Current status: active

Portugal's StartUP Visa is active as of 14 September 2026. IAPMEI continues to publish the entrepreneur application process, certified-incubator framework and 2026 financial reference, while AIMA maintains the residence-permit route for immigrant entrepreneurs under Article 89(4).

A closed annual call for certification of incubators does not mean the entrepreneur program itself is closed. IAPMEI describes entrepreneur applications as an online process and its official FAQ states that the StartUP Visa operates continuously without a fixed deadline for entrepreneur applications.

What is the StartUP Visa?

StartUP Visa is an innovation-focused immigration program for foreign entrepreneurs who want to develop an entrepreneurship and/or innovation project in Portugal. It links three stages:

  1. an entrepreneur/project application through IAPMEI;
  2. acceptance into a certified incubator and issuance of the IAPMEI acceptance documentation used for immigration purposes; and
  3. the Portuguese residence-visa/residence-permit process.

It is not simply a branding name for every founder who wants to open a Portuguese company.

Who is the program designed for?

IAPMEI says the program is aimed at entrepreneurs from around the world who want to set up or relocate an innovative technology-based company to Portugal.

The official criteria focus on projects that:

  • develop innovative goods or services with an internationalization perspective;
  • focus on technology and knowledge with prospects for innovative products;
  • have potential to create qualified employment;
  • can constitute a company where applicable during the program; and
  • have potential, within five years after the incubation period begins, to reach more than €325,000 annual turnover and/or more than €325,000 in assets.

IAPMEI evaluates economic and innovative potential based on factors including innovation, scalability, market potential, management-team capability and qualified-employment potential in Portugal.

Personal eligibility and the Schengen-residence rule

IAPMEI's official FAQ describes the program as intended for foreign entrepreneurs without permanent residence in the Schengen Area. The FAQ also explains documentary treatment of this requirement and requires the entrepreneur to be at least 18.

The program can cover a founder with a new project or an entrepreneur with an existing project/company outside Portugal who wants to move the activity into Portugal, subject to the applicable program rules.

Certified-incubator interest is not optional

The StartUP Visa uses certified incubators as an integral part of the process.

The entrepreneur first develops the application and can send declarations of interest to one or more certified incubators. To progress to the IAPMEI submission stage, the official FAQ says the entrepreneur needs a positive response from at least one incubator.

After IAPMEI approval, the entrepreneur and incubator proceed to the incubation contract. The official FAQ states that the incubation is physical rather than virtual under the program framework.

That makes StartUP Visa structurally different from D2: an ordinary D2 entrepreneur does not have to persuade a certified incubator to accept the project.

2026 funds requirement: €6,445.56 per entrepreneur

IAPMEI's current StartUP Visa page expressly lists the 2026 Indexante dos Apoios Sociais (IAS) amount as €537.13 and gives the program calculation:

12 × €537.13 = €6,445.56

The official FAQ explains that this 12-times-IAS amount is a mandatory subsistence requirement, must be shown individually for each entrepreneur, and is evidenced through a bank declaration.

Do not confuse this personal subsistence amount with the capital needed to build the startup. A credible project can require materially more operating capital, and the program separately evaluates business viability and growth potential.

How many founders can be included?

IAPMEI's FAQ states that a project can include up to five entrepreneurs, and the visa framework can correspondingly cover up to five entrepreneur participants in the project, subject to each person's compliance with the applicable requirements.

Each applicant's contribution is expected to be essential to development of the entrepreneurial project.

The €325,000 test is a potential benchmark, not an upfront investment

The program's €325,000 figure is often misunderstood.

The official criterion is the project's potential to reach, within five years after the incubation period begins, annual turnover above €325,000 and/or assets above €325,000. It is not a statement that the founder must transfer €325,000 to Portugal before applying.

IAPMEI asks the project to substantiate its projections through the business model, target markets, expected market share, pricing and related commercial assumptions.

Application sequence

The IAPMEI process can be understood as follows:

  1. create the entrepreneur/project record on the online platform;
  2. develop the project description and identify the entrepreneur team;
  3. approach certified incubators through declarations of interest;
  4. obtain a positive incubator response;
  5. complete and submit the application to IAPMEI;
  6. if approved, conclude the incubation contract within the program process; and
  7. obtain the IAPMEI acceptance documentation needed for the immigration stage.

The IAPMEI FAQ cites a maximum 30-working-day decision period for the program application after submission, with the decision made available through the platform. Treat that as the program's published administrative period, not the total immigration timeline.

Visa stage after IAPMEI acceptance

The IAPMEI acceptance does not itself make the entrepreneur a Portuguese resident. The entrepreneur then uses the program acceptance/incubation documentation in the Portuguese residence-visa process.

The official IAPMEI FAQ describes the residence visa as the instrument that permits entry to Portugal to seek the residence authorization. It lists standard visa documents alongside the IAPMEI acceptance declaration, such as passport, photographs, travel insurance, criminal-record evidence and means of subsistence.

The FAQ historically cited a 60-day visa decision period. Because consular procedures and local requirements can change, applicants should rely on the competent Portuguese consular post for the current filing method, appointment and documentary formalities.

AIMA residence permit

AIMA's current StartUP Visa page asks for evidence including:

  • valid passport;
  • criminal-record evidence under the applicable rules;
  • Portuguese residence-address evidence;
  • proof of the creation of an innovative company integrated in a certified incubator, through an IAPMEI declaration; and
  • tax/Social Security and professional-qualification evidence when applicable.

AIMA states that the temporary residence authorization for immigrant entrepreneurs is valid for two years from issuance and renewable for successive three-year periods.

StartUP Visa versus D2 entrepreneur

StartUP Visa is usually the more specialized route.

Choose it for comparison when the project genuinely fits an innovation/incubator model and can meet IAPMEI's scalability, market and qualified-employment expectations.

The ordinary D2 entrepreneur route is broader and does not require a certified incubator or StartUP Visa's specific innovation/growth criteria. Conventional consulting, retail, hospitality, services or other viable businesses may therefore fit D2 better even when their owners casually call themselves startup founders.

Compare the D2 entrepreneur visa.

StartUP Visa versus ARI business investment

StartUP Visa and ARI can both involve business capital but operate on very different logic.

StartUP Visa is an innovation/incubation route with no ARI-style €500,000 company-capital threshold. ARI's business-capital option, by contrast, requires at least €500,000 transferred into a qualifying Portuguese company structure plus specified permanent-job creation or maintenance conditions; ARI also has a low minimum-presence regime.

A high-capital investor should not assume StartUP Visa is interchangeable with ARI, and an early-stage innovative founder should not assume ARI capital is necessary for StartUP Visa.

Read the ARI business-investment guide.

Family reunification after the 2025 reform

StartUP Visa founders need to account for Portugal's current Article 98 family rules.

The general rule now requires the sponsor to have held a valid residence permit for at least two years. A 15-month period applies for a spouse/equivalent partner with at least 18 months of qualifying prior cohabitation immediately before the sponsor's entry.

Dependent minors/incapacitated family members and some co-parent situations are exempt, and an exceptional waiver/reduction can be available. The route-based family exemption in Article 98 names permits under Articles 90, 90-A and 121-A; StartUP Visa is Article 89(4) and is not included in that route-based list.

Some older IAPMEI FAQ material predates this 2025 legal reform, so current Article 98 should control family-timing analysis.

Permanent residence and nationality

AIMA's current permanent-residence guidance uses a five-year temporary-residence threshold, with additional conditions such as basic Portuguese.

Portugal's Ministry of Justice now states that the ordinary adult naturalization route based on legal residence generally requires 10 years. Startup founders should therefore separate company/incubation milestones, residence-permit milestones, permanent residence and nationality rather than treating them as one five-year timeline.

Startup founder preparation checklist

Before committing to StartUP Visa, test the project against the actual program logic:

  • Is the project genuinely innovative and internationally scalable?
  • Is technology/knowledge central rather than incidental?
  • Can the plan support qualified-employment potential?
  • Can the five-year €325,000 turnover/assets potential be credibly modeled?
  • Can each founder demonstrate the mandatory 12-times-IAS funds?
  • Is a certified incubator willing to support the project?
  • Can the team meet the physical-incubation and company-establishment expectations?
  • Does the founder team stay within the program's participant rules?

If several answers are weak, a conventional D2 entrepreneur strategy may deserve comparison before spending time on incubator outreach.

Verification note

This route was verified on 14 September 2026 against IAPMEI, AIMA and current Portuguese immigration legislation. The entrepreneur program is active; the fact that a particular incubator-certification call is closed does not by itself close entrepreneur applications. This page has not been reviewed by a Portuguese immigration lawyer.

Official and supporting sources

Related routes in Portugal