Hiring a non-EU employee in Portugal: what the company must do under the Immigration Act
Since June 2024 a company can no longer hire someone who arrived as a tourist and regularise them through an ordinary employment permit. The visa comes first, from abroad, and the employer’s paperwork sits inside every application: the contract, the declarations and, later, the payroll the renewal depends on. Which route fits, what the company supplies, how long each authority has, and what getting it wrong costs. The visa and permit filings are the employee’s or their lawyer’s; we prepare the company side.
The employee applies. The company makes the application possible.
The Immigration Act, Lei 23/2007, is written around the foreign national: the consulate decides the visa (art. 48.º(1)(b) Lei 23/2007) and AIMA, the migration agency, the residence permit. But every work route turns on documents only the employer can produce, and since Lei 62/2026 (published 10 September 2026; in force from 11 September on our consolidated text), the first permit application may be filed “by the person concerned, by their legal representative or by the employer” (art. 81.º(1) Lei 23/2007). The company also carries the liability if work starts too early.
- The visa application at the Portuguese consulate
- The permit application at AIMA (the employer may file the first)
- Renewals, filed with AIMA
- Notifying AIMA of a new address within 60 days (art. 86.º Lei 23/2007)
- A contract with the content the Labour Code requires
- Employer declarations and company documents for each stage
- The NISS request and Social Security admission by the start of work
- Payroll and withholding, resident or non-resident
- The IFICI file, where the role qualifies
We do not do immigration filings, as our page on residency and your company says. What follows is the employer’s map of the statute.
Not the job. Where the person is today.
The in-country route is closed. Decree-Law 37-A/2024 revoked the employment permit without a visa granted on a manifestação de interesse (art. 2 DL 37-A/2024). Published on 3 June 2024, it took effect on 4 June 2024; earlier procedures continue under the old law. Since Lei 61/2025 a residence visa is also refused to someone who entered or stayed illegally and is subject to the entry ban that follows a removal decision (art. 52.º(10) Lei 23/2007, with art. 144.º(1) Lei 23/2007). Someone who came visa-free or on a Schengen short-stay visa cannot be hired and regularised through an ordinary employment permit: the visa must be obtained abroad.
What still works from inside Portugal: highly qualified activity after a legal entry and stay (art. 90.º(2) Lei 23/2007); the EU Blue Card for someone with a valid right of residence here (art. 121.º-B(2) Lei 23/2007); intra-corporate transfers after a legal entry (art. 124.º-B(2) Lei 23/2007); researchers after a lawful entry (art. 91.º-B(9) Lei 23/2007); and former students and researchers of Portuguese institutions, who have up to a year to find work (art. 122.º(1)(p) Lei 23/2007).
One name, two instruments. The “individualised expression of interest” an employer gives a qualified candidate (art. 59.º(5)(b) Lei 23/2007) is still a basis for a consular visa (art. 30.º(1)(a) DR 84/2007). It is not the abolished in-country route.
Eight routes for an employee, and four that are not routes
Periods are statutory maxima. The filing is the employee’s unless stated.
| Route | Fits | The company supplies | Decides, and how long |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employed-work visa, then permit | The default, any qualification, applied for from abroad | Contract or promise of contract, or an individualised expression of interest; later an employer declaration | Consulate 60 days; AIMA 90 days (+30) |
| Highly qualified (art. 61 visa, art. 90 permit) | Highly qualified, teaching or cultural activity | Contract or promise; declaration of contract and pay | Consulate 30 days; AIMA 90 (+30); in-country after legal entry |
| EU Blue Card | Degree or 5 years’ experience, contract of 6+ months, salary of 1.5 × the national average | Contract or promise; may file itself | Consulate or AIMA, 60 days |
| Intra-corporate transferee | Managers, specialists and trainees moved within a group | Pay guarantee as host entity; may file grant and renewal | AIMA, 90 days (30 for renewal), halved if certified |
| Tech Visa | Qualified hires by an IAPMEI-certified company | Termo de responsabilidade for each hire | IAPMEI, then consulate 30 days, then AIMA |
| Researchers, higher-education teachers | Research centres and universities | Contract or invitation | AIMA 90 days, 60 for recognised host entities |
| CPLP national | Nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries | Optional statement of responsibility | Consulate without AIMA opinion; AIMA 90 (+30) |
| Already holds a Portuguese permit | Any permit, including family and student permits | Copy of the card on file | No permit step; AIMA notification for an employment permit |
Also: a company relocating from an EEA State with its staff (art. 123.º-A Lei 23/2007) and Blue Card mobility from another member State. Not routes for an employee: the remote-work visa, the Start-up Visa, the qualified job-seeker visa (not yet available) and “D7”.
Which routes fit this hire, and what the company supplies
Eight answers about the person and the job. The finder applies the rules in the statute’s order and returns the candidate routes with their legal basis, who decides, the statutory period and the employer’s part.
Employed-work visa, then a permit, in the order it happens
The residence visa for employed work needs a contract or promise of contract, or recognised qualifications and the employer’s individualised expression of interest (art. 59.º(5)(a) Lei 23/2007).
With the Labour Code content set out below. The consulate counts the contractual pay as means of subsistence, or takes the host entity’s statement of responsibility.
AIMA and the security unit give opinions within 20 days, silence counting as favourable (art. 53.º(9) Lei 23/2007); the visa itself is never tacitly granted. Decision within 60 days (art. 58.º(4) Lei 23/2007); fee €110.
Two entries and four months’ stay (art. 58.º(2) Lei 23/2007), collected within 90 days of grant (art. 37.º DR 84/2007), with provisional NIF, NISS and SNS numbers (art. 58.º(6) Lei 23/2007).
Social Security registration is a permit condition (art. 77.º(1)(f) Lei 23/2007). The company declares the admission by the start of work.
It needs “an employment contract concluded in accordance with the law” and Social Security registration (art. 88.º(1) Lei 23/2007). AIMA asks for an employer declaration on honour; it checks Social Security and tax records (art. 42.º-G(1) DR 84/2007) and, where it cannot, asks for the contract and the last three payslips (art. 42.º-G(2) DR 84/2007). Decision within 90 days, +30 (art. 82.º(5) Lei 23/2007).
Two years, renewable for three-year periods (art. 75.º(1) Lei 23/2007); permanent residence after five years and basic Portuguese (art. 80.º(1) Lei 23/2007).
No quota and no labour-market test. Art. 59.º(1)–(3) read “repealed”, as do the regulation’s quota articles (art. 26.º DR 84/2007). The optional IEFP job-offer system survives (art. 59.º(4)); an employer using it informs IEFP when the vacancy is filled (art. 28.º(4) DR 84/2007).
The “via verde” is a protocol, not law. Under AIMA’s labour-migration protocol, companies with 150+ employees and €20m+ turnover sign directly and smaller ones go through an employers’ confederation, committing to training, language and housing plans; consulates then aim to decide within 20 working days.
The art. 90 permit or the Blue Card: different tests, different employers’ exposure
| Highly qualified visa and art. 90 permit | EU Blue Card | |
|---|---|---|
| Activity | Highly qualified, teaching or cultural (art. 3.º(1)(a) Lei 23/2007) | Highly qualified; a degree or 5 years’ comparable experience |
| Contract | At least 6 months for the employed visa under art. 61-A | At least 6 months |
| Salary | 1.5 × the national average gross annual salary or 3 × IAS (€1,611.39 a month in 2026); 1.2 × or 2 × IAS (€1,074.26) for listed shortage occupations | 1.5 × the national average, or 1.2 × for listed shortage occupations; no IAS alternative |
| Who files | The employee; the company may file the permit | The employee or the employer |
| From inside Portugal | Yes, after a legal entry and stay | Only with a valid right of residence |
| Family | Reunification without the two-year wait (art. 98.º(3) Lei 23/2007) | |
Art. 61.º(1) Lei 23/2007, art. 61.º-A(2) Lei 23/2007, art. 121.º-B(1) Lei 23/2007. IAS figures ours, on the 2026 IAS of €537.13.
The art. 61 visa is decided within 30 days (art. 61.º(3) Lei 23/2007) and fee-exempt under the statute (art. 210.º(2)(a) Lei 23/2007), though the consular fee page words the exemption more narrowly. AIMA applies the art. 61-A thresholds to employed art. 90 permits, but its page still quotes figures on a 2023 salary base and the 2024 IAS (€2,157.00 a month for 1.5 ×, €1,725.60 for 1.2 ×): AIMA’s published reference, not a 2026 figure. The shortage-occupation list behind the lower threshold we have not located.
The Blue Card is decided within 60 days (art. 121.º-D(5) Lei 23/2007) and runs two years, renewable for three, or the contract plus three months (art. 121.º-E(1) Lei 23/2007). In the first 12 months a change of employer is notified to AIMA, which may object within 30 days (art. 121.º-G(2) Lei 23/2007). It is refused if the company was sanctioned for illegal employment in the last five years (art. 121.º-B(5)(d) Lei 23/2007), and return costs then fall on the employer alone (art. 121.º-O(4) Lei 23/2007). No official 2026 euro threshold exists, so we print none: confirm it with AIMA before fixing the salary.
Groups, certified companies, CPLP nationals and people already here
A manager, specialist or trainee moved to a Portuguese host entity of the same group after 3–12 months’ group employment (3–6 for trainees), with a host-entity guarantee of pay not lower than for national workers in identical roles (art. 124.º-B(1) Lei 23/2007). No visa, but legal entry. The worker or the host entity files, grant and renewal (art. 124.º-D(1) Lei 23/2007). Up to three years, one for trainees. The host entity bears removal costs if it fails to notify changes (art. 124.º-G(3) Lei 23/2007). The contract is with the group, not with you.
Posting or local payroll?A visa on a statement of responsibility from a company certified under Portaria 328/2018, as amended (art. 61.º(1)(c) Lei 23/2007). IAPMEI certifies for five years; under IAPMEI’s rules, at most 50% of the workforce may be hired under it (80% in Interior territories). The applicant need not file in person (art. 10.º(6)(c) DR 84/2007).
Certification valid 5 yearsNo AIMA prior opinion (art. 52.º-A(1) Lei 23/2007), and the host entity can sign a statement of responsibility that replaces several documents (art. 12.º(3) DR 84/2007). But since Lei 61/2025 a CPLP residence permit requires a residence visa (art. 87.º-A(1) Lei 23/2007), for procedures started after 23 October 2025.
Visa-free entry no longer leads to a permitAny residence permit, family and student permits included, allows employed work without special authorisation (art. 83.º(1)(b) Lei 23/2007). For an employment-permit holder a change of employer is a notification to AIMA, with no new card (art. 88.º(8) Lei 23/2007).
The simplest hire to processNot routes for your employee. The remote-work visa is for people working for employers outside Portugal (art. 61.º-B Lei 23/2007); the Start-up Visa covers the founder in an incubator (art. 60.º(2)(c) Lei 23/2007); the job-seeker visa (art. 57.º-A Lei 23/2007) awaits its portaria and the consular portal says it is not yet available.
Written, with fixed content, and the papers attached
Article 5 of the Labour Code requires a written contract stating the parties’ identification and domicile; a reference to the work visa or residence permit; the employer’s activity; the work and the pay; place and normal hours; how and when pay is made; and the dates of signature and start. It is made in duplicate, and the company’s copy must have the worker’s entry and residence documents attached. EEA nationals and those of States granting equal treatment are exempt. A breach is a serious administrative offence (Labour Code, article 5).
The ACT notification is gone; the authorities still hear. Lei 13/2023 revoked the duty to notify the labour inspectorate of a foreign worker’s contract. Instead AIMA notifies the ACT, the tax authority and Social Security when it grants an employment permit (art. 88.º(4) Lei 23/2007), and work-visa applications go to Social Security, the tax authority and SPMS for NISS, NIF and health numbers (art. 215.º(1) Lei 23/2007). An ICT transferee’s pay may not be lower than nationals’ (art. 124.º-F(4) Lei 23/2007).
- The contract or promise of contract with the content the Labour Code requires, and the employer declarations the consulate and AIMA ask for.
- The company documents behind them, the NISS request and the Social Security admission by the start of work.
- Payroll from the first month, with the right withholding, and the IFICI file where the role qualifies.
Tell us about the hire: we prepare the company side while the employee or their lawyer files.
Payroll, tax residence, and the renewal that depends on both
Social Security. The employer can request the NISS itself as legal representative, communicating the employment in Segurança Social Direta; gov.pt lists the passport, work visa or permit, the contract and proof of the residence application. Admission is declared by the start of work, at 23.75% employer and 11% employee on fourteen payments; our guide to hiring your first employee models the cost.
Withholding. Tax residence starts with more than 183 days in a 12-month period or a home suggesting habitual residence (art. 16.º(1) CIRS), from the first day of stay in the arrival year. Until then, Portuguese pay bears a final 25% withholding (art. 71.º(4)(a) CIRS). Someone not resident here in the previous five years, in an eligible activity, may qualify for IFICI’s 20% (art. 58.º-A(1) EBF), registering by 15 January of the following year (art. 2.º(1) Portaria 352/2024/1); see our IFICI guide. IRS Jovem (art. 12.º-B CIRS) cannot be combined with it.
Renewal runs through payroll. A temporary permit is renewed only if the holder has met their tax and Social Security obligations (art. 78.º(2)(c) Lei 23/2007), so the company’s filings feed the employee’s file. Renewals are filed with AIMA at least 30 days before expiry, by the person or their representative, not the employer (art. 81.º-A(1) Lei 23/2007); AIMA has 60 days. Six consecutive months’, or eight non-consecutive months’, unjustified absence can cancel a temporary permit (art. 85.º(2)(a) Lei 23/2007), unless the absence was for work (art. 85.º(4) Lei 23/2007): worth knowing before a long assignment abroad.
Statutory periods with no tacit effect, and official fees
The periods in this guide are statutory maxima, and none of them approves anything by silence: Lei 62/2026 repealed art. 82.º(7). The remedy for delay is a court action, including the intimação procedure (art. 87.º-B Lei 23/2007). Meanwhile a residence-visa holder whose permit is pending for reasons not attributable to them may work (art. 81.º(4)).
| Fee | Standard | With the 25% reduction |
|---|---|---|
| Consular national visa | €110 | — |
| AIMA reception and analysis: temporary permit or renewal | €133.00 | €99.80 |
| Temporary residence card, grant or renewal | €114.30 | €85.80 |
| Exemption from the consular visa (e.g. art. 90(2)) | €307.20 | €230.40 |
| EU Blue Card: reception and analysis / card | €169.20 / €160.50 | €126.90 / €120.40 |
| EU Blue Card card with visa exemption | €354.30 | €265.70 |
| New card when switching employed ↔ self-employed | €123.50 | €92.60 |
AIMA fee table in force from 1 March 2026; point XIV applies a 25% reduction to in-person charges until the digital channel is available. Urgent issue adds €47.80. Consular fee from the MNE portal; challenging a visa decision costs €75.
Using someone without the right to work: the company pays, and so may its directors
The offence is using the activity of a foreign national who does not hold a residence permit or visa authorising employed work (art. 198.º-A(1) Lei 23/2007). AIMA’s board imposes the fines.
| Foreign workers used | Fine |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | €2,000 – €10,000 |
| 5 to 10 | €4,000 – €15,000 |
| 11 to 50 | €6,000 – €30,000 |
| More than 50 | €10,000 – €90,000 |
Negligence is punishable (art. 204.º(1) Lei 23/2007), with the limits halved (art. 204.º(2) Lei 23/2007).
On top of the fine: repayment of public aid received in the previous 12 months, and publication of the decision at the company’s expense. The employer, any user of the worker, the main contractor and the owner of the works (without a compliance declaration) are jointly liable for fines, wages, undeclared tax and Social Security, and removal costs. The minimum wage and three months’ work are presumed, and directors are jointly liable for the company’s fine.
The crime. Habitual use of workers without the right to work carries up to one year in prison, and up to five for particularly abusive conditions (art. 185.º-A Lei 23/2007); a company faces doubled fines and a possible activity ban. A sanction also follows the company: ICT permits are refused where the host entity was sanctioned for illegal work (art. 124.º-C(1) Lei 23/2007).
Three reforms in two years, and the points still unsettled
Lei 62/2026 (in force 11 September 2026) transposed the Single Permit Directive (EU) 2024/1233 and brought the employer filing, AIMA renewals and the change-of-employer notification; it also repealed art. 82.º(7). Lei 61/2025 barred visas after an illegal entry or stay followed by a removal decision, and required CPLP nationals to hold one. DL 37-A/2024 ended the manifestação de interesse.
Still open: an official 2026 national average salary; the shortage-occupation list; IAPMEI’s worker criteria; the job-seeker portaria. DR 84/2007 has not caught up with the reforms; where it conflicts, the Act prevails. The 2027 budget proposal (Proposta de Lei 110/XVII/2.ª) changes no work-visa rule that we found, though we have not searched every page; the final vote is on 24 November 2026.
Before the offer letter, and what not to assume
- Establish where the candidate is and how they entered
- Choose the route before fixing salary and contract length
- Write the Labour Code content into the contract; attach the documents
- Declare the Social Security admission by the start of work
- Diary permit expiry dates
- Check IFICI before the first payslip
- That a tourist can be hired and regularised later
- That AIMA’s silence means approval
- That the employer can renew the permit
- That a change of employer needs a new permit
- That a remote-work or Start-up visa covers your employee
- That a Blue Card euro figure online is official
What employers ask before the first non-EU hire
Can we hire someone who is in Portugal as a tourist?
Not for an ordinary job, and not by regularising them afterwards. The route that allowed a residence permit for work without a visa, the manifestação de interesse, was revoked by Decree-Law 37-A/2024 with effect from 4 June 2024, and since Lei 61/2025 an illegal entry or stay followed by a removal decision is a ground for refusing the visa itself. The person has to obtain a residence visa from abroad. The exceptions are narrow: highly qualified work after a legal entry, intra-group transfers, researchers, and graduates of Portuguese institutions.
Can the company apply for the permit on the employee’s behalf?
For the first permit, yes: since Lei 62/2026 the application may be filed by the person, their legal representative or the employer (art. 81.º(1) Lei 23/2007). For a Blue Card the employer may file, and an ICT host entity may file both the grant and the renewal. Ordinary renewals are filed by the person or their legal representative, with AIMA. The visa itself is always the employee’s application at the consulate.
What is the EU Blue Card salary threshold in 2026?
The rule is at least 1.5 times the national average gross annual salary, or 1.2 times for shortage occupations listed by Council of Ministers Resolution, with a contract of at least six months (art. 121.º-B(1) Lei 23/2007). We have not found an official 2026 euro figure on AIMA, MNE or Diário da República, and the figures in commercial guides are not official. The IAS alternative (3 × IAS) applies to the art. 61-A visa, not to the Blue Card. Confirm the figure with AIMA before the salary is fixed.
Do we still have to notify ACT when we hire a foreign worker?
No. That duty in article 5 of the Labour Code was revoked by Lei 13/2023. The written-contract requirements remain, and the authorities learn of the hire anyway: AIMA notifies the labour inspectorate, the tax authority and Social Security when it grants an employment permit (art. 88.º(4) Lei 23/2007).
If AIMA does not decide in time, is the permit approved?
No. AIMA has 90 days for a new permit, extendable by 30 in exceptional cases, and 60 for a renewal, but there is no tacit approval: Lei 62/2026 repealed art. 82.º(7). The remedy for delay is a court action, including the intimação procedure (art. 87.º-B Lei 23/2007). While the application is pending for reasons not attributable to the applicant, a residence-visa holder may work.
The candidate already works in Portugal on a residence permit. What do we need?
Any residence permit allows employed work without special authorisation (art. 83.º(1)(b) Lei 23/2007). If the person holds an employment permit, the change of employer is notified to AIMA, with no new card. A Blue Card holder in the first 12 months must notify in writing and AIMA may object within 30 days. You attach a copy of the card to the company’s copy of the contract and keep track of its expiry.
Can a Brazilian or other CPLP national come visa-free and apply in Portugal?
Not since Lei 61/2025: a CPLP residence permit now requires a residence visa (art. 87.º-A(1) Lei 23/2007), for procedures started after 23 October 2025. CPLP nationals still get a simpler visa: no AIMA prior opinion, and the host entity can sign a statement of responsibility that replaces several documents.
Can our employee use the remote-work (“D8”) or “D7” visa?
No. The remote-work visa is for people working for employers or clients outside Portugal (art. 61.º-B Lei 23/2007); once your Portuguese company is the employer, the person needs an employed-work route. D7 and D8 are consular labels, not terms of the Act, and D7 is for people living on their own income.
Does BCA handle the visa?
No. We do not do immigration filings: the visa and permit applications are the employee’s, or their immigration lawyer’s. We prepare the company side: the employment contract terms the law requires, the employer declarations and company documents, Social Security registration, payroll and withholding, and the IFICI file.
Where each rule comes from
- Immigration Act (Lei 23/2007) as amended to Lei 62/2026, the Immigration Regulation (DR 84/2007), the CIRS, the EBF and Portaria 352/2024/1, as cited, in English in our law library.
- Lei 62/2026, official text; Decree-Law 37-A/2024; Labour Code, article 5, as amended by Lei 13/2023.
- AIMA: employment permit, highly qualified permit, EU Blue Card, fee table, labour-migration protocol, EU citizens’ registration.
- MNE consular portal: decision periods, fees, residence-visa documents, CPLP visas, job-seeker visa.
- IAPMEI, Tech Visa; gov.pt, NIF and NISS for foreign nationals. EU, EEA and Swiss nationals: Law 37/2006, registration with the Câmara Municipal within 30 days after the first three months.
We do not practise immigration law; this is the employer’s reading of the statute on 30 October 2026. We read Lei 62/2026 to page 41 of 52; the 11 September 2026 date comes from our consolidated text.
The company side, ready before the visa appointment
Tell us who you want to hire, where they are and what the job pays. We prepare the contract terms the law requires, the employer declarations and company documents, Social Security registration, payroll and withholding, and the IFICI file. The visa and permit filings stay with the employee or their immigration lawyer; we work alongside them.