Live in Lisbon, Portugal as an Expat by Getting a D7 Visa
Becky is a proofreader and host of The School of Travels Podcast.
In 2018, Becky Gillespie met a Portuguese couple while she was hiking in Colombia. She thought they were cool and so she went to visit them in Lisbon. She fell in love with the city and decided to move there.
For most people, this would be a huge deal. But Becky has been living the expat/nomad life for more than a decade. She lived in Tokyo for years and still used it as a base when she went full-on digital nomad in 2017.
Today, Lisbon serves as Becky’s base. She can live there thanks to the D7 Visa, which allows freelancers and retirees from certain countries to live and work in Portugal.
Listen to the LIVE Without Borders podcast to find out exactly how the D7 Visa Works. You’ll also discover the best things to eat and experience when you travel or move to Lisbon, Portugal.
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Who is eligible for the D7 Visa?
If you’re part of the European Union, or just want to nomad around the Schengen Zone, you don’t need the D7.
Portugal’s D7 visa is for people who can support themselves in the country without taking away local jobs from the Portuguese people. This would be people like freelancers, remote workers, and retirees.
Some requirements for the D7 Visa
Have a consistent income coming in every month
Live in Portugal at least six months out of the year
Set up residency
No criminal record
“You need to apply from your home country,” Becky says. “And for me, it took about a month to get the approval from the Portuguese embassy in the U.S. And then you basically need to have a meeting in Portugal with the immigration authorities. It's usually about three months after you arrive. They give you first a temporary visa, which is what I have now. It's a four-month visa and I will have my meeting with immigration and hopefully that converts to a two-year residence card for the EU. And you can actually apply for a passport after five years, but I've heard it takes about six years to actually get it.”
If you have the cash, you can apply for Portugal’s Golden Visa, which we mention on the podcast.