I was interviewed on the Expat Focus Podcast earlier this year. The episode covered the questions we hear most often from Americans considering Portugal — which visa applies to their situation, what it realistically costs to live there, and what the nationality law change means for people already in the process.
The recording is from March. The fundamentals haven’t changed — but the timeline has, and that changes everything.
Listen to the full episode on Spotify
Which visa fits your situation?
The most common mistake I see: people choose the D7 because it sounds simpler, without realising the stay requirement makes it incompatible with keeping their life abroad. If you’re spending most of your time outside Portugal, the Golden Visa is built for that. If you’re genuinely relocating, the D7, D8 or D2 will cost you less and get you there faster.
Portugal Golden Visa — For investors who want residency without relocating. €500,000 fund investment. 14 days in Portugal every two years. Learn more →
D7, D8, and D2 visas — For people relocating to Portugal. Whether you’re retiring on passive income, working remotely, or starting a business, there’s a route for each situation. Compare all three →
Not sure which visa is actually for you? Start here.
The stay requirement most people underestimate.
The D7 is not a visa you can hold from a distance. On your first two-year permit, you cannot be outside Portugal for more than eight months in total, or six months consecutively. Portugal is enforcing this more strictly than it used to.
If you’re keeping your life in the US and visiting occasionally, the Golden Visa is the right structure — not the D7.
The nationality law — where it stands.
When the episode was recorded, the citizenship extension from five to ten years was still being debated. That change has since passed.
The five-year pathway is no longer the default. If you’re planning around Portugal for the long term, how you structure your residency from the start matters more now than it did a year ago.
Why I started TGP in the first place.
I moved to Portugal in 2018 and hired a lawyer to handle my own application. After the first meeting, she gave me incomplete and inaccurate information — and when I followed up to challenge it, she stopped responding entirely. Two more emails asking for an update. Nothing.
I started The Golden Portugal in 2020 to fix that. Response within 48 hours, via email and WhatsApp. That’s still the standard today.
