal visa and the Blue Card, the law explicitly names as grounds for refusal a firm that isn't actually trading, is going bankrupt or has been penalised for employing illegal workers (Lei n.º 23/2007, Articles 56-A and 121-B).
Where to submit your documents
You apply for a residence visa at the Portuguese consulate in your country of citizenship or in the country where you legally live. In the second case you need proof of legal residence that is valid for longer than the visa you are applying for. The list of consulates by country is on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs visa website. In many countries a visa centre takes the documents, and the consulate makes the decision.
How to book an appointment, where to take your documents from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and other countries, and how to track your application is in the guide How to apply for a Portuguese visa through the consulate or a visa centre. Certificates, apostilles and translations: How to gather certificates, apostilles and translations for a Portuguese visa. If you have been refused: What to do if your Portuguese visa is refused.
Ukrainians who have temporary protection in Portugal don't need a work visa: the certificate gives them the right to work. More on this: Temporary protection in Portugal: applying, extensions and the 2026 rules.
“We've got a D3. The list of documents for all types of D visa in Moscow has no requirement for a Portuguese account. Their main questions are about the Portuguese rental, they check that for everyone and strictly, without the Modelo 2 they won't accept the documents.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkbanksdeportugal13.07.2026
After you arrive
With a residence visa you have four months. The date and place of your AIMA appointment are usually already given in the visa documents. Sometimes the appointment is set for after the visa expires, or it gets moved. What to do then, how to book and what to bring is in the guide How to book an AIMA appointment and renew a residence permit in Portugal.
A residence permit for work is given to people who have an employment contract and are registered with social security, Segurança Social (Lei n.º 23/2007, Article 88). You already have temporary NIF and NISS numbers — they are in the pre-authorisation of residence. What else to give your employer in the first few days is in the guide Right to work and employment contracts: which documents you need and what to check before signing.
The residence permit is not tied to your employer: since 11 September 2026 you change employer with a single notification to AIMA, without a new card.
If your family did not apply for visas together with you, you can bring over a husband or wife through family reunification after two years on a residence permit, or after 15 months if you lived together for at least 18 months before the move. Minor children and the children's other parent can come straight away (Article 98).
“I didn't come through the manifesto, I came on a D3. The appointment came straight away with the visa, they just moved it back 4 months for the hell of it.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkru_Portugal_pt16.03.2026
“Also if you're only just starting out and don't know, converting a D3 into a residence permit is a lottery, some are lucky enough to get it within 2-3 months, some wait a year and a half, after the visa runs out you can't legally travel around Europe, you can fly to other countries and come back on the paper from aima confirming you've applied for a residence permit”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkru_Portugal_pt04.06.2026
“If you've already got an AIMA appointment, they'll give you a NISS even with a contract of intent (contrato-promessa).”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkleft4portugal15.09.2025
Where people lose money and time
The ‘turnkey work visa’. Recruitment agencies may not charge job seekers — either directly or for ‘processing’ (Decreto-Lei n.º 260/2009, Article 23). If a middleman asks for money for a vacancy, an invitation or a visa, that is your cue to walk away. If you have already paid scammers, see How to spot fraud in Portugal and try to get your money back.
A fake contract, or an invitation from a firm that isn't expecting you, means a visa refusal. If the forgery comes to light later, your residence permit will be cancelled (Lei n.º 23/2007, Article 85).
‘Come in on a Schengen visa, we'll sort the paperwork later’. They won't: in Portugal you can't switch from a tourist visa to a residence permit for work (step 1). Working without a visa and a contract is illegal work: no contributions, no protection and a risk of deportation.
No contract after you arrive. What to do: Your employer won't give you an employment contract: what to do.
You've lost your job. That alone doesn't cancel your residence permit. But at renewal AIMA checks whether you have enough to live on and somewhere to live, and whether your taxes and contributions are paid (Article 78). So by the renewal date you need a new job, unemployment benefit or savings. Which benefit you are entitled to: Segurança Social benefits: unemployment, sickness, children — who gets them, how much and when they are paid.
What to bring
- A contract or a promise of a contract (promessa de contrato de trabalho) with an employer in Portugal
- A passport valid for at least three months after the end of your planned stay, and two identical photos
- A criminal record certificate from your country of citizenship or the country where you have lived for more than a year, with an apostille
- Travel medical insurance
- If you are not applying in your country of citizenship — proof that you are legally resident there
- For a profession that requires authorisation to practise in Portugal — a recognised diploma or a licence to practise
- For seasonal work — a rental agreement or a letter from the employer about accommodation, and insurance against accidents at work
Where people most often trip up
- If you entered as a tourist or without a visa, you cannot get hired once you're here — only with a visa from a consulate
- Consulates have not accepted job-seeker visa applications since 23 October 2025, and there is no new visa yet
- A worker on an ordinary work visa can usually bring over a husband or wife through family reunification after two years on a residence permit — or apply for visas together with the family straight away
- A seasonal visa does not lead to a residence permit, and your family cannot come with you on it
- A recruitment agency may not charge you anything — not for a vacancy, not for a ‘turnkey visa’
- A fake contract means a visa refusal, and if the forgery comes to light later, your residence permit will be cancelled