Until 30 October 2022, Portugal's D7 visa was doing double duty — its original purpose was passive-income retirees and pensioners, but remote workers had been using it for years because nothing better existed. The D8 ("Visto de Residência para Trabalhadores Remotos") was created to formalise the remote-worker use case as its own programme, with its own threshold and its own application path.
The split, in plain English
| D7 (passive income) | D8 (remote workers) | |
|---|---|---|
| Income source | Pensions, rentals, dividends, royalties | Active remote work for an employer or client outside Portugal |
| Income threshold | ≈ Portuguese minimum wage | 4× Portuguese minimum wage (≈ €3,480/mo in 2026) |
| Initial visa | 4 months | 4 months |
| Residence permit | 2 years, renewable for 3 + 3 | Same |
| Path to PR | 5 years | 5 years |
Why the change mattered
The D7 was always over-stretched. Consulates inconsistently judged whether remote-employee income counted as "passive". The split removed that ambiguity: passive-income earners get the D7, active remote workers get the D8 — clearer evidence requirements on both sides.
What replaced AIMA / SEF
SEF (Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras) was Portugal's immigration authority when the D8 launched. SEF was reorganised in late 2023, with most of its functions transferring to AIMA (Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo) in October 2023. D8 applications are now handled by AIMA's network — the legal framework didn't change, only the name of the agency on the door.