The Highly Qualified Activity Visa in Portugal, or the Portugal HQA visa, is intended to highly qualified individuals who will carry out activities for a certified company. The HQA visa for Portugal can be an effective way to obtain residency for individuals who activate in innovative sectors.
Like all types of residence permits, the Portuguese HQA visa is issued to those foreign nationals who meet certain criteria for eligibility. This type of visa falls under the broader category of the Portugal D3 visa which is issued to highly qualified individuals.
If you need more information about the HQA visa than that summarized in our article, please feel free to contact our Portugal immigration specialists, as our team will be able to answer your personalized questions.
Who is the HQA visa for Portugal suited for?
The highly qualified activity visa is suited for the following foreign nationals who wish to relocate to Portugal:
- third-country citizens who do not have permanent residency in an EU country;
- highly qualified foreigners recruited by a Portuguese company with an employment agreement of at least 12 months;
- have a minimum salary of at least 2.5 times the equivalent of the social support index;
- the company;
- the foreign national has a Bachelor’s degree or 5 years of experience in the specialized technical field he/she will be working in;
- the applicant is fluent in Portuguese, English, Spanish, or French;
- the company must be certified according to IAPMEI.
The company that recruits the applicant under the HQA visa in Portugal must be involved in the technology and innovation sectors. The company can recruit up to 50% of its staff under this program.
What are the documents needed for the Portuguese HQA visa?
The application includes both general documents as well as residence-permit-specific ones. Some of the general documents are a valid passport, a valid visa (if needed according to nationality), two recent passport-sized photographs, proof of accommodation, and the applicant’s criminal record.
The company that hires a foreign national under the HQA visa Portugal will need to submit a term of responsibility, used to prove the legal entity’s certification and compliance with the IAPMEI criteria This is a mandatory document and it is provided together with the general documents above.
Please keep in mind that the needed documents are only briefly listed in this article. If you want to move to Portugal under a highly qualified activity visa, our team can give you more details about the documents that can apply in your specific case.
What are the fees applicable to the D3 visa in Portugal?
The following taxes apply to residence permit applications in Portugal starting with October 2023:
- EUR 121,95 for the receipts and analysis of a residence permit application;
- The fee above can be reduced to 91,46 for digital applications;
- A fee of € 48,78 applies for any changes submitted to a temporary residence permit;
- A fee of € 56,62 applies for the change of data in the case of a permanent residence permit.
The authorities implement two different fees for residence permit applications, the lower one being for digital ones. These general fees can change and this will also affect the ones applicable to the D3 visa for Portugal. We recommend discussing these with our immigration lawyer in Portugal.
If you are a highly qualified foreign national who wishes to relocate to the country under the Portugal D3 visa issued for a different type of specialized activity, our team will answer your questions.
Contact our Portugal immigration specialists for more information about the highly qualified activity visa. We can also assist you if you wish to apply for a visa or residence permit other than the Portugal HQA visa.