The visa for a degree in Portugal, in 7 steps: who qualifies, how much money you need, what it costs, and how we can help at each step.
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The Portugal student visa (D4) is the residence visa for citizens of countries outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland who have been accepted by a Portuguese university or polytechnic for a full-time degree: a bachelor’s, a master’s or a PhD.
In 2026 you need an acceptance letter, €11,040 for your first year (€920 a month) and health cover. This guide takes you through the requirements, the documents and the 7 steps, up to your residence permit and what comes after your degree.
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The D4 in 6 numbers (2026)
Yes to all five? The D4 is your visa.
Studying for a year or less? You need a temporary stay visa instead. Already a student in another EU country? Look at the D5. A doubt on one point? Ask us in a free call.
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The D4 is the residence visa for study. It lets a citizen of a country outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland move to Portugal for a full-time higher education program that leads to a degree or a recognized diploma, including a preparatory course for it.
You apply at a Portuguese consulate (or its VFS Global center) in the country where you live. The consulate issues a 4-month residence visa; in Portugal, AIMA then gives you a student residence permit, renewed for as long as you study.
The same residence visa also serves researchers, secondary school exchange students, interns and volunteers, each with conditions of their own. This guide is about higher education students.
It depends on how long you study and where you are enrolled. Residence visas are for stays of more than a year; for a shorter program, the consulate issues a temporary stay visa, valid for the whole stay.
| Your situation | Visa |
|---|---|
| A degree program in Portugal of more than a year | D4 |
| A semester, an exchange or a program of a year or less | Temporary stay |
| A student permit from another EU country, in a mobility program | D5 route |
Students who hold a residence permit from another EU country and come through an EU or multilateral mobility program, or an agreement between universities, can study in Portugal for up to 360 days by notifying AIMA at least 30 days before: our D5 guide covers that route. Everyone else applies for the D4.
International students apply directly to the university or polytechnic they want. Each one sets its own admission requirements, deadlines and documents, so start with their websites.
For a bachelor’s, you need a qualification that gives access to higher education in the country that awarded it. Our guide to universities in Portugal compares the main schools. Your acceptance letter is the heart of your visa file.
The consulate checks that you are a higher education student with the means to live and study in Portugal. You need:
No Portuguese is required for the visa itself.
You show means of subsistence for 12 months, based on the Portuguese minimum wage: €920 a month, €11,040 for the year in 2026. If your housing is secured (a university residence, for example), the amount can be halved, and reduced further if your meals are covered too.
| Household | For 12 months |
|---|---|
| Student alone | €11,040 |
| Student alone, housing secured | €5,520 |
| + spouse (+50%) | €16,560 |
| + spouse + 1 child (+30%) | €19,872 |
Proof can be bank statements (consulates usually ask for the last three months), a scholarship or grant, or a term of responsibility where your consulate accepts one. When the minimum wage rises (usually in January), these amounts rise with it.
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From your acceptance letter to your Portuguese residence permit. Each step says what to do and what it costs. In a free AnchorLess account, you tick them off one by one and get expert help where you need it.
Apply directly to the university or polytechnic: each sets its own requirements and deadlines. Your acceptance letter opens everything else.
Compare universitiesYour Portuguese tax number: banks ask for a tax number to open an account, and you will need it for your lease. You can get it from abroad.
Get my NIFA university residence, a room or a flat. Consulates usually ask where you will live: a lease, a booking, or a term of responsibility from someone who hosts you.
Review my leaseOr find your home with us€11,040 for the year (half if your housing is secured). A Portuguese account gives you an IBAN for rent and tuition, and a simple proof of your means at AIMA.
Open my accountAcceptance letter, proof of means, criminal record with its apostille, travel insurance, personal statement, photos: the full checklist is below.
Review my visa fileFill in the national visa form, book your appointment at the consulate or VFS Global center for where you live, and pay the €110 fee. The consulate has 60 days to decide.
Find your consulateWithin the visa’s 4 months, go to your AIMA appointment with your enrollment and tuition receipts. Your first student permit lasts up to 3 years.
Have your AIMA file checked (€259)| Fee | When | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Consular visa fee | When you apply | €110 |
| VFS Global service fee | If you apply there | Varies |
| First residence permit (AIMA) | In Portugal | €185.60 |
Holders of a Portuguese State scholarship and children under 6 don’t pay the visa fee. The AIMA fee is €247.30 where the reduced rate does not apply, and lower for nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries: see the AIMA Portugal fee table in our guide. Add your tuition, the apostilles of your documents, any translation your consulate asks for, and your insurance.
By law, the consulate has 60 days to decide on a residence visa. For a student admitted to a Portuguese higher education institution, it doesn’t need the prior opinions of AIMA and the border unit (UCFE) that other visas wait for. In Portugal, AIMA then has 90 days to decide on your permit (60 if your university is approved). Apply early: times vary from one consulate to another.
A Portuguese visa refusal usually comes down to one of these:
A doubt about your application? AnchorLess offers a free consultation to clear it up.
Your application rests on a complete set of documents. Your consulate’s own checklist is the one that counts: read it before your appointment. In general, you bring:
From your country of nationality and from any country where you lived more than a year, apostilled or legalized. It must be recent: the US and UK consulates want it issued within the last 90 days, so request it last.
Consulates usually ask where you will live. The UK consulate, for example, takes a lease of at least 12 months registered with the tax office, a deed, or a term of responsibility from someone who hosts you, and may accept a booking of at least one month for students. In Portugal, AIMA asks for your address again: a sworn declaration, with your landlord’s or residence’s declaration if you rent.
For the visa, consulates ask for travel insurance that covers medical expenses, urgent care and repatriation; the law asks for health cover for your planned stay. Some agreements replace it (the Brazilian PB4 form, the British S1). At AIMA, you then show health insurance or that you are covered by the national health service (SNS). Insurte offers visa travel insurance, and through our partnership, we have a special price with them.
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Your D4 visa is valid for 4 months and two entries: the time to move and get your residence permit. Before you leave:
Once in Portugal, enroll at your university, move into your home, and change the address of your NIF to your Portuguese one (how to update it).
Many D4 visas are issued with the AIMA appointment already scheduled: the date and office are in the paperwork the consulate gives you, so read it before you request anything. If no date was assigned, request one through AIMA’s official contact form; appointments are always free. Our guide on how to get an AIMA appointment explains which option to pick. Go within the visa’s 4 months.
At an approved university, you skip the proof of means and tuition. AIMA takes your biometric data (photo, signature, fingerprints) and has 90 days to decide (60 at an approved university); then your residence card arrives at your address. The fee for a first permit is €185.60 in AIMA’s 2026 table (€247.30 where the reduced rate does not apply), paid on your own payment slip (DUC).
Yes. With your student residence permit, you can work employed or self-employed, alongside your studies. Since 2022 you no longer have to notify AIMA first, and the law sets no weekly limit on hours.
Work must stay complementary to your studies. AIMA can refuse to renew your permit if you work outside that rule, or if you don’t make progress in your studies. Working also means registering with Social Security (your NISS number).
Renew at AIMA before your card expires, with updated documents. While your card is valid, don’t stay away from Portugal for more than 6 months in a row or 8 months in all without a good reason, or AIMA can cancel it.
| Card | Valid for |
|---|---|
| Residence visa (D4) | 4 months |
| First student permit | Up to 3 years |
| Renewed student permit | Up to 3 years |
| Permanent residence (after 5 years) | No limit |
Yes, your spouse and minor children (adopted ones too). They can apply for their residence visas at the same time as you, to come with you. For each of them, you show more means: 50% more for your spouse, 30% more for a child.
A student’s family is narrower than other residents’: for family reunification, the law counts only a student’s spouse and minor or incapacitated children (adopted ones too), not parents or adult children.
Tip: apply together. Since October 2025, bringing family later through family reunification takes two years of residence first (15 months for a spouse you lived with for 18 months before; no wait for your minor children, or for a spouse who is their parent), and AIMA then has nine months to decide.
Your degree doesn’t end your right to stay. You can move to another permit without a new visa:
Yes. A student permit is a temporary residence permit, so its years count toward the five years that permanent residence asks for, with basic Portuguese (an A2 certificate, for example), means, accommodation, and no prison sentence over one year in the last five years.
For Portuguese citizenship, any legal residence counts, study included: ten years (seven for nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries and EU citizens), counted from your first residence permit. The years can be added up with breaks, as long as they fall within 12 years (9 for those nationals). You must also prove that you know Portuguese, the culture and how the State works, by a test or a certificate; the new test is still to be set by regulation.
One exception: the EU long-term resident status, an alternative to Portuguese permanent residence, counts study years at half.
If a Portuguese university has accepted you for a degree and you can show €11,040 for your first year, the D4 is your way in: study, work alongside, and stay after your degree. Prepare your documents early, apply as soon as your acceptance letter arrives, and see our guide to visas in Portugal if you are weighing other routes.
The rules, amounts and fees in this guide were checked on 22 October 2026 against the law and the official portals:
Written by Brenda L., relocation expert at AnchorLess.
Be a citizen of a country outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland, accepted by a Portuguese university or polytechnic for a full-time degree program, with means of €11,040 for your first year (€920 a month in 2026, half if your housing is secured), health cover, a valid passport, and no conviction for a crime punishable in Portugal by more than a year in prison.
Means for 12 months at the Portuguese minimum wage: €11,040 in 2026 for a student alone. The amount can be halved if your housing is secured. Students with a scholarship, nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries and students of approved universities don’t have to prove means.
By law, the consulate has 60 days to decide. The visa is then valid 4 months, to travel to Portugal and go to AIMA, which has 90 days to decide on your residence permit (60 if your university is approved).
The consular fee is €110 (free for holders of a Portuguese State scholarship), plus any VFS Global service fee. In Portugal, the first residence permit costs €185.60 at AIMA’s reduced rate. Tuition comes on top.
Yes. Your student residence permit lets you work, employed or self-employed, alongside your studies. The law sets no weekly hour limit, but work must stay complementary to your studies, and AIMA can refuse a renewal if you don’t make progress.
Yes: your spouse and minor children can apply at the same time as you. You show 50% more means for your spouse and 30% more for each child. Bringing them later takes two years of residence first, except for minor children.
The D4 is for students who come to Portugal for a degree program. The D5 route is for students who already hold a residence permit in another EU country and come for part of their studies through a mobility program: up to 360 days, by notifying AIMA.
Yes. After a master’s or a PhD, you can get up to one year to look for work or start a company. After a bachelor’s, you can switch to a work permit once you have a job or an activity, without a new visa.
No, not for the visa.
Portuguese counts later: basic Portuguese (an A2 certificate, for example) for permanent residence after five years, and Portuguese and knowledge of the country for citizenship.
Yes. Any legal residence counts, study included: ten years (seven for nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries and EU citizens), counted from your first residence permit.
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