Table of contents12
- Moving from Germany in 6 numbers
- What you need as an EU citizen
- Do Germans need a visa?
- Leaving Germany: Abmeldung, pension, insurance
- How to move in 7 steps
- The registration certificate (CRUE)
- Healthcare: EHIC, S1 and the SNS
- Taxes and the tax treaty
- Driving with a German license
- Permanent residence and citizenship
- Living in Portugal as a German
- Frequently asked questions
Moving from Germany in 6 numbers (2026)
- 3 monthsin Portugal on your German ID card alone
- +30 daysthen to register at your Câmara Municipal
- €18for your registration certificate (€15 online)
- 183 daysin Portugal in 12 months: beyond them, you are a tax resident
- 5 yearsto permanent residence
- 7 yearsto Portuguese citizenship, keeping your German one
What you need as an EU citizen: the 30-second check
- You have a valid German ID card or passport. It is all you need to enter Portugal and stay three months.
- You will work, study or live on your own means in Portugal: a job or self-employment, a course, or enough money of your own with health cover.
- You have a home in Portugal: its address goes on your registration certificate.
- You will register at your Câmara Municipal within 30 days after your first three months.
- You will deregister in Germany (Abmeldung) within two weeks of moving out, if you keep no home there.
Yes to all five? You can move without any visa.
Your spouse or children are not EU citizens? They have a route of their own, with a residence card from AIMA (see below). A doubt about your case? Ask us in a free call.
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What changed in 2024, 2025 and 2026
- Citizenship after seven years for EU citizens since May 2026 (it was five), with a new test of Portuguese language, culture and history still to be set by regulation.
- You keep your German citizenship: since 27 June 2024, becoming a citizen of another country on application no longer makes you lose it.
- The two-year wait for family reunification (since October 2025) is not for you: the foreigners' law that sets it excludes EU citizens and their families, whatever their nationality.
- AIMA, not SEF, has issued the permanent residence certificate and the residence cards of family members from outside the EU since 2023.
Do Germans need a visa to live in Portugal?
No. As an EU citizen, you enter Portugal with your German ID card or passport, with no visa, and can live there for up to three months with no other formality. To stay longer, you need to work (employed or self-employed), study, or have enough money of your own and health cover. Then you register at your Câmara Municipal: no visa, no residence permit, no AIMA appointment.
The same rights cover citizens of the other EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Our guide to Portugal residency for EU citizens goes into detail.
Family members who are not EU citizens
Your spouse or partner, your children under 21 or dependent on you, and your dependent parents can live in Portugal with you, whatever their nationality. They enter with their passport and need a visa only if EU rules require one for their nationality; that visa is free and fast-tracked.
After three months, within 30 days, they ask AIMA for a residence card as family of an EU citizen, with their passport, proof of the family link and your registration certificate. AIMA has up to three months to issue it, and it is valid for five years. For this card, our guide to the AIMA appointment gives the contact form option to choose.
Before you leave Germany: Abmeldung, pension and health insurance
Deregister: the Abmeldung
If you move out and keep no home in Germany, the Bundesmeldegesetz asks you to deregister at the registration office within two weeks of moving out. You can do it one week before your move at the earliest.
Your German pension in Portugal
Moving to another EU country changes nothing for your pension in the vast majority of cases, says the Deutsche Rentenversicherung: it keeps being paid. Tell the Renten Service of Deutsche Post at least two months before you move (or your pension insurer), and expect a yearly proof of life, on paper or with the digital proof of life (Digitaler Lebensnachweis). Which country taxes your pension is a matter for the tax treaty: see Taxes.
Health insurance when you leave Germany
If you work only in Portugal, Portuguese social security applies to you, even if your employer is German, and the German compulsory insurance generally no longer does. If you draw a German statutory pension, staying insured in Germany depends on conditions: ask your Krankenkasse for the S1 form before you leave (see Healthcare). Family members insured with you: their cover depends on what they do in Portugal. In every case, the DVKA's advice is the same: talk to your Krankenkasse before you move.
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Moving to Portugal from Germany in 7 steps
From your Abmeldung to your Portuguese tax return. 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.
- 1
Plan your move and leave Germany properly
No visa to apply for. Check that you will work, study or live on your own means, plan your health cover with your Krankenkasse (an S1 if you draw a German pension), tell the Renten Service two months ahead, and deregister within two weeks of moving out.
Talk to us for free - 2
Get your NIF
Your Portuguese tax number: landlords, banks and the tax office ask for it. Get it at a tax office or a Loja do Cidadão (by appointment), or from Germany through a representative. As a resident of an EU country, you need no tax representative.
Get my NIF - 3
Open a Portuguese bank account
Your own Portuguese IBAN for rent, bills and a salary in Portugal, opened remotely before you move, once you have your NIF.
Open my account - 4
Find your home
Your address goes on your registration certificate. Rents on new leases had a median of €10.17 per m² in Portugal in the second quarter of 2026, €15.24 in Greater Lisbon. Have the lease checked before you sign.
Review my leaseOr find your home with us - 5
Register at your Câmara Municipal (CRUE)
After three months in Portugal, you have 30 days to register at the Câmara Municipal where you live, with your ID card or passport and a sworn statement that you work, study or have enough means. You get the EU registration certificate (CRUE), valid five years. Then update your NIF address.
Update my NIF address (€99) - 6
Get your NISS and your SNS user number
Working in Portugal? You need a social security number (NISS), requested online. For public healthcare, get your SNS user number at your health center. Drawing a German pension? Hand in your S1 at the Segurança Social where you live.
Get my NISS - 7
Become a tax resident and file your IRS
You are a Portuguese tax resident after more than 183 days in Portugal in 12 months, or sooner with a home you intend to keep as your habitual residence. File your IRS return every year, from 1 April to 30 June. The Germany–Portugal treaty decides which country taxes each income.
Book a tax consultation (€249)File my IRS
How much do the official steps cost?
| Official step | Cost |
|---|---|
| Registration certificate (CRUE) at the Câmara, over 25 | €18 |
| The same, requested online | €15 |
| Social security number (NISS), requested online | Free |
| Driving license registration at IMT | Free |
Under 25, the certificate costs €15 at the counter and €12.50 online (details).
How long does the move take?
There is no visa to wait for: you can move as soon as your home is ready. The legal dates are yours to keep: your Abmeldung within two weeks of leaving your German home, your license registered with IMT within 60 days of settling, and your CRUE within 30 days after your first three months.
- Before you goNIF, bank account, home
- Day 0you move; Abmeldung within 2 weeks
- 60 daysyour license registered with IMT
- Month 4your CRUE at the Câmara
- Next springyour first IRS return
- 5 yearspermanent residence
- 7 yearsPortuguese citizenship
The EU registration certificate (CRUE) in detail
The Certificado de Registo de Cidadão da União Europeia, or CRUE, formalizes your right to live in Portugal. You need it if you stay more than three months, and you ask for it at the Câmara Municipal of the area where you live, within 30 days after your first three months. It carries your name, your address and the date of registration.
What to bring
- Your valid German ID card or passport;
- A sworn statement that you work in Portugal (employed or self-employed), have enough means for yourself and your family with health cover, or study at a recognized school with enough means and health cover.
That is the whole list in the law and on AIMA's page: no lease, no bank statements, no NIF required. A family member who is an EU citizen too gets a certificate of their own, with proof of the family link.
Cost, validity and fines
Over 25, €18 at the counter or €15 online; under 25, €15 at the counter or €12.50 online; €7.50 under 6; free for a baby under one year (AIMA's 2026 fee table). The certificate is valid five years, or for your planned stay if it is shorter. Not registering in time can cost a fine of €400 to €1,500, halved when it is negligence.
Once you have it, change the address of your NIF to your Portuguese home: for the tax office, a new address counts only once you have reported it, and a change of tax residence status must be reported within 60 days. Our CRUE guide walks you through the appointment.
Healthcare in Portugal for Germans: EHIC, S1 and the SNS
Your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) is for temporary stays: it covers the care that becomes medically necessary during a stay, not a new life in Portugal. Once you live there, your cover depends on your situation:
- You work in Portugal: Portuguese social security applies, and you use the national health service (SNS) as a resident.
- You draw a German statutory pension and stay insured in Germany: the S1 from your Krankenkasse, handed in at the Segurança Social where you live, gives you all the care a Portuguese insured person gets, and your German insurer pays for it. Ask for it before you leave: asking after the move can delay your registration.
- You live on your own means: plan health insurance of your own; our health insurance guide compares the options.
Any foreign national living legally in Portugal can get an SNS user number (número de utente), given at your first visit to a public health center or hospital. For the SNS to cover your care, your record needs your ID, your Portuguese NIF, your full address in Portugal and a valid residence document. You can then register with the health center of your area. Our healthcare guide goes further.
Taxes: Portuguese tax residence and the Germany–Portugal treaty
You become a Portuguese tax resident if you spend more than 183 days in Portugal, in a row or not, in any 12-month period, or fewer days if you have a home there that you intend to keep and live in as your habitual residence. You are then resident from your first day of presence, and you file your IRS return online every year from 1 April to 30 June, for the year before. Report a change of residence status to the tax office within 60 days.
The Germany–Portugal tax treaty
Germany and Portugal signed a double tax treaty on 15 July 1980, in force since 1982. It decides which country may tax each kind of income, and how double taxation is avoided. In Germany, the Finanzamt Neubrandenburg is the one tax office for everyone who lives abroad and receives only pensions from Germany. Each kind of income follows its own rule: have your case checked before you move.
Our tax lawyers answer your questions in a 40-minute call (€249), and our certified accountants file your Portuguese IRS. IFICI or NHR? We review your options too.
Driving in Portugal with a German license
Your German driving license is valid in Portugal until the expiry date printed on it, and exchanging it for a Portuguese one is optional. But once you live in Portugal, you must register it with IMT within 60 days: it is free, at the IMT counter of your area, with your ID, your registration at the Câmara Municipal and your license.
An old license with no expiry date must be exchanged for a Portuguese one within two years of settling in Portugal.
Permanent residence and Portuguese citizenship
After five years in a row of legal residence, you have the right of permanent residence, with no more conditions of work or means. Absences of up to six months a year don't break the five years, nor does one absence of up to 12 months for a serious reason (pregnancy, illness, studies or a posting abroad). On request, AIMA issues a certificate of permanent residence within 15 days. You lose the right only after more than two years away in a row.
After seven years of legal residence (since Lei Orgânica 1/2026; it was five), you can apply for Portuguese citizenship. Your years can be added up if they fall within nine years. You also prove, by a test or a certificate, that you know the Portuguese language and culture, history and national symbols, and the rights and duties of citizens; you declare your adherence to the rule of law, show you can support yourself, and must have no conviction that bars it. The new test is still to be set by regulation.
You keep your German citizenship: since 27 June 2024, acquiring another citizenship on application no longer makes you lose it, and Portugal does not ask you to give it up.
Living in Portugal as a German
You won't be alone: 26,715 German citizens lived in Portugal at the end of 2025, according to AIMA's yearly report, and 3,944 residence documents went to Germans that year.
German schools
Lisbon has the Deutsche Schule Lissabon, founded in 1848 and Germany's third-oldest school abroad. Porto has the Deutsche Schule zu Porto, a bicultural school (Begegnungsschule) from kindergarten to grade 12, leading to German qualifications and the German International Abitur.
Cost of living
Rents on new leases had a median of €10.17 per m² in Portugal in the second quarter of 2026, up 10.2% in a year: €15.24 in Greater Lisbon, €11.56 in the Algarve (INE). The minimum wage is €920 a month in 2026. Our guides to Lisbon and Porto go into detail.
Moving from another country? See our guides to moving to Portugal from the US, the UK, Canada, Brazil, France, Italy and the Netherlands.
How we checked this guide
The rules, amounts and fees in this guide were checked on 22 October 2026 against the law and the official portals:
- Lei 37/2006, the law on EU citizens’ right to live in Portugal (registration, family, permanent residence, fines), up to date with Decreto-Lei 41/2023;
- AIMA’s page on the registration certificate, its 2026 fee table and its 2025 migration report;
- Lei 37/81, the nationality law, as amended by Lei Orgânica 1/2026;
- the Portal das Finanças (NIF, tax residence, IRS), gov.pt (NISS, SNS user number) and IMT (driving licenses);
- in Germany: the Bundesmeldegesetz (§ 17), the Deutsche Rentenversicherung, the DVKA, the Federal Ministry of Finance (the tax treaty) and the Federal Foreign Office (citizenship).
Written by Brenda L., relocation expert at AnchorLess. Tax rules depend on your situation: this guide is not tax advice.
Frequently asked questions
What do I need to move to Portugal from Germany?
No visa: a valid German ID card or passport is enough to enter and to stay three months. To stay longer, you work, study or have enough money of your own with health cover, and you register at your Câmara Municipal within 30 days after your first three months, for the EU registration certificate (CRUE).
Along the way you need a NIF (tax number), health cover and, if you work, a social security number (NISS).
Can my spouse come with me if they are not an EU citizen?
Yes. Your spouse or partner, your children under 21 or dependent, and your dependent parents can live with you whatever their nationality. They need a visa only if EU rules require one for their nationality, and it is free and fast-tracked. After three months, within 30 days, they ask AIMA for a residence card as family of an EU citizen, valid for five years.
When do I have to register at the Câmara Municipal?
Within 30 days after your first three months in Portugal. You bring your ID card or passport and sign a statement that you work, study or have enough means. It costs €18 at the counter or €15 online if you are over 25, and the certificate is valid five years. Not registering can cost a fine of €400 to €1,500.
Do I have to deregister in Germany (Abmeldung)?
Yes, if you move out and keep no home in Germany: within two weeks of moving out, at the registration office. You can deregister one week before your move at the earliest.
Will I receive my German pension in Portugal?
Yes: the Deutsche Rentenversicherung says that moving to another EU country changes nothing in the vast majority of cases. Tell the Renten Service of Deutsche Post at least two months before you move, and send a proof of life every year (on paper or digitally).
Which country taxes it depends on the Germany–Portugal tax treaty; the Finanzamt Neubrandenburg handles pensioners living abroad.
What happens to my German health insurance when I move to Portugal?
It depends on your situation, so talk to your Krankenkasse before you move. If you work only in Portugal, Portuguese social security applies. If you draw a German statutory pension and stay insured in Germany, ask for the S1 form before you leave and hand it in at the Segurança Social where you live. Your EHIC covers temporary stays only.
Is my German driving license valid in Portugal?
Yes, until the expiry date printed on it; exchanging it is optional. Once you live in Portugal, register it with IMT within 60 days (it is free). A license with no expiry date must be exchanged for a Portuguese one within two years of settling.
When do I become a tax resident in Portugal?
After more than 183 days in Portugal in any 12-month period, or sooner if you have a home there that you intend to keep as your habitual residence. You are then resident from your first day of presence and file your IRS return every year from 1 April to 30 June. The Germany–Portugal tax treaty decides which country taxes each income.
Can I become Portuguese and keep my German citizenship?
Yes. EU citizens can apply for Portuguese citizenship after seven years of legal residence (since Lei Orgânica 1/2026), with a test or certificate of Portuguese language and culture. Since 27 June 2024, Germans no longer lose their citizenship when they acquire another one on application.
How much does it cost to live in Portugal?
Rents on new leases had a median of €10.17 per m² in the second quarter of 2026 (INE), €15.24 in Greater Lisbon and €11.56 in the Algarve. The minimum wage is €920 a month in 2026.
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