Do you work for a European company currently defining a global mobility strategy or considering growing an international team? If so, you will have to navigate the sometimes tricky world of visas and work permits when hiring international talent, but don’t worry — this ultimate guide will tell you all you need to know about work permits in Europe.
There are several options for work permits in Europe, varying from country to country. One of the most commonly issued work permits is the EU Blue Card. The Blue Card is available in 25 of the 27 EU member states, with Denmark and Ireland being the exceptions.
The EU Blue Card was introduced to fill skill shortages in Europe’s labor markets, minimize bureaucracy, and enhance alignment within the EU. This work permit gives highly qualified workers from outside the European Union the right to live and work in a member state and grants them the ability to:
The EU Blue Card is just one of many available European work permits. Each country has its own unique permits that international talent can apply for when taking up employment. This article will provide an overview of work permits in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, the UK, and Portugal.
An investment of €500,000 into a qualifying Private Equity investment fund or Venture Capital fund within Portugal will gain a golden visa residency permit for a family including dependent children. Although other methods are available including creating jobs or charitable donation (see FAQ below) the fund route is the only passive investment option offering clients a potential return on investment.
There are certain costs to consider in addition to the investment amount for the golden visa. They include:
In addition to the investment and fees applicants will need to open a Portuguese bank account. Investors are required to have a clean criminal record, full health insurance and to submit their applications along with full biometrics. This requires one visit to Portugal at the application stage.
The Golden Visa can be renewed at two-year intervals providing the applicant spends two weeks in the country every two years and maintains their investment.
Aside from the Blue Card, one of the most commonly issued German work permits is the work visa for qualified professionals. It is available to professionals who have attended an institution of higher education or received qualified vocational training outside of Germany and wish to obtain employment in Germany.
This visa or residence permit is issued for a maximum of four years. If a work contract has a shorter duration, the residence permit is granted for the duration of the contract.
These are the requirements for the work visa for qualified professionals:
Aside from the EU Blue Card, the most common work permit in Austria is the Red-White-Red Card. The following groups are eligible to apply:
The Red-White-Red Card is issued for a period of 24 months and entitles holders to fixed-term settlement and employment by the employer specified in the application.
To apply for the Red-White-Red Card, applicants must have a fixed and regular income to cover their living costs. Here’s the required monthly income as of January 2023:
Applicants must also have health insurance which provides benefits in Austria, and provide proof of accommodation or housing.
The most commonly issued work permit in the Netherlands is the Highly Skilled Migrant Permit. The Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) defines a Highly Skilled Migrant as an employee who works for a recognized sponsor in the Netherlands based on a work contract. The employee must fulfill specific criteria, such as age, salary, and experience requirements.
The EU Blue Card and the Highly Skilled Migrant Program require an employment contract with a company in the Netherlands. Whereas the EU Blue Card requires an employment contract of at least a year, the Highly Skilled Migrant permit requires a three-month contract.
Besides, the highly skilled migrant needs to meet the following salary criteria (the year 2023):
If you want to hire your employee as a Highly Skilled Migrant in the Netherlands, you must become a recognized sponsor by the IND. To become a sponsor, you must fulfill specific criteria and qualifications, including being reliable and financially healthy. After the recognition process, your company will be included in the Public Register for Recognised Sponsors. Keep in mind that only organizations can become recognized sponsors – not people.
The process of becoming a sponsor might take from 30 to 90 days. Once you receive the positive sponsorship confirmation, you can start hiring internationally. You don’t need to become a sponsor if your employee applies for the Blue Card.
One of the main work permits in Spain is the Residence Visa for Highly Skilled Professionals.
This visa grants residence and work authorization to the following groups:
One of the main benefits of this work permit is the streamlined processing. The visa decisions are made and notified within ten working days. The residence permit decisions are generally completed within 20 days.
The United Kingdom does not participate in the Blue Card scheme, but other UK work permit options are available for your talent. Especially post-Brexit, hiring internationally within the UK is a very relevant but also complex topic.
The Skilled Worker Visa is a common option to employ someone in the UK. In this case, you, as the employer, must obtain a sponsorship license first. Find out if your business is eligible here. After becoming a sponsor, all visa applications are handled through the Sponsorship Management System, for which you need to assign users respectively.
Your employee needs to meet the following criteria to be eligible for the skilled worker visa:
Different fees are usually charged when applying for a skilled worker visa, including the Certificate of Sponsorship fee, the immigration skills charge, the visa application fee, and the healthcare surcharge.
The Critical Skills Employment Permit is for skilled workers qualified in professions with a shortage of skills in Ireland.
To apply for a Critical Skills Employment Permit or support your employee with the permit, you need to check the following criteria:
You cannot get a work permit for a company where more than 50% are non-EEA nationals. However, this requirement can be waived if your company is a start-up supported by Enterprise Ireland.
The Portugal Highly Qualified Activity Visa is a visa for highly-qualified professionals.
The Portuguese government defines highly-qualified work as: “That whose exercise requires specialized technical skills of an exceptional nature or an adequate qualification for the respective exercise.” For example:
The Portugal HQA visa enables holders to live in Portugal with the same fundamental rights as Portuguese citizens and access to the country’s public health system and other social services. Additional benefits include the ability to:
The benefits of Portugal’s Golden Visa scheme have helped establish it as arguably the world’s foremost residency by investment program. They include:
From 2012 through to 2023 it was possible to invest in real estate in Portugal to gain the golden visa. That all changed in October 2023 when a new law was passed introducing new rules. The law now restricts inward investment to direct company investment (creating jobs) or through Private Equity or Venture Capital Funds. Such funds must be registered under legislation in Portugal. They can not be invested in real estate and must have a minimum maturity of five years. 60% of the fund must be invested in companies with a head office in Portugal. We act as an introducer to regulated Fund Managers but we do not provide investment advice. Please read our disclaimer.
A few examples of qualifying Fund Investments for residency and citizenship investment in Portugal. For advice and details on each of these please contact us for an introduction to the relevant fund manager who is regulated to give advice on these. We have also written a general guide to Private Equity investing in Portugal.
Investment in this Agrobusiness fund qualifies for Portugal's new Golden Visa programme.
Portugal | €500,000
Previously it was possible to invest through real estate. That is no longer the case. Now investment must be through either:
Investing €500,000 through a Private Equity or Venture Capital Fund: These are funds regulated by the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM). Such funds are managed by a regulated Fund Manager. Funds can not be invested in real estate.
Company Investment: Either by establishing your own company and creating 10 jobs or investing a minimum €500,000 in an existing company creating 5 jobs.
Family reunification is a key benefit. The main investor applying for the programme can include:
▪ A spouse or partner
▪ Children under 18 years old
▪ Dependent children over 18 years old, as long as they are unmarried and enrolled in full-time education
▪ Dependent parents of either spouse or partner, over 55 years old. No need to provide evidence of dependency if they are over 65 years old
▪ Siblings under 18 years old of either spouse or partner if legally under their supervision
Children over the age of 18 years old can be included, however, they must remain dependent for each year until citizenship is achieved. There is no official age limit for dependent children, but we would advise no older than around 22 or 23 years as they need to remain dependent for the five-to-six-year period following. In reality, it can be much harder to prove a 28 year old child is still dependent, unmarried and in full time education, although it is possible.
For the initial residency application, there is no language test required. The language test is only applicable when applying for Citizenship, so applicants have 5-6 years to prepare for this step. Anyone under the age of 10 years old does not need to take the language test. The language test is an A2 level (conversational level) and most of the test is in a multiple-choice format.
Unless you reside in Portugal for 183 days of the year or more, you will not be taxed on your worldwide income. As a non-tax resident, you only need to pay tax in Portugal if you earn any income in Portugal, for example, a rental return from your property. If you do choose to reside in Portugal, please note the previous Non-Habitual Residency (NHR) program is no longer available from 2024. This granted certain tax exemptions for overseas income tax for the first 10 years of residence. For overseas investors there is no tax on investment gains or investment income from funds in Portugal but such income may well be taxed in your home country as overseas income.
No. It must be purchased personally.
As a Portuguese resident, you can gain access to Portugal’s national health service (SNS), providing you are a fiscal resident.
However, as part of the Golden Visa application process, you must provide evidence of a private health insurance policy to be granted the residency visa. Price can vary depending on the individual’s health and any pre-existing conditions. If you are not residing in Portugal full time, as many Golden Visa holders will not be, we would advise continuing with a private healthcare policy.
Yes, you can. This is now the only passive investment route for the golden visa unless you want to be investing in a specific company, your own or an established business, that will create jobs. Programme rules and benefits remain the same whichever route.
If you are cohabiting with a long-term partner, sometimes referred to as a common-law partner, it is possible to apply for most of the European Golden Visa programmes under one joint application. In Portugal, unmarried couples who have been residing together for a minimum of 2 years are eligible to apply together, providing they can supply evidence of their relationship. Official documents confirming they share an address, have joint assets or evidence that they have children together would be sufficient to support the case. It is also possible for same-sex couples to apply together under the same application.
Since Portugal introduced their Golden Visa programme in 2012, at the time of writing over 12,000 main investors have now been approved for Portuguese residency, with over 18,000 family members also being accepted. The total revenue generated by the programme is over €5.3 billion.
The Golden Visa programme in Portugal is open to all non-EU Citizens. This now also includes British citizens, following Brexit. There are no non-EU citizens that are prohibited from applying, however, certain nationalities such as Iranian citizens and Russian citizens may find it difficult to open a Portuguese bank account, due to the EU’s banking compliance process. This is not to say it is not possible. If you have any concerns, please contact La Vida’s experts for more advice.
In theory, the only reason an application would be rejected is if an applicant has a criminal record, has been dishonest on the application, or has not fulfilled the minimum investment requirements. It is a document-driven process and Our advisors, and legal partners will work closely with you throughout the process to compile your file to ensure your application is successfully approved.
▪ Valid Passport, Schengen Visa and travel documents
▪ Investment certificate
▪ Declaration from a bank in Portugal confirming the transfer of the funds
▪ Absence of criminal conviction in Portugal and of interdiction to enter the country
▪ Criminal certificate from country of origin (absence of conviction of relevant crime)
▪ Absence of notice from the Portuguese Immigration Authorities or Schengen Services
▪ Declaration from the investor confirming compliance with
the investment requirements
In the early days of the program China was the dominant source country. Today it is the USA. The growth in the US market has been quite staggering. Over 40% of all investors through us are now from the US. Other popular source countries include Nigeria, Lebanon, India, South Africa, Turkey and since Brexit, the UK.
Since the rule changes in October 2023 qualification for the Portuguese Golden Visa can be through:
▪ Fund Subscription: Minimum €0.5m
▪ Company creation: With minimum 10 jobs created
▪ Donating a minimum €250,000 to national heritage.
▪ Investing a minimum €500,000 in Research & Development
▪ If you are interested in any of these options, please contact us for further details.
No it is not. The government were proposing to close the golden visa for future applications following an announcement in February 2023. Since then consultation with many interested parties in business have taken place. The final bill, put forward in the Portuguese Parliament on 19th July 2023, proposed keeping the Golden Visa program but ending the real estate route, that is the €280,000 and €350,000 options. This bill was passed and the legislation came into effect in October 2023. The main route to the Golden Visa is now Fund Investment, which is set at €500,000.
There are several residency visas available in Portugal. However they are not part of the Golden Visa and carry different benefits. They include the D2 Entrepreneur or Start up Visa, D3 Tech Visa, D7 Retirement Visa and D8 Digital Nomad Visa. These visas tend to require residency, ie living and becoming tax resident in Portugal. They are very different to the Golden Visa which for most investors is held as an option to reside with minimal requirement to visit.
After five years of holding a golden visa in Portugal the holder can apply for citizenship and if successful then a Portuguese passport can be applied for. The applicant would need to retain their golden visa investment.
It’s not possible for golden visa investors to get immediate citizenship through investment in Portugal. Citizenship is only possible after a period of residency. If the investor holds a golden visa, which is a type of residency visa, for five years then they can apply for Portuguese citizenship (which is EU citizenship). Recent legislation in 2024 means that the five year time period now begins at the point of application for the golden visa. This is a positive development for anyone in the process of waiting for their GV application to complete.
The Residence Permit for Investment (ARI) regime is the official name for the Portuguese Golden Visa. The legislation allows Nationals from outside the EU, EEA, and Switzerland to obtain a temporary residence permit for investment activities in Portugal. Among the benefits it allows the granting of a Permanent Residence Authorisation under the terms of the Foreigners Law (Law no. 23/2007) and the acquisition of Portuguese nationality (citizenship), through naturalization under the Nationality Law (Law no. 37/81).
Unfortunately you can not invest with Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency. Investments need to be made in Fiat currency through the banking system and from a bank account opened in Portugal. It may be possible to pay some limitedamount of fees with Crypto.
The Residence Permit for Investment (ARI) (known as the golden visa) was launched in 2012. Since then, it has delivered €7.3bn in inward investment to the Portuguese economy. Chinese nationals were the dominant investors over this time period although in recent years this has switched towards the USA. In addition, Brazil, Turkey, Nigeria, Hong Kong and South Africa are also strong investors. Close on 85% of all investment (from 11383 main investors) was channelled into real estate until the change in the programme in 2023. A total of 723 investments were made into venture capital projects, 1312 by transferring capital and just 23 for creating ten jobs. These statistics will shift going forward from 2024 as real estate has been eliminated as a potential route.
There are still lengthy delays in processing golden visa applications in Portugal. One positive piece of news is the impending change to the citizenship laws. This will mean that wait times will count in the five year period before Portuguese citizenship can be applied for. The five year clock will start ticking from the point of application. The Portuguese Government has taken several steps to reduce the golden visa backlog by 50%.
Other residency routes exist as an alternative to the golden visa scheme. The Portugal HQA visa seeks entrepreneurs with a proven track record looking to start a business in the country through foreign investment. This may work for business people wishing to spend significant time in the country while establishing their new venture. The Portugal D7 visa requires the applicant to make Portugal their primary country of residence. Neither offers the flexibility of the portugal golden visa programme which is a passive programme allowing the golden visa holder to live elsewhere, having to visit Portugal for an average of just 7 days each year. Golden visa investors have far less restrictions on their lives than those on the D7 or HQA.
When managing an international team, knowing what options are available regarding work permits/visas is critical. There are several options for international talent who hope to work in Europe. Ultimately, the right choice will depend on professional qualifications and individual circumstances.
Want to know more about work permits in Europe? Need help supporting employees with the visa process? Get in touch with us!
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