Qualified work: EU Blue Card, Tech Visa, teaching and after your studies

If you have a higher education qualification or specialised technical skills and want to work in Portugal, there is not one route but several, each with its own visa or permit. This guide helps you see which one fits your case: the EU Blue Card, highly qualified activity, teaching and cultural activity, the Tech Visa, and the permits for people who finished their studies in Portugal. All of them rest on the Foreigners Law (Law 23/2007), which was amended by Laws 61/2025 and 62/2026, so confirm the wording in force and the document list from the consulate or AIMA before assembling your file.

Choosing a route

Ask yourself:

1. Am I outside Portugal, or already living here with a permit? From outside, you start with the residence visa at a consulate (see the visas guide). If you already live here for study or research, there may be a specific route, further below.
2. Do I have a work contract, and at what pay? The highly qualified activity route and the EU Blue Card start from a contract with minimum pay.
3. Is the company certified by IAPMEI? If so, look at the Tech Visa.
4. Is the activity teaching or cultural? Then the teaching or cultural regimes apply.

EU Blue Card

The EU Blue Card is a permit for third-country nationals who will carry out a highly qualified activity in Portugal. It is in articles 121-A onwards of the Foreigners Law. AIMA says the application can be made by the candidate or the employer, and that the person must attend in person to give biometric data.

Requirements AIMA gives:

• An employment contract or pre-contract for a highly qualified activity lasting at least six months.
• Annual pay of at least 1.5 times the national average gross annual salary (1.2 times in certain professions, according to AIMA).
• For non-regulated professions, proof of high professional qualifications in the field; for regulated professions, the professional certification that is required.
• A passport, a valid residence visa (unless you already have the right to reside in Portugal or a Blue Card from another Member State), NIF, NISS, an authenticated criminal record, health insurance or National Health Service coverage, and an address statement.

AIMA excludes some groups from the regime, such as people with temporary protection, family members of EU citizens, researchers with their own permit and long-term residents in another Member State. If you are in one of those situations, ask AIMA which regime applies.

If you hold a Blue Card in another Member State

According to AIMA, someone who has held the Blue Card for at least 18 months in the first Member State can move to Portugal for highly qualified work and bring family members. The application must be submitted within 30 days of entering Portugal. The appointment is made with AIMA, directly or through the employer, using the Modelo 1 form.

Ask AIMA for the euro value of the national average salary that applies to your application before you sign the contract.

Highly qualified activity (article 90)

This permit is for someone who will carry out a highly qualified activity, as an employee or self-employed, and already holds the residence visa for that purpose. AIMA indicates that the EU Blue Card and the Tech Visa follow their own regimes.

The Consular Portal describes the visa: a contract or promise of a contract of at least six months, with annual pay of at least 1.5 times the national average gross annual salary or three times the IAS. For professions in major groups 1 and 2 of the CITP classification listed by Council of Ministers resolution, the limit falls to 1.2 times or twice the IAS. AIMA gives monthly euro figures calculated with the average gross salary for 2023 and the IAS for 2024: 2,157.00 euros for 1.5 times the average salary, 1,725.60 euros for 1.2 times and 1,018.52 euros for twice the IAS. Those reference years have passed, so do not treat the numbers as the current limit: the rule is the multiple, and the euro value depends on the average salary and the IAS of the year you apply. The 2026 IAS is 537.13 euros (Portaria 480-A/2025/1), which gives 1,074.26 euros for twice, 1,611.39 euros for three times and 1,342.83 euros for 2.5 times (the Tech Visa multiple, below). Confirm with AIMA or the consulate which limit is in force.

Documents AIMA asks for the permit: passport, valid visa, authenticated criminal record, address statement with proof of how you occupy the property, NIF, NISS and proof of qualification (an authenticated copy of the diploma or certificate). Employees add a statement from the employer with the contract and pay. The self-employed add proof of starting activity with the Tax Authority and Social Security, plus a service contract, the company’s permanent certificate or recent receipts.

Teaching and cultural activity (article 90)

These are two separate permits under the same article 90 framework.

Teaching. For people who will teach at an educational establishment, a professional training body or a research centre. Besides the passport, the visa for teaching, the criminal record, the address statement, NIF and NISS, you add an employer’s statement with a contract or service agreement compatible with teaching, or an invitation letter from the institution. AIMA notes that the EU Blue Card applies without prejudice to this regime.

Cultural activity. For people who take part in a cultural activity in Portugal, within a project recognised by the Minister of Culture or by law as being of interest to the country. A statement of responsibility is required from the company using the candidate’s work, which must be certified by IAPMEI.

Tech Visa

The Tech Visa has applied since 1 January 2019 to highly qualified people hired by companies certified by IAPMEI, in technology and innovation or in other sectors named in the order that created it. The certified company issues a statement of responsibility, valid for six months, that must go with the application.

By signing it, the company confirms that the person:

• is a third-country national and not a permanent resident of the European Union;
• is at least 18;
• has an employment or service contract of at least 12 months;
• earns at least 2.5 times the IAS (1,342.83 euros at the 2026 IAS);
• has adequate knowledge of Portuguese, English, French or Spanish for the role;
• holds a qualification at level 6 or above of ISCED 2011 or, for level 5, exceptional technical skills with at least five years of experience.

General documents are the passport, the residence visa (waived in cases under article 90(2)), proof of accommodation and authorisation for AIMA to check the Portuguese criminal record. A company that issues the statement without meeting the requirements, or on false information, is excluded from the programme for five years. If your employer is not certified, you can use the general highly qualified activity regime or the EU Blue Card.

Validity and renewal

For highly qualified activity, teaching, cultural activity and the Tech Visa, AIMA says the temporary residence permit lasts two years from issue and is renewed for successive periods of three years. For the validity of the EU Blue Card, ask AIMA when you book. To renew, see the renewal guide.

After finishing your studies in Portugal

People who studied or did research in Portugal on a residence permit and now want to work have routes in article 122(1)(o) to (q) of the Foreigners Law. For the academic side, see the studying in Portugal guide.

• Point (o): secondary school or first cycle of higher education. For people who held a permit as a secondary or first-cycle student, finished the course and want to work as an employee or self-employed. AIMA asks for a passport, an address statement, proof of means of subsistence (an employment contract or promise, a service contract, or a declaration of starting activity from the Tax Authority), a criminal record, a statement from the school confirming completion of the study plan, and a declaration that you received no cooperation agreement benefit.
• Point (p): second or third cycle, or research. For people who held a permit as a master’s or doctorate student, or for research, and have finished. You can use up to one year to look for work or set up a company in Portugal that suits your qualifications. To the documents above you add a statement from the institution or the research project sponsor, or a declaration of your own that you intend to use the job-search period.
• Point (q): temporary stay visa for research or highly qualified activity. For people holding that visa who want to work in research, teaching or other highly qualified activity in Portugal. AIMA asks for a passport, address, means of subsistence, a criminal record and proof that you meet the conditions of article 18(2) of the Schengen Convention, under which, if a State allows stays of over one year, the visa must be replaced by a residence permit before it expires.

In all of them you use Modelo 1 and, where it applies, Modelo 4. On fees, AIMA points to its table of fees and charges. For the validity of the permit and the decision time in these cases, ask AIMA on (+351) 217 115 000, Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm. The means of subsistence guide explains how AIMA views that requirement.

And the qualified job-seeker visa?

The qualified job-seeker visa, in article 57-A, is suspended until it is regulated, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement of 22 October 2025; article 57-A leaves the required skills to an order. Before considering it, check on the Consular Portal whether it has reopened and see the visas guide.

How to apply at AIMA

For the residence permits, AIMA describes booking an appointment, or an online platform for visa holders, and submitting in person at an AIMA Store with Modelo 1 signed. The application can be made by the candidate or by the host entity, preferably electronically. The AIMA guide describes the service and the forms guide the templates. If you work remotely for an employer abroad, see also the remote work guide and the working in Portugal guide.

Before you start

• Get your NIF and NISS (see the NIF and NISS guides), an authenticated criminal record and proof of your qualifications.
• Use the Path assistant to order the steps and the message templates to contact AIMA.