hello there Lucian olera Olivera lawyers I'm here in Lisbon Portugal and today we're going to be talking about a very special type of Visa the Portugal entrepreneur Visa this Visa is ideal for those who are entrepreneurs who have experience in business the main reason for this visa to be so outstanding is because it doesn't require a massive investment such as the golden Visa which requires you to invest like 500,000 which is a lot of money for most people remember if you have a general questions you can enter in the comment section below if it is something generic we can probably answer but if it is something specific to your situation of course we need more information and the correct route is for you to schedule a consultation so let's get started what is the Portuguese entrepreneur Visa this is a Visa that is going to Grant you residenc down the road and potentially give you access to citizenship as well the D2 Visa that's another name for the Portuguese entrepreneur Visa is available for business people people who have been in Commerce people who have been in entrepreneurship for a while it's not good for those who have not been in business because in addition to presenting a business plan you're also going to need it to show that you have a history of sucess succeeding in business so the available routes is not just for you to start a business but you could also buy a business that is already running or you can even expand a business take it to the next level I'm sure you know why Portugal is a major destination for either digital Nomads or entrepreneurs Portugal offers many advantages over other destinations such as Portugal is a very stable and safe country Portugal is open open to other cultures products and services Portugal is an entry door to the European Union meaning that if you set up a business in Portugal you're going to have access not only to the Portuguese Market but to 27 countries that are part of the European Union Portugal has a very interesting cost of living you have access to everything that Europe has to offer but you're going to pay a very competitive price particularly if you compare to other countries such as France and the United Kingdom the Portuguese entrepreneur Visa in other words the D2 Visa is an excellent option for those who want to run a business in Portugal but do not want to invest the 500,000 required for the golden Visa in other words one of the major advantages of the D2 Visa is the lack of requirement for a minimum amount but pay attention to this the business plan what you going to propose as an investment for your business to run in Portugal must be realistic meaning that if you have a business plan saying that you're going to succeed in Europe with, most probably than not your application is going to be denied so this is the key over here you don't have the minimum requirements but on the other hand your application must be near perfect for you to assure a successful application the business plan is going to be of course a key component if you are applying for an entrepreneur Visa in Portugal the business plan is going to be the backbone of your application and I cannot emphasize that enough you need professional help to get a business plan that's going to look professional and acceptable from the Portuguese immigration perspective also important is going to be like referrals if you have a somewhat uh presence already in Portugal with business clients or business references this can be help helpful as well also if you are actually expanding a business that you have elsewhere that's going to add credibility to your plans because you're not just trying to run something new but you are actually doing something that you haven't been successful at note that there is no business line for you to pick you could work with technology you could open a lroom mat you could have a bakery you could have a construction service business there is no restriction on the line of business that you're going to be running again it is important to pick a business that has a realistic chance of success in Portugal but not only Portugal If you can show that your business could expand it to other countries this is going to make your plan even more interesting to the Portuguese immigration and yes you can bring family members with you spouse is something very traditional under most Portuguese visas you can also bring children up to 18 years old if they are older and they are still in college it's possible to bring it them as well even parents over 65 years old if they are financially dependent on you and Portugal is going to make it easy for you to qualify for the Portuguese citizenship as long as you stay in the country for six months per year and the six months per year is also the requirement for you to keep your Portuguese entrepreneur Visa all right now let's talk about some of the requirements you going to need to meet first I'm going to talk about the requirements in specific to the Portuguese D2 entrepreneur visa and then later I'm going to talk about the generic requirements for most Portuguese Visas so if you have a knowledge about the Portuguese immigration framework you're going to pay attention to this section in particular and the next one the generic one you can skip if you already know about them all right let's get started with the specific visa requirements the first requirement is going to be the business plan the business plan is going to take most of your efforts in terms of explaining where you're coming from and where you want to go with your business you're going to need to have solid financials the more funding you show that you're going to bring and that you actually bring it to Portugal the higher the chances for your business plan to look feasible and attainable to the Portuguese immigration business references if you have any type of reputation in your country if you have any articles that you wrote If you have a role in the scientific Community if you wrote papers if you publish it in newspapers bring those documents into the application because again this is going to make clear to the Portuguese immigration that you know what you're talking about in terms of credentials you can also use your resume you can present letters of recommendation and anything that's going to be helpful for the Portuguese immigration to understand your profile for whatever money you are promising to invest into the business you should have this business in a bank account in Portugal it's very easy for people to say that they're going to invest 50,000 100,000 but if the Portuguese immigration doesn't see this money accessible to you when you started the business that would be just like a promise however if you have a bank account in Portugal with those funds it makes easier for the Portuguese immigration to believe that you actually going to invest the money into your business so let's talk now about the general requirements requirements that apply uh to visas in general in Portugal the first one is that you must have money uh to keep yourself and your family if you're bringing family members for a full year in Portugal the idea here is that you have a minimum uh salary by Portugal standards which today is 820 her uh for yourself and then you're going to need an additional amount for each family member that you bring in usually a spouse is going to mean 50% more and each child under 18 is going to require 30% more if your child is older than 18 years old and it's coming with you to study you can still bring this child and then you're going to need to add 50% on top of what you're bringing in addition to what you bring to your spouse as well and for this application in particular I cannot emphasize enough you should have this money in a Portuguese bank account why not in another bank account because Portugal they cannot tell if the paperwork that you're presenting is real or not now if you have this money in Portugal it's much easier for the Portuguese authorities to know that the money is actually available to you you're going to need the N or the niche as it said in Portugal which is the Portuguese tax ID there is also the proof of accommodation remember that you need to have accommodation in Portugal secured for a full year so it doesn't work for you to go to Airbnb and to reserve an apartment for one month two months or even three months you must have solid proof that you have a place to stay in Portugal for at least one year ideally you would have like a lease agreement for a full year or if you bought a property in Portugal already you are one of the lucky ones who are not going to need to prove much other than showing the deed for this property health insurance is another requirement at the beginning people would use travel insurance the Portugese immigration always becoming more stringent when it comes to health insurance so our recommendation is for you once you are about to apply uh to secure health insurance for a full year Criminal background check is very important as well if you have something very minor when you were young and it's not a big deal you still have a shot at the Visa but if you have something serious that could probably be a bar to an application particularly for a Visa like this one and don't forget you're going to need an apostle for every single document that is being issued abroad the purpose of the apostal is for the Portuguese immigration to know that those documents are legit and they were issued by public or relevant institutions abroad so now let's talk about the timeline the time for the Portuguese immigration to review a paperwork is going to be between two to three months usually however for you to prepare all the paperwork and to take all the steps that we've been discussing so far usually people are going to spend between 60 to 90 days to prepare a solid application after and if you secure the Visa you're going to get a temporary visa for entering Portugal during 120 days and after entering Portugal your Visa is going to be converted into a residency and of course you're going to need to attend an appointment in person in Portugal to have your residency issued and if you're working with a firm like ours an attorney is going to attend the appointment with you so you're going to be fine with the Portuguese language requirement at least during the application you don't need to communicate in Portuguese but you should take an interpretor with you another thing if there are questions you don't know how to ask if there is an attorney by your side this is going to help you avoid the questions that could need to aeny you or the postponement of your residency in Portugal now in addition to getting your residency you also want to keep your Portuguese residency of course and for that purpose you need to stay at least 6 months in Portugal this is probably one of the downsides of the D2 visa when you compare to the golden visa and the reason for that the golden Visa is going to require you to stay only seven days per year in Portugal while the D2 Visa is going to require you to stay for 6 months and the explanation is pretty clear if you're investing €500,000 you're going to get a break on how long you need to stay in Portugal but if you're running a business it doesn't make much sense at list from the Portuguese immigration perspective for you to stay a lot of time abroad still six months and year it should not be a big deal for you to accomplish when you try to renew your D2 Visa there may be an occasion in which you're going to need to show the financials for your business and that you actually did what you promised at the beginning during the process of setting up your business plan of course A business plan is always always a plan so the reality of your business doesn't need to match 100% what you had in your business plan but if you're losing money if you're not making any money if you close the business of course those things could be a reason for the Portuguese immigration to not extend your visa when the time comes another Bigg advantage of the D2 Visa as most Portuguese visas is that after 5 years you can apply for the permanent resident seat or even the Portuguese citizenship and then you are off the hook you can sell your business you can stop your business and you can do whatever you want so let me know your opinion on the D2 Portuguese entrepreneur Visa right in the comment section below and see you in the next video