D7 or D8 Visa: Which to Choose If You Work Remotely or Live on Passive Income

People who plan to live in Portugal while keeping their income from Brazil usually end up looking at two visas: the D7, for people who live on their own income, and the D8, for people who work remotely. Both lead to the same temporary residence permit and, later, to permanent residence and Portuguese citizenship. But they start from different sources of income, require different amounts and are checked in different ways at renewal.

Choosing the wrong visa does not usually show up at the consulate. It shows up later, when AIMA (Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum) asks for proof that the basis for the residence permit still exists. This article compares the two visas and shows how to decide in the most common cases, including when a person has both sources of income.

The central question: where does the money come from?

The difference between the two visas is not the amount of income, but its nature.

• D7 (own income and retirees): the income comes from a pension, rental income, financial investments, dividends, interest or intellectual property. It is income that does not depend on work performed during the stay in Portugal (MNE, documents for the residence visa).
• D8 (remote work): the income comes from active work, as an employee or as an independent professional, performed remotely for people or companies domiciled or headquartered outside Portugal (Art. 61-B of Law 23/2007, the Foreigners Act (Lei de Estrangeiros), added by Law 18/2022).

If you will keep working for your Brazilian company or for clients abroad, the visa that describes your situation is the D8. If you will live on income you already have, without needing to work, it is the D7.

How much each visa requires in 2026

D7: the minimum wage, for 12 months

For the D7, the reference is the Portuguese minimum wage, which is €920 per month in 2026 (Decree-Law 139/2025), for the first adult, plus 50% for each additional adult and 30% for each minor or dependent child, with means secured for at least 12 months (MNE, means of subsistence). For one person, that is €11,040 per year; for a couple, €16,560. We explain the calculation and the documents in the article on how much income to prove for the D7 visa.

D8: an average of four minimum wages over the last three months

For the D8, the applicant must prove average monthly income, earned from employed or independent work over the last three months, of at least four minimum wages (Arts. 18-B and 31-A of Regulatory Decree 84/2007 (Decreto Regulamentar)). In 2026, that is €3,680 per month (4 × €920).

The difference is large: the D8 requires four times more per month, but looks at a short, recent period. The D7 requires less per month, but asks for the income to be secured for a full year.

Side-by-side comparison

• Source of income: D7, passive income or a pension; D8, remote work for employers or clients outside Portugal.
• Reference amount in 2026: D7, €920 per month for the first adult, for 12 months; D8, an average of €3,680 per month over the last three months.
• Main proof: D7, proof of the pension or income and of its availability in Portugal; D8, an employment contract or employer's statement, or contracts with clients, plus proof of tax residence.
• Short stay: only remote work has a temporary stay visa option, for less than one year (Art. 54(1)(i) of the Foreigners Act), which does not lead to a residence permit.
• Visa validity: in both cases, four months and two entries (Art. 58(1) and (2)), with pre-authorization of residence and provisional assignment of a NIF (Portuguese tax identification number), a social security number and a National Health Service number (paragraph 6).
• After the visa: in both cases, a two-year temporary residence permit, renewable for three years (Art. 75(1)), with the same limits on absences from the country (Art. 85(2)).

Practical cases

Employee of a Brazilian company (CLT contract) who will work from Portugal

This is the typical D8 profile, as long as the company authorizes remote work from abroad and the salary reaches the average of four minimum wages. The proof is the employment contract or an employer's statement about the employment relationship, plus payslips for the last three months.

Self-employed professional or business owner who serves clients abroad

This is also the D8, under the independent activity option: articles of association, service agreements or documents showing services provided to one or more clients outside Portugal. If the plan is to serve clients in Portugal or to open a company in the country, the route to consider is the D2 visa.

Retiree who does occasional consulting work

If the pension alone meets the D7 minimum, that is usually the simplest and most stable basis. The consulting work can add to the income, but it does not need to be the basis for the visa.

Someone who lives on rental income and also has a salary

Here the choice depends on which income is higher, more stable and easier to prove. If the salary comes from remote work and reaches €3,680, the D8 describes the real situation. If the rental income alone covers the D7 minimum and the job may end, the D7 tends to be safer at renewal.

A couple in which each spouse has a different type of income

The main applicant should be the person whose income most strongly supports the chosen basis, and the other spouse can apply for an accompanying family visa at the same time (Art. 58(5)). In that application, the MNE asks for proof of family ties and of resources for the whole household.

Why the choice matters at renewal

The visa is only the entry door. In Portugal, AIMA grants the residence permit and, at renewal, checks whether the requirements are still met. Someone who entered with a D8 and stopped working remotely, or who entered with a D7 and came to depend on a salary, may find it hard to explain the change. For this reason, the basis should match the situation you expect to keep over the coming years, and not only the situation at the time of the application.

The law also gives residence permit holders the right to carry out employed or independent professional activity (Art. 83 of the Foreigners Act). This gives some flexibility, but it does not remove the need to keep the permit consistent with reality. We explain deadlines, renewals and expired permits on the page about residence permits.

Taxes: the point many people forget

The visa does not decide where you pay tax. Anyone who spends more than 183 days in Portugal in any 12-month period, or has a home there that suggests an intention to keep it as a habitual residence, becomes a Portuguese tax resident (Art. 16 of the Personal Income Tax Code (Código do IRS)) and is taxed on worldwide income.

• With the D8, the salary paid by a Brazilian company and payments from foreign clients are included in that calculation. IFICI (Portugal's tax incentive for scientific research and innovation, successor to the NHR regime) applies only to specific activities; working remotely for a foreign company does not, by itself, give access to it.
• With the D7, the pension, rental income and financial income follow the rules of the Brazil–Portugal Convention to avoid double taxation, which defines which country may tax each type of income.

In both cases, the departure from Brazil must be reported to the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service (Receita Federal) to avoid dual tax residence. See the page on tax residence between Brazil and Portugal.

Family and citizenship

Both visas follow the same rules for the family: accompanying family members applying at the same time, or family reunification later, which since Law 61/2025 generally requires two years of residence by the permit holder, with exceptions for minor children (Art. 98). Neither the D7 nor the D8 is among the permits exempt from this period.

For citizenship, the time also counts in the same way: under Organic Law 1/2026 (Lei Orgânica), Brazilians need seven years of legal residence. See the page on citizenship by length of residence and the article on how to count the seven years.

Checklist to decide

1. Does most of your income come from active work or from passive income?
2. Are your employer or clients outside Portugal?
3. Does your monthly average over the last three months reach €3,680?
4. Does your passive income cover the household minimum for 12 months?
5. Which income will still exist at renewal time, two and five years from now?
6. Who in the family has the income that most strongly supports the application?

How Sene & Araújo can help

Sene & Araújo has lawyers admitted to the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) and the Portuguese Bar Association (Ordem dos Advogados), with offices in São Paulo and Albufeira, and acts directly in proceedings in Portugal. We review your sources of income, contracts and family composition, identify the basis that fits the case, prepare the application at the consulate and follow the residence permit and renewals at AIMA. See the pages on the D7 visa and the D8 visa, or talk to our team.

• Law 23/2007 — Foreigners Act (Lei de Estrangeiros), consolidated version
• Law 18/2022 of August 25
• Regulatory Decree 84/2007 (Decreto Regulamentar), consolidated version
• Decree-Law 139/2025, of December 29 (2026 minimum wage, Art. 3)
• MNE — Means of subsistence (national visas)
• MNE — Supporting documents: residence visa
• Law 61/2025 of October 22
• Organic Law 1/2026 of May 18 (Nationality Act)
• IRS Code, Art. 16 (residence) — Portal das Finanças

Sene & Araújo Sociedade de Advogados team. Content prepared and reviewed by the firm's lawyers, admitted to the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) and the Portuguese Bar Association (Ordem dos Advogados), with offices in São Paulo and Albufeira. The provisions cited were checked against the official sources listed above. Meet the team.