Over the last decade, the political climate in the US has been growing increasingly polarized. As a result, the recent elections led to a great deal of interest in leaving the United States for Europe. Portugal has been a trendy destination for Americans for a decade now, with the US population in Portugal tripling over the last few years, initially focusing on the Lisbon metro area, but more recently expanding all over the country, including the islands of Madeira and the Azores.
We believe that much of the interest that we see now will fade over time, as many people would realize that moving to a different country is not the easiest undertaking. However, we do believe that we will see a rise in two groups – one group is people who have already been considering leaving the US may see a political outcome that they did not want as “the last straw” or an additional facilitator. Another group is those people who do not intend to leave the US but the increasing uncertainty in the world would now lead them to pursue a “Plan B”, including another citizenship and perhaps a property, so that if things continue to change in the future, they would be able to “hit the ground running” and move on a short notice.
As tax lawyers regularly advising Americans moving to Portugal, we compiled a guide to people in both of these groups.
Moving to Portugal from the US in 2025
VISA Options in Portugal – D7, D8 and others
Portugal offers the easiest path to residency in Europe.
The most popular VISA for Americans moving to Portugal is the passive income VISA (D7). This VISA is design to those who have an amount of passive income that matches the minimum wage in Portugal (under 1,000 Euros a month). This can include dividends, interest or pension income.
A bit more nuanced is income from an LLC or an SCorp that could be seen as either active income or passive income, depending on the specific sources of the income but also on the narrative.
A D7 visa, unlike popular options like the NLV in Spain, does not stop people who entered Portugal with it from workingat a later stagebut it is not recommended to emphasize income from work as this could lead to the consulates assessing the VISA under the D8 criteria.
Indeed, a D8 visa, also known as the digital nomad visa, is the second most popular visa for those moving from the US. It requires showing a high income threshold but still one that most people in the US would easily meet.
Portugal has a wide range of additional VISA routes such as the highly qualified professional VISA (D3) for those with a job offer in Portugal or the entrepreneur VISA for those setting up a business in Portugal and many others.
Indeed, Portugal still has a relatively smooth open door policy for Americans and moving to Portugal legally is relatively easy and painless.
Perhaps most importantly, unlike other countries in southern Europe like Spain or Italy, Portugal is “easy going” and it’s authorities would normally show leniency towards applicants, allowing them to complete documents that are missing during the process. Nevertheless, it is strongly recommended to use professional representation!
Tax treatment – NHR 2.0 for Americans in Portugal
The famous NHR regime in Portugal ends in 2024 and is being replaced by a new regime called TISRI that is being introduced in 2025.
TISRI replicates many of the benefits of the NHR regime, but with pension income being notably missing. Retirement income is now taxed at progressive rates, representing a large rise in effective taxation.
TISRI is also not automatic and requires some involvement in the local ecosystem, such as joining the board of a startup company.
Whilst TISRI is more complex than NHR, we believe that it is in fact a positive change that will make expats who are moving to Portugal happier in the long run.
The main downside of NHR was that it discouraged people from getting involved in Portugal. This is good in the short term but in the long run leads to social isolation and minimal integration, as well as to resentment from the local population that sees “rich expats” as a net negative and a primary driver of inflation.
With TISRI, expats should get involved in the local ecosystem – a process that we are enabling and facilitating. We believe that despite the added complexity (and thus cost), this would lead to better integration and more satisfaction. At FRESH Portugal, we are already working with funds and local startups to make sure that those who want to benefit from the regime (that is expected to be regulated shortly) would be able to do it with as little friction as possible.
We also worked out alternatives to traditional retirement income to ensure that people who move to Portugal would have access to tax-efficient investment vehicles.
Plan B: for Americans who want to have the option to move to Portugal in the future but don’t want to move yet
Golden VISA & Second citizenship in Portugal – Portugal continues to offer the best Golden Visa programme in Europe with the fastest track to citizenship and very minimal stay requirement
In an increasingly mobile world, it is becoming ever more important to have options.
Contrary to popular belief, the Portugal Golden Visa program is alive and kicking and continues to be the most attractive one in Europe, albeit without the option to invest directly in real estate.
Particularly, this is the fastest route to citizenship (application for citizenship possible after 5 years) and has a minimal stay requirement (only 7 days each year). Yet, a GV in Portugal unlocks the Schengen area (no travel restrictions) and enables whoever holds it to move to Portugal whenever they choose.
It is also important to note that the EU is applying constant pressure on countries offering Golden Visa programs and it is only a matter of time before they all end. However, anyone who started the process is guaranteed to be grandfathered and will not be impacted by future changes.
The Golden Visa program recently received another boost - a new law in Portugal confirmed that the count to citizenship starts with the application and delays do not extend the eventual timeline to citizenship.
Whilst it is no longer possible to buy a home in Portugal in exchange for citizenship, there are many robust options, the most prominent of them being an investment of 500,000 Euro in an eligible fund. Many of those funds are low risk funds, with the primary downside being no liquidity for the duration of the process but the funds all but guaranteed to achieve healthy returns. Interestingly, GV providers are following the trends and are now offering, for example, golden visa funds with exposure to Bitcoin, so those investors who are active in the Crypto industry anyway can continue to do so with the eventual Portuguese citizenship and access to the Schengen zone being an added extra.
Investors with sufficient liquidity would normally opt for the fund option. Investors who only have access to smaller amounts have other options, such as borrowing the money outside of Portugal or investing in a cultural project. Normally, the “cheaper” options are also riskier and opting for those options means sacrificing a smaller amount but normally one has to assume that the amount will not return to the investor.
Choosing an investment product is not easy, but as the largest expat legal consultancy in Portugal, we can direct you to trustworthy providers and funds that we vetted and consider by us as reliable and solid.
Advising Americans relocating to Portugal
At FRESH we have the largest and best tax team advising expats who are moving to Portugal.
Moving to Portugal is not simple for Americans.
From a cultural perspective, Portugal runs very differently to what Americans are used to. The pace is slow. Many service providers or government entities do not reply to emails – not on the same day and sometimes not ever. Many things are done over the phone. There are very few guidelines and a great deal of discretion – a banker or a government worker can have their “own policy” and the policy can change if they like the person talking to them or if they are tired and want to go home. This is common in all of southern Europe, but particularly pronounced in Portugal.
From a legal perspective, Portugal doesn’t recognize many of the structures that exist in the US and there are no clear guidelines how to handle them. For example, Americans are often surprised that the growth of ROTH IRAs are not free of tax in Portugal or that LLCs aren’t necessarily pass-through entities. They expect Portugal to work the same way that the US does, but it’s just not how things are done in Portugal.
Different isn’t always bad. It’s a challenge but those who come with an open mind and the right attitude often find people who are kind and are willing to help, whilst people who come with an expectation to be serviced and share an ongoing expression of their disappointment could just as easily be offered to go back to where they came from.
We are advising approximately 10% of all Americans moving to Portugal and we often bridge the cultural and legal bridge that Americans are facing when moving to Portugal. We understand Americans and we understand Portugal and we take great pride in bringing these two worlds together.
