Immigration 5 July 2026

Swapping a foreign driving licence: now it is all online

Since January 2026, licence-exchange requests are made only online. Who must swap, who can keep driving without swapping, and the 15-year limit.

Anyone arriving in Portugal with a foreign driving licence has a near-universal question: can I drive right away, or do I have to swap the document first? The answer depends on the issuing country — and, since this year, the process has moved counters.

What changes for swapping a foreign licence in 2026?

Since 21 January 2026, all requests to exchange a foreign driving licence are made exclusively online, on the IMT portal. In-person service for this purpose is gone, which avoids queues but means having your paperwork scanned and in order before you submit.

To swap or not to swap?

Not everyone has to swap immediately. Licences from CPLP and OECD countries — Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, the UK or Switzerland, among others — allow you to drive in Portugal without a mandatory exchange, provided the issuing country has signed one of the road conventions (Geneva 1949 or Vienna 1968) or has a bilateral agreement with Portugal. CPLP members with a bilateral agreement include Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe.

There is, though, a limit that catches many people off guard: the licence cannot be more than 15 years old since issue or last renewal, and cannot be seized, suspended, expired or revoked. Past that point, or once you establish residence, the exchange becomes necessary to keep driving on solid legal ground.

Best to handle this early, alongside the other steps of the move — see our guide on which visa to choose to move to Portugal. The rules and the online request are on the IMT site.

By Juliana Castilho

Illustrative · Photo: Sachu Zayn / Pexels

Immigration 14 July 2026

Permanent residence for EU citizens: AIMA's new portal is now open

Since 1 July 2026, EU citizens and their families can apply for a permanent residence certificate or card in Portugal through AIMA's Renewal Portal. Full guide.

If you are a citizen of another European Union country and have lived in Portugal for a few years, here is something that concerns you: since 1 July 2026, you can apply for permanent residence directly online, through AIMA's Renewal Portal. No more booking an in-person appointment just for this step. As a rule, any citizen of an EU member state (and of the European Economic Area) who has lived legally in Portugal for five consecutive years is entitled to…

Senior couple looking out at the sea, illustrative image

Immigration 12 July 2026

D7 visa Portugal: how much passive income you need in 2026 — the full guide

Portugal's D7 visa requires proven passive income of at least 920 euros a month in 2026 — the minimum wage. Pensions, rents and dividends count. Step-by-step guide.

Portugal's D7 visa requires, in 2026, proven passive income of at least 920 euros per month — the equivalent of the Portuguese national minimum wage. This is the country's door for retirees and for anyone living off rents, dividends, interest or royalties: you prove the income, apply at the consulate in your country of residence and, once in Portugal, convert it all into a residence permit. It sounds simple, and the logic really is that simple — but the…

Immigration 12 July 2026

School enrolment in Portugal 2026/27: a guide for newly arrived families

How to enrol your children in Portuguese public school: July deadlines, the Portal das Matrículas, documents, and every child's right to a school place.

If you have just arrived in Portugal with school-age children, here is the short answer: enrolment for the 2026/27 school year is done online through the Portal das Matrículas, several July deadlines are still open, and every child has the right to attend Portuguese public school — regardless of the family's documentation status. The calendar, set by government dispatch 4472-A/2026, staggers applications by school year. The main windows for pre-school and…

Business owner at the counter of a small shop

Immigration 12 July 2026

D2 visa Portugal: the 2026 guide to starting a business and moving over

Portugal's D2 visa is the route for entrepreneurs and freelancers who want to live in Portugal. Business plan, around €11,000 in personal funds and a consulate application: the numbers and steps for 2026.

The short answer: the D2 is Portugal's residence visa for people who want to live here on the back of their own business — starting a company, moving an existing one over, or working as an independent professional — and you apply at the Portuguese consulate (or VFS centre) in the country where you live, armed with a credible business plan and proof you can support yourself. There is no fixed minimum investment in the law; there is a project that has to…

Immigration 11 July 2026

Portugal is now the EU's 9th most populous country: INE revision counts 11.4 million residents

Portugal has risen to ninth most populous country in the EU, with 11,424,031 residents at the end of 2025, after the INE revised its estimates and fully counted 1.6 million foreign residents.

Portugal has 11,424,031 inhabitants and is now the ninth most populous country in the European Union, climbing one place in a year. The figure comes from the resident-population estimates for 31 December 2025, published by the INE statistics office with a deep revision of the series back to 2021 — one that finally counts in full the roughly 1.6 million foreigners living in the country. More than anyone thought. The new estimates point to 11,424,031…

Immigration 11 July 2026

NISS in Portugal: how to get your social security number — 2026 guide

The NISS is requested online, free of charge, and is mandatory for working in Portugal. Here are the documents you need, how the process works for foreigners and how long it takes.

The NISS — Portugal's social security identification number — is requested online through a form on the Segurança Social portal, and it is free. It is the number that identifies you to the Portuguese social protection system: without it there are no contributions, no declared work contract, no benefits and, eventually, no pension. For anyone arriving in Portugal to work, it is one of the first numbers of your bureaucratic life — right after the NIF.…

Immigration 10 July 2026

CPLP residence permit in Portugal: how it works in 2026 and what changed

Portugal's CPLP residence permit now requires a prior consular visa, costs 15 euros and comes as an EU-model card valid two years, with Schengen travel.

The CPLP residence permit remains the most direct route for citizens of Portuguese-speaking countries to live legally in Portugal — but the 2026 rules are not what they were two years ago. The essential change: you now need a consular visa obtained in your home country before arriving; regularising your status after entering as a tourist is no longer possible. Citizens of the states in the CPLP Mobility Agreement signed in Luanda in 2021: Angola, Brazil,…

Person filling in a written test at a desk

Immigration 10 July 2026

CIPLE exam: the Portuguese test for citizenship — dates, prices and how it works

The CIPLE certifies the A2 Portuguese level required for citizenship. 2026 dates, fees from 75 to 95 euros, CAPLE registration and how to prepare.

To obtain Portuguese citizenship you must prove you speak Portuguese — and the CIPLE is the most common way to do it. The Initial Certificate of Portuguese as a Foreign Language corresponds to level A2 of the European framework, precisely the minimum the law requires as proof of language knowledge for citizenship purposes. An official test run by CAPLE, the University of Lisbon's assessment centre, with three components: reading comprehension and writing,…

Rolled diploma tied with a ribbon on a table

Immigration 10 July 2026

Foreign degree recognition in Portugal: the three types and where to apply

Foreign degree recognition in Portugal works through three routes — automatic, level and specific — via the DGES portal or universities. Guide with steps, documents and FAQ.

If you earned your degree abroad and want it to count in Portugal, the path is called recognition of foreign degrees and diplomas — and it runs through one of three routes: automatic recognition, level recognition or specific recognition. All three carry exactly the same legal value; what changes is what they are for, how long they take and who processes them. Picking the right route first time saves months. It is the fast lane, available only for certain…

Immigration 10 July 2026

Stateless status in Portugal: what the new law approved by Parliament changes

Portugal's Parliament has approved a dedicated stateless status in a final vote, creating a legal framework for people recognised by no country.

Portugal is getting a dedicated legal framework for people no country recognises as its citizens. The new stateless status was approved in a final global vote in Parliament in early July, with a majority that is rare these days: the entire left, the PSD and Iniciativa Liberal voted in favour, the CDS abstained and only Chega voted against. It means no state considers you a national — no passport, no nationality, and often no simple way to do things as…

Tax documents and a calculator on a table (illustrative image)

Immigration 9 July 2026

IFICI Portugal: the 20% tax regime that replaced NHR — who qualifies in 2026

IFICI gives new residents in Portugal a special 20% rate on employment income from eligible activities for 10 years. Who qualifies, the deadline, and how to apply.

The direct answer: IFICI — Portugal's Tax Incentive for Scientific Research and Innovation — is the regime that replaced the Non-Habitual Resident (NHR) scheme, and it lets new residents pay a special 20% income tax rate on employment and self-employment income from eligible activities, for 10 years. It's stricter than its predecessor, but for those who qualify it remains one of Europe's most competitive regimes. Three baseline conditions. First, you must…

Immigration 8 July 2026

EES explained: the EU border system that killed the passport stamp

The EU Entry/Exit System (EES) has been fully operational since 10 April 2026: it records biometrics of non-EU nationals on short stays and replaced passport stamping. Full guide.

The passport stamp is dead. Since 10 April 2026, the European Union's Entry/Exit System — EES — has been fully operational across 29 European countries, Portugal included, replacing the old ink stamp with a digital record backed by a facial image and fingerprints. If you have family or friends outside the EU who visit you, or you are a resident holding a third-country passport, this affects you directly. The EES is an automated IT system that registers…

Immigration 8 July 2026

Portugal job seeker visa in 2026: what changed and who can still apply

Portugal's job seeker visa was suspended in October 2025 and is returning only for qualified professionals. Here is where things stand in 2026 — and the alternatives.

The short answer: Portugal's old job seeker visa, as it existed, is no longer available — it was suspended on 23 October 2025, when Law 61/2025 came into force, and Portuguese consulates stopped accepting applications under that category. In its place, a job seeker visa reserved for qualified professionals is being created — and at the time of writing it still awaits full regulation. For three years this visa was one of the most-used doors into the…

Immigration 7 July 2026

Portugal visa income requirements 2026: how much money do you actually need?

Portugal's visa means-of-subsistence rule starts at 920 euros a month (the minimum wage) in 2026: 100% for the applicant, 50% per extra adult, 30% per child. Here are the sums.

The short answer: in 2026 the reference figure is 920 euros a month — Portugal's national minimum wage, set by Decree-Law 139/2025. That's the number consulates use to calculate "means of subsistence", the mandatory requirement for any long-stay Portuguese visa. Applicants must prove they can live in Portugal on their own money — or that they'll be in a position to earn it after arriving. The base rule is a percentage of the minimum wage (920 euros) for…