What changed
Portugal’s old job-seeker visa — the one that let almost anyone from outside the EU show up for 120 days and look for work, regardless of qualifications — no longer exists. Portugal’s parliament voted for Law No. 61/2025 on September 30; the president signed it on October 16; and it was published on October 22, and one day later, it came into effect.
Starting October 23, 2025, Portuguese consular offices and visa application centres could no longer accept job-seeking visa applications, as this type of visa no longer existed as previously defined by law, and all appointments already scheduled were cancelled. Anyone mid-process was left waiting for a route that had simply stopped existing.
Who still qualifies
The replacement — commonly called the Skilled Job Seeker Visa — keeps the same legal basis, Article 57-A of the Foreigners’ Law, but with a much narrower gate. It’s a specialised national visa designed for non-EU professionals to enter Portugal specifically to find “highly qualified” employment, granting the legal right to stay for several months for job hunting, and it is now strictly reserved for individuals with higher education or specialised technical expertise.
In practice, that means applicants must show proof of higher education or relevant professional certification qualifying the applicant for positions of high complexity or technical demand, alongside financial means, health insurance and a clean criminal record. Someone hoping to arrive on spec and find bar work, construction shifts or entry-level hospitality jobs no longer has this option — the pathway is built around degree holders and recognised specialists in fields like IT, engineering, healthcare and finance.
The mechanics haven’t changed much — the eligibility has
The visa still runs on a familiar structure: an initial initial stay of 120 days, with a possible 60-day extension, to attend interviews, network with employers, and sign a contract. Applicants generally need to clear a new pre-screening step first — an Expression of Intent to the IEFP before the consular application, creating a pre-screening layer that connects applicants with the Portuguese Employment Service — before a consulate or VFS Global centre will even take the file.
Once a compatible job is secured, conversion follows a defined route: applying for a Residence Permit for Highly Qualified Activity under Article 77, which requires evidence of an employment contract or a binding job offer, proof of sufficient income and accommodation, and compliance with tax and social security obligations. Fail to land something suitable within the window, and the visa expires and the holder must leave Portugal, with a new application for the same purpose only possible one year after the previous visa’s expiry.
One detail that trips people up: this visa no longer opens doors beyond Portugal itself. Article 46(2) of the revised law states that temporary stay visas, residence visas, and skilled job search visas are valid only for Portuguese territory, ending the informal Schengen mobility some applicants previously relied on.
Why it matters beyond individual applicants
The restriction lands at an awkward moment for sectors that depend on workers without degrees. Immigration lawyers have flagged the risk directly: “sectors dependent on lower-skilled workers, such as hospitality and agriculture, may face labour shortages as the new job seeker visa focuses only on highly skilled professionals.” That warning lines up with labour-market data cited alongside the reform — Portugal faces approximately 58,000 job vacancies across eight sectors, with construction requiring 70,000 workers and tourism/hospitality forecasting 49,000 positions unfilled — a gap the new rules do nothing to close.
The reform didn’t arrive alone. Law 61/2025 also definitively terminates Portugal’s manifestação de interesse regularisation pathway, which allowed non-EU nationals to enter as tourists, find work, make 12 months of Social Security contributions, and then apply for residence — a mechanism that had built a backlog of roughly 400,000 pending cases before closing permanently on December 31, 2025. Together, the two changes mark a clear pivot away from Portugal’s more permissive, come-first-figure-it-out-later immigration model.
What to watch next
Detailed eligibility criteria — the actual list of qualifying professions and how “technical competencies” get assessed — depend on secondary regulation from AIMA and the ministries covering foreign affairs, immigration, education and labour. That guidance has been rolling out gradually rather than all at once, so specifics on borderline cases (self-taught developers without formal degrees, for instance, or tradespeople with certifications rather than diplomas) are still being clarified consulate by consulate.
Anyone weighing a move to Portugal without a firm job offer should check current requirements directly with their nearest consulate or on the official visa portal before booking flights or paying application fees — and should treat online guides written before late 2025 with caution, since they describe a visa that no longer exists. For a fuller picture of how this fits alongside Portugal’s other residency routes, see our visas hub.
Rules in this space keep shifting, and outcomes always rest with AIMA and consular officials — professional immigration advice is worth the cost before committing to a relocation timeline built around this visa.
Sources
This article was produced with AI assistance and editorial oversight in line with our editorial policy. It is general information, not legal or tax advice.