How Much Money to Move to Portugal in 2026 [Checklist]

How much money do you need to move to Portugal?

You need three buckets: one-time costs, whatever the visa makes you prove, and a buffer to live on until income is flowing in Portugal. Only some lines have an official price. Those are in the table below; the rest are worksheet lines you fill with real quotes.

Line	Amount	Source type
National visa application fee	€110 (about $123)	Official fee page
FBI Identity History Summary (US applicants)	$18 (about €16)	FBI
Proof of income, retiree or passive income, one adult	€920/month (about $1,033)	Official visa page
Proof of income, remote work visa	€3,680/month (about $4,131)	Official visa page
Rent at signing, legal maximum	First month + 2 deposit + 2 advance	Civil Code
Residence permit fee at AIMA	Check the current fee table	AIMA table
Travel/health insurance	Get 3 quotes	Insurer
Apostille, translations	Get quotes; apostille fees vary by US state	Provider / state
Flights, shipping, furniture, short-term rental	Get 3 quotes each	Provider
Buffer	Monthly budget x months	Your own numbers

Dollar amounts are converted at roughly current exchange rates (ECB reference rate 1.1225 on 2 October 2026) and rounded. Your bank’s rate and fees will differ.

What does the visa make you prove?

The visa tests monthly income, not a lump sum in the bank. For retirement or passive income, the official visa site says the benchmark is the 2026 minimum monthly wage of €920, net of social security deductions.

That €920 is the national minimum wage (RMMG), fixed at €920 for 2026 by Decreto-Lei 139/2025 of 29 December. The same Ministry of Foreign Affairs page scales it by household:

• First adult: 100% (€920)
• Second and any further adult: 50% each (€460)
• Each child under 18, and non-minor dependent children: 30% each (€276)

Here is a hypothetical example built only from those percentages. A couple with one child would need to show €920 + €460 + €276 = €1,656 a month, about $1,859. A couple with two children: €1,932, about $2,169.

Two points are easy to get wrong. First, the official page lists the documents (a statement certifying a pension amount, or a document certifying income from property, intellectual or financial assets) but names no number of months to hold funds, no minimum bank balance and no requirement for a Portuguese account. Some consulates ask for more than the checklist says, so ask yours in writing. Second, €920 is the visa floor, not a comfortable budget. For what a month actually costs once you live here, see our cost of living breakdown.

For the full document list and process, read the D7 visa guide.

How much do you need for the remote work visa?

You need to show average monthly income of at least four times the minimum wage, which is €3,680 in 2026 (about $4,131). The consular checklist asks for proof of average monthly income over the last three months.

The official residency page, as reviewed for this article, mentions no separate savings amount for this visa. That does not mean a consulate will never ask for bank statements, so budget for them and treat the income figure as the legal test. If you are a freelancer or a contractor, the practical question is whether three months of invoices and bank deposits can show that average. Our D8 digital nomad visa guide covers documents and typical sticking points.

What are the visa-stage costs?

Before you land, the confirmed fixed costs are small: €110 for the visa, and for Americans $18 for an FBI check. The unpriced lines (insurance, apostilles, translations) decide the total.

Visa fee. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that processing a national visa application costs €110 (about $123). Children under six, descendants in family reunification, scholarship recipients, highly qualified researchers and some health-cooperation patients are exempt. A decision appeal carries a separate €75 administrative cost.

Criminal record. The residence visa checklist asks for a criminal record certificate from your country of nationality or the country where you lived for over a year. For US citizens, the FBI charges $18 (about €16) for an Identity History Summary, and the fee is the same whether you apply by mail or electronically. The apostille is a separate step, and fees depend on the state or authority that issues it, so check yours rather than trusting a round number.

Travel insurance. The checklist asks for valid travel insurance covering necessary medical expenses, including urgent medical assistance and possible repatriation. The residence visa page gives no premium and no minimum sum. Collect three quotes from insurers that state the Portuguese visa requirement in their policy documents, and send the wording to your consulate if you are unsure.

Translations and certifications. Whether your documents need sworn translation depends on your consulate and document type. Ask for a written list, then get three quotes.

What does the residence permit cost after you arrive?

Check the fee table on AIMA’s site before you budget it. AIMA updated its fee table on 1 March 2026 under Portaria 307/2023, and updates it again each March, so any figure in a blog post goes stale quickly.

This article deliberately quotes no permit price. The AIMA fee table lists separate lines for issuing, renewing and replacing a title, and the line that applies to you depends on the permit category. Put the line item and the date you checked it in your worksheet. Families should multiply by the number of applicants.

One legal point belongs here. Do not plan to enter as a tourist and sort out residence later. The manifestação de interesse route ended with Lei 61/2025, so the budget above assumes you apply for the right visa from your home country first.

How much cash do you need for housing at the start?

Housing is the biggest cash hit in month one, and the law now caps it. A Portuguese landlord can ask for at most two months’ deposit and two months’ advance rent under article 1076 of the Civil Code, as amended by Lei 24-D/2022 (in force from 1 January 2023), on top of the first month.

Here is a hypothetical example, not a quote. On a €1,200 monthly lease, the legal maximum at signing is first month + 2 months’ deposit + 2 months’ advance = €6,000 (about $6,735). If a landlord asks for six or twelve months up front, that is outside the cap. Do not offer it to win a flat, and do not accept it as normal.

Two cautions. The cap covers the lease contract itself; agency fees, furnishings and utility set-up deposits are separate lines. And if you rent a short-term place while you search, that price has no official benchmark. Get three quotes for your city and dates. Our renting guide explains the lease process, contracts and what to check before paying.

What should you budget for the move itself?

Moving costs have no official price, so quote them yourself. Flights, shipping a container or a pallet, storage, furniture and a pet’s paperwork all vary with origin, volume and season. Any range printed in an article is a guess.

Use this approach instead:

1. List what you will actually bring, then decide what to sell or donate.
2. Get three written quotes for each large item, shipping included, and note whether customs and delivery are in the price.
3. Price the “replace it in Portugal” alternative for furniture and appliances, because it is often the real comparison.
4. Add the quote totals to the worksheet below.

How big should your buffer be?

The buffer is your own monthly budget multiplied by the months you will need before income settles. There is no official number, which is why it is the most useful line you can build.

Start from the monthly figure in our cost of living post, adjust for your city and household, then multiply:

Buffer = monthly budget x months until stable income

Choose the months honestly. A retiree whose pension lands on the first day has a short gap. A freelancer waiting on invoices, or anyone who needs a Portuguese account and tax number before pay can arrive, has a longer one. Keep the buffer separate from the visa income test, because the test measures what you earn and the buffer is what keeps you afloat if a payment is late.

Currency also matters. If your savings are in dollars, a few percentage points of exchange movement changes your euro budget. Our guide to sending money to Portugal covers the cost of converting.

A worksheet to total your own number

Fill this in with your quotes and dates, then add it up.

Line	Your figure	Date checked
Visa fee (€110 per applicant unless exempt)
Criminal record, apostille, translations
Travel/health insurance
Flights
Shipping or storage
Short-term rental while you search
Lease signing (first month + up to 2 deposit + up to 2 advance)
Residence permit fee (AIMA table)
Furniture and set-up
Buffer (monthly budget x months)
Total

Compare the total with your savings, not with the visa minimum. If the gap is large, stretch the timeline before you shorten the buffer.

How the numbers were checked

Every legal or fee figure above comes from an official page reviewed on 4 October 2026: the visa pages of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Decreto-Lei 139/2025 for the minimum wage, the AIMA fee notice, the consolidated Civil Code on Diário da República, and the FBI. Exchange rates come from the ECB daily reference feed (1.1225 USD per EUR, published 2 October 2026). Rules and fee tables change, so check the linked pages before you pay for anything.