Portuguese Startup Visa

The Startup Visa is a residence visa for non-EU/Schengen startup founders who want to establish their businesses and to reside in Portugal.

It aims to attract investment, talent and innovation into Portugal.

The applicants wishing to access the Startup Visa and obtain a residence visa must fulfill the following criteria:

1. a)  Intention to develop business ac- tivities to produce innovative goods and/or services;

2. b)  Open or relocate companies and/or projects focused on tech- nology and knowledge, envisaging the development of innovative products;

3. c)  Potential to create qualified employment;

4. d)  Potential to, 5years after the incubation period, obtain a turnover over 325.000€ per year, and/or assets value over 325.000€ per year.

The process is managed by IAPMEI and involves the National Network of Incubators spread throughout the entire Portuguese territory.

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No39/20 The Portuguese Startup Visa (II) (Update June 2020)

This will ensure that businesses created under this regime will be created near a community of entrepreneurs already working in Portugal.

The procedure to obtain the Startup Visa needs to be preceded by an incubators’ certification process which is divided into two steps:

1. i)  Incubators certification;

2. ii)  Applicants’ application to the

   visa program.

This second step will then proceed with the online application before the IPAMEI (Public Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation).

The evaluation of the applications is based on the degree of innovation, the scalability of the business, the market potential, the capacity of the management team and the job creating potential.

Once the application is validated by the IAPMEI, the applicant can start the Visa application before the Portuguese Consulate of his/her residency area, and after this Visa is granted apply for the residency authorization before the Immigration and Borders Service (similar process as the “Passive Income Visa”).