How much money you need

1. The minimum you must prove for the visa

The reference amount is the national minimum wage, which in 2026 is 920 € a month. A percentage applies to each person in the household (MNE — means of subsistence):

Example (our calculation): a couple with two children must prove 920 € + 460 € + 2 × 276 € = 1,932 € a month, that is 23,184 € for 12 months.

• How long you must prove it for depends on the visa: for example, at least 12 months for the investment visa and, for the study visa, 12 months or the length of the course.
• For study, internship and volunteering visas, if accommodation is provided the amount can be halved; if meals are also provided, reduced by up to 90%.
• Income, grants, an employment contract or promise of employment and a service contract all count, for example.

2. The minimum wage

In 2026 the minimum wage is 920 € a month on the mainland (Decree-Law No. 139/2025, DGERT) and 980 € a month in Madeira (Regional Legislative Decree No. 1/2026/M).

3. What rent costs, city by city

Median rent per m² of new lease contracts registered in the 12 months to June 2026, according to INE (Statistics Portugal). These are signed contracts, not advertised prices. Half the contracts were below this amount and half above. National average: 9.76 €/m².

* Our calculation: median rent × 60 m², just to give an order of magnitude. Actual rent depends on the home, the parish and the condition of the property.

4. Prices in Portugal compared with your country

What something that costs 100 € in Portugal would cost in each country: the price level of household consumption, using World Bank data for 2025.

How to read it: for Brazil, 71 means that what costs 100 € in Portugal cost, on average, the equivalent of 71 € in Brazil at the official exchange rate.

Our calculation: household final consumption purchasing power parity conversion factor (PA.NUS.PRVT.PP) divided by the official exchange rate (PA.NUS.FCRF), with Portugal = 100. Mozambique uses 2024 data. It is an average of all consumption in each country. It does not show wages or the rent in a particular city.

5. The cost of the application itself

The national visa application costs 110 € (exempt, among others, are children up to 6 and grant holders of the Portuguese State) (MNE — fees). Then, in Portugal, there are the AIMA fees, which vary with the residence permit. You can see the amounts on each visa’s page.