Residence permit for higher-education students
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Autorização de residência para estudantes do ensino superior as of 2026-08-07[1][4] |
|---|---|
| Official name (English) | Residence permit for higher-education students as of 2026-08-07[1] Working translation of the official Portuguese title. |
| Legal basis | Lei n.º 23/2007 (REPSAE), art. 91.º, read with art. 62.º (residence visa for research, study, secondary-school exchange, internship and volunteering) and art. 77.º, and Decreto Regulamentar n.º 84/2007 art. 57.º as of 2026-08-07[1][4] AIMA states the same combination. The subsection transposes Directive (EU) 2016/801. |
| Instrument type | residence permit as of 2026-08-07[1][4] |
Who can apply
| Nationals not served by this route | EU, EEA as of 2025-10-22[4] |
|---|---|
| Criminal-record condition | Yes as of 2026-08-07[1][4] REPSAE art. 77.º/1/b) and /1/d); AIMA requires a criminal-record certificate from the country of nationality or from the country of residence of more than one year. |
Permit terms
| Initial duration | 3 years as of 2026-08-07[1][4] |
|---|---|
| How the initial term is set | fixed |
| Renewable | Yes as of 2026-08-07[1][4] Renewable for equal periods. |
| Renewal duration | 3 years as of 2026-08-07[1][4] Art. 91.º/2: equal periods. Art. 95.º/2/d) makes failure to progress in the studies a refusal ground on renewal. |
| Work rights | full as of 2026-08-07[1][4] |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | Yes as of 2025-10-22[4] |
|---|
Requirements
| Enrolment status required | enrolled as of 2026-08-07[1][4] REPSAE art. 91.º/1/a) requires proof of matrícula at a higher-education institution, and AIMA lists the comprovativo da matrícula among the specific documents. Admission alone suffices at the visa stage (art. 62.º/4), not at the permit stage. |
|---|---|
| Means requirement | 1 × guaranteed minimum monthly remuneration (national minimum wage) per month as of 2026-08-07[1][2][3] |
| Savings alternative | Not established from a qualifying source |
| Work-hours cap | Not applicable |
| Post-study route exists | Not established from a qualifying source |
Process
| Where to apply from | either as of 2026-08-07[1][4] REPSAE art. 91.º/4 allows the permit to be granted to a higher-education student who does not hold an art. 62.º residence visa, provided the student entered national territory lawfully and meets the article's other conditions; AIMA operates that visa-free path and asks for proof of lawful entry. |
|---|---|
| Statutory processing time | 60 days as of 2025-10-22[4] |
| Fees |
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Your next step
Read the requirements above considering your own situation: the income multiple, the absence limits, who you can bring. Check the country record for the reference figure those amounts are calculated from, and for anything that has changed recently.
The next step is your own case. That assessment is legal work. Create profile for our assistance in this.
Profile benefits
- A 30-minute call with our consultant, who reads your profile first.
- An offer for legal support built around your case, covering the whole process.
Verification
| Sources cited | 4 |
|---|---|
| of which official (tier 1) | 4 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2025-10-22 |
| Newest as-of date | 2026-08-07 |
| Reviewed on | 2026-08-11 |
| Schema version | 1.1 |
Sources
- [1] Autorização de Residência Emitida a Estudantes do Ensino Superior – Art. 91.º
AIMA, I. P. · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [2] Meios de subsistência – Documentação instrutória – Vistos Nacionais
Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros (Portal dos Vistos) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [3] Portaria n.º 1563/2007, de 11 de dezembro – meios de subsistência
Diário da República, 1.ª série, n.º 238 · gazette · Tier 1 · Published 2007-12-11 · Accessed 2026-08-06 - [4] Lei n.º 23/2007, de 4 de julho (REPSAE – regime de entrada, permanência, saída e afastamento de estrangeiros), texto consolidado, 19.ª versão
Procuradoria-Geral Distrital de Lisboa – base de dados de legislação consolidada · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2025-10-22 · Accessed 2026-08-06