Visa, pension, health care and costs
Check how you can live there, see how your pension will be taxed, then follow seven steps to your new home in Portugal.
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Retiring in Portugal starts with one question: what lets you live there. Citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland need no visa: they register with their town hall. From anywhere else, the D7 visa is the retirement visa, for a regular income of at least €920 a month in 2026 and a year of it in savings.
This guide takes you through the 30-second check, the 7 steps, how your pension is taxed, health care, the cost of living, where to live and the pros and cons.
Retiring in Portugal in 6 numbers (2026)
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Your spouse can apply with you, at the same time: for the D7, the income needed rises by half, to €1,380 a month in 2026. Brazilian? Our Brazil guide covers the CPLP route and your INSS pension. Two routes fit, or none? Ask us in a free call.
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A safe country. Portugal ranked 7th of 163 countries in the Global Peace Index 2026, ahead of Spain, France, Italy, Germany and the UK.
Prices below most of Western Europe. In 2025, the price level of household consumption was 86.6 in Portugal, for an EU average of 100: 91.6 in Spain, 97.1 in Italy, 108.3 in Germany, 110.3 in France and 115.6 in the Netherlands (Eurostat). Rent is the exception, in Lisbon above all (below).
A mild climate on the coast, with hot, dry summers, hotter inland and in the south, and winters without snow by the sea.
Health care for residents in the national health service, and for European pensioners, care paid by their own country with the S1 (below).
You won’t be the only newcomer. At the end of 2025, Portugal counted 47,726 British residents, 42,418 Italians, 29,794 French, 26,715 Germans, 22,727 Spaniards, 21,293 Americans and 16,154 Dutch (AIMA). A residence permit also lets you visit the other Schengen countries for up to 90 days in any 180.
Weigh the pros and cons before you decide: cold houses in winter, rents in Lisbon and the tax on your pension count as much as the sun.
What you need depends on your passport and on what you will live on.
| You are | What you need | Where |
|---|---|---|
| A citizen of the EU, the EEA or Switzerland | A registration certificate (CRUE), valid 5 years | Câmara Municipal |
| Living on a pension or an income of your own, from outside the EU | The D7 visa, then a residence permit | Consulate, then AIMA |
| An investor | The Golden Visa, a residence permit for investment | AIMA |
| Still working remotely | The D8 visa | Consulate, then AIMA |
The D7, the retirement visa. It counts your regular income, a pension, rents, dividends or interest: at least the Portuguese minimum wage, €920 a month in 2026, 50% more for a spouse (€1,380 a month for a couple) and 30% more for each child. The consulates ask for a year of it in savings, €11,040 for one person, available in Portugal, and most of them for a home secured for 12 months. Our D7 guide lists every document.
Coming from the EU? You need no visa: you move with your ID card. After three months, you have 30 days to register at the Câmara Municipal where you live, with a statement that you have enough means, such as your pension, and health cover. The certificate costs €18 (€15 online). After five years, you can ask for a permanent residence certificate. Our CRUE guide explains it.
Your spouse and family. They can apply with you, at the same time. Later, family reunification needs two years of residence (15 months for a spouse you lived with for 18 months before). Your parents or your spouse’s can join you if they depend on you (family visas).
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From your home today to your new life in Portugal. Each step says what to do and what it costs. Citizens of the EU need no visa: for them, steps 5 and 6 are their registration at the town hall. In a free AnchorLess account, you tick them off one by one and get expert help where you need it.
Registration if you are European, the D7 if not, the Golden Visa if you invest. Then work out what you will live on: your pension after tax, your health cover and your rent.
Take the 30-second checkOr ask us in a free callYour Portuguese tax number: banks ask for it to open an account, and landlords for a lease. You can get it from home.
Get my NIFFor the D7, the consulates want your savings available in Portugal: in practice, in a Portuguese account. You will pay your rent and bills from it too.
Open my accountRent before you buy: a year lets you live through a winter and a summer where you plan to settle, and most D7 consulates ask for a home secured for 12 months. By law, a landlord can ask for at most two months of rent in advance, and a deposit of two months.
Review my leaseOr find your home with usFrom outside the EU: a criminal record with its apostille, proof of your pension, travel insurance and the other D7 documents. From the EU: your ID card, proof of your means and of your health cover (the S1 if you draw a state pension from an EU country).
Review my visa fileD7: at the Portuguese consulate or VFS center where you live, €110 per applicant; the consulate has 60 days to decide. From the EU: after three months in Portugal, register at your Câmara Municipal within 30 days.
Find your consulateWithin the visa’s 4 months, go to your AIMA appointment: your first card lasts 2 years. Then get your SNS user number at your health center, hand in your S1 if you have one, and give the tax office your Portuguese address within 60 days.
Have your AIMA file checked (€259)Update my NIF address (€99)| Fee | When | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| D7 visa fee (children under 6 don’t pay) | When you apply | €110 |
| Service fee of a VFS center, where there is one | When you apply | Varies |
| First residence permit, at AIMA | In Portugal | €185.60 |
| EU registration certificate (CRUE) | At the Câmara | €18 |
Add your criminal record and its apostille, translations where they are asked for, insurance, flights, the first rent and a deposit, and the move itself. The AIMA fee is €247.30 where the reduced rate does not apply: see AIMA’s 2026 fees.
By law, the consulate has 60 days to decide on a residence visa; in practice, times vary. In Portugal, AIMA then has 90 days to decide on your residence permit, which it can extend by 30.
You become a Portuguese tax resident after more than 183 days in Portugal in any 12 months, or sooner with a home you intend to keep as your habitual residence. Portugal then taxes your income from everywhere, and you file your IRS return online every year from 1 April to 30 June, for the year before. Tell the tax office within 60 days that you now live in Portugal.
A pension that Portugal taxes is added to your other income and taxed at the ordinary IRS rates, which rise with your income up to 48%, after a deduction of €4,587.09 per pensioner in 2026. The NHR regime, which taxed many foreign pensions at 10%, is closed to anyone who becomes a resident from 2025, and its successor, the IFICI, leaves pensions out. Our pension tax calculator shows what you keep.
Between Portugal and the country that pays your pension, the tax treaty decides which one taxes it. Most often, a pension for past work in the private sector is taxed only in Portugal, and a civil-service pension (paid by the State or a local authority for service to it) stays taxed in the country that pays it. For the countries most retirees come from:
| Pension from | Your pension | Civil-service pension |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | Statutory (Deutsche Rentenversicherung) and company pensions: Portugal (art. 22 and 18). Germany taxes them only if Portugal doesn’t | Own rule (art. 19) |
| France | Private-sector pension: Portugal only (art. 19) | France, unless you are Portuguese |
| Italy | Private-sector pension: Portugal only (art. 18), once INPS has your EP-I form | Italy, unless you are Portuguese |
| Spain | Pension for past work: Portugal only (art. 18) | Spain, unless you are Portuguese |
| Netherlands | Pensions, the AOW included: Portugal only (art. 18) | The Netherlands |
| UK | Pensions: Portugal only (art. 17, new treaty, from 2026) | The UK |
| US | Social Security may be taxed in the US, and Portugal deducts the US tax | Check your case |
| Canada | Taxed in Portugal; Canada may tax periodic pensions too, at 15% at most (art. 18) | Check your case |
| Brazil | INSS pension: Brazil only (art. 18). Private pension for past work: Portugal only | Brazil, for a Brazilian |
Each country guide gives the details, with the forms to send so that your pension stops being taxed at source. Every income follows its own article of the treaty (rents, dividends, a private pension plan): have your case checked before you move.
This is not tax advice: your case depends on your income and assets. Put your questions to a lawyer in a 40-minute tax consultation (€249), and have a certified accountant file your Portuguese IRS.
As a legal resident, you use Portugal’s national health service, the SNS. You get a user number (número de utente) at your first visit to a public health center or hospital; for the SNS to cover your care, your record needs your ID, your NIF, your address in Portugal and a valid residence document. Then register with the health center of your area. In an emergency, call 112; the SNS 24 line, 808 24 24 24, answers health questions day and night.
Your European Health Insurance Card is for temporary stays, not for living in Portugal. If you draw a state pension from another EU country or from the UK and don’t work in Portugal, ask that country for an S1 before you leave, and register it at the Segurança Social where you live: you get the care a Portuguese insured person gets, and your pension country pays for it. Germans ask their Krankenkasse, the French their basic pension fund, Italians their ASL, the Dutch the CAK (for a monthly contribution taken from the pension), Britons the NHS Overseas Healthcare Services.
For the D7, you need travel insurance that covers medical expenses, urgent care and repatriation; at AIMA, health insurance or proof that the SNS covers you. Medicare generally doesn’t cover care outside the US. Once you hold your permit, you register with the SNS like any resident.
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A private health insurance (seguro de saúde) opens private hospitals and clinics, within what its contract lists. Conditions you already have are usually excluded, some covers start only after a waiting period, and an insurer may turn down new clients past a certain age: ask before you count on it. A “plano de saúde” is only a discount card on a network of providers. In 2025, an individual policy cost on average €452 per insured person (ASF, the insurance supervisor). Our health insurance guide compares the options, and our healthcare guide explains the SNS.
Day-to-day prices are lower than in most of Western Europe: in 2025, the price level of household consumption was 86.6 in Portugal, for an EU average of 100 (Eurostat). Your pension goes further, but rent decides most budgets.
On new leases, the median rent was €10.17 per m² a month in the second quarter of 2026, up 10.2% in a year: €15.24 in Greater Lisbon, €12.78 in Madeira, €11.99 on the Setúbal peninsula and €11.56 in the Algarve (INE). At those medians, a 70 m² flat costs about €1,070 a month in Greater Lisbon and €810 in the Algarve.
The D7’s €920 a month is a legal floor, not a comfortable budget. Our guides go into detail for Lisbon, Porto, the Algarve and Madeira, and compare Portugal with the US.
Rent first. A year’s lease lets you live through a winter in the house and the town you chose, and the D7 consulates ask for a home secured for 12 months anyway. Buying adds the IMT transfer tax and stamp duty (above), then IMI every year. Have a lease checked by a lawyer before you sign (€99, in 48 hours), or let us find your home.
Our guide to the best places to retire in Portugal compares them. Region by region: Lisbon, Norte, Centro, Alentejo, Algarve and Madeira.
Not for your visa or your registration. With a residence permit, permanent residence after five years asks for basic Portuguese (AIMA takes an A2 certificate), and citizenship a test of Portuguese language and culture. Day to day, some Portuguese makes the health center, the tax office and your neighbors easier.
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As a resident, the Green Rail Pass (€20 a month) takes you on most CP trains, the urban lines of Lisbon and Porto included since 27 September 2026, but not the Alfa Pendular. A driving license from outside the EU has its own rules: a US license, for one, stays valid for a resident only while it was issued or renewed less than 15 years ago and you are under 60. Our guide to exchanging a foreign license explains how.
If your pension covers a comfortable budget after tax, if you can rent a warm home where you want to live, and if your health cover is settled before you leave, retiring in Portugal is simple: registration for Europeans, the D7 for everyone else, then seven steps. Rent for a year before you buy, and move with your spouse at the same time.
Moving from a particular country? Our guides to moving to Portugal from the US, the UK, Canada, Brazil, Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands cover your pension, your health care and your taxes in detail.
The rules, amounts and fees in this guide were checked on 26 October 2026 against the law and the official portals:
Written by Brenda L., relocation expert at AnchorLess. This guide explains the rules: it is not tax or legal advice.
It depends on your passport. A citizen of the EU, the EEA or Switzerland needs a valid ID card or passport, enough means of their own, such as a pension, and health cover, and registers at the Câmara Municipal after three months.
From outside the EU, the usual route is the D7 visa: a regular income of at least €920 a month in 2026 (€1,380 for a couple), a year of it in savings (€11,040 for one person), a home in Portugal, a clean criminal record and travel insurance. You apply at the consulate where you live, then get your residence permit from AIMA in Portugal.
The D7, often called the retirement or passive income visa, if you live on a pension or an income of your own and are not an EU citizen. The Golden Visa suits investors (€500,000 in a fund, among other routes), and the D8 those who still work remotely. Citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland need no visa.
For the D7, at least €920 a month of regular income in 2026, 50% more for a spouse and 30% more for each child, and a year of it in savings: €11,040 for one person, €16,560 for a couple.
That is a legal floor. Rent decides most budgets: the median on new leases was €15.24 per m² a month in Greater Lisbon and €11.56 in the Algarve in the second quarter of 2026.
Once you are a Portuguese tax resident, a pension that Portugal taxes is added to your other income and taxed at the ordinary IRS rates, up to 48%, after a deduction of €4,587.09 per pensioner in 2026.
The tax treaty between Portugal and the paying country decides which one taxes it. Private-sector pensions from France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands or the UK are taxed only in Portugal, and so are German statutory and company pensions; civil-service pensions usually stay taxed at home; a Brazilian INSS pension stays taxed in Brazil.
No. The NHR is closed to anyone who becomes a Portuguese tax resident from 2025, and its successor, the IFICI, covers income from some qualified jobs, not pensions. Residents who obtained the NHR before keep it for the rest of its ten years.
Yes. As a legal resident, you use the national health service (SNS), with a user number from your health center. If you draw a state pension from another EU country or the UK and don’t work in Portugal, the S1 from your pension country gives you the same care as a Portuguese insured person, paid by that country. Many retirees add a private insurance, which usually excludes conditions they already have.
Yes. You move with your ID card or passport. After three months, you have 30 days to register at the Câmara Municipal where you live, with a statement that you have enough means and health cover. The registration certificate (CRUE) costs €18 (€15 online) and is valid five years.
Yes, and it is best to apply together: your spouse can apply for a residence visa at the same time as you. For the D7, the income needed rises by half, to €1,380 a month in 2026. Bringing your family later means waiting for two years of residence (15 months for a spouse you lived with for 18 months before).
No, not for your visa, your registration or your first permits. With a residence permit, permanent residence after five years asks for basic Portuguese (A2), and citizenship a test of Portuguese language and culture.
It depends on what you want. The Algarve for beaches and golf, Lisbon and Cascais for a city with its hospitals and airport, Porto and the north for a greener life, the Silver Coast and Coimbra for quieter towns, Madeira for mild weather all year. Rent decides a lot: €15.24 per m² a month in Greater Lisbon against €11.56 in the Algarve. Rent for a year before you buy.
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