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Portugal payroll · international hiring
Your company orders the hire. A payroll company signs the Portuguese contract and runs payroll, Social Security and IRS. Relovisa coordinates that employment setup with the employee's D3 case.
Who buys this
The D3 route needs qualifying employment in Portugal. These are the four situations where the work and the money are real but there is no Portuguese employer yet: your foreign employer or clients fund the hire, and a payroll company runs the local employment.
You have the degree or the 5+ years and a foreign client who pays for your work long term but will not open a Portuguese entity. The client funds a Portuguese hire, and a payroll company employs you locally on the contract your D3 needs.
Your employer will not open a Portuguese entity or run Segurança Social for one person. Your company orders the hire instead, a payroll company employs you locally at your agreed salary, and your foreign employer keeps its own structure.
You invoice clients today, but freelance income can be re-examined at renewal. A proper employment contract removes the ambiguity and makes the IFICI application clean.
You own a Delaware, UK or Dubai company. We build the Portuguese salary layer so you draw compliant local income and apply for IFICI on the right date.
Not sure which one you are?The first call names the route, the salary the role needs and the cost end to end before anyone builds a file. Whichever one you are, it routes to the same coordinated setup.
How the arrangement works
The employment is the product. If the role supports a D3 route, the residence case is built on that real job. It is never a visa sold on its own.
The foreign company defines the result it needs, the salary budget and the business case, then approves and funds the Portuguese employment setup.
The Portuguese payroll company signs the contract, sets the day-to-day tasks, handles time off and HR, and runs Segurança Social, IRS withholding and monthly payslips.
We keep employer documents, payroll onboarding and the employee's residence dossier moving as one plan. The authorities make every immigration and tax decision.
You do not stitch together a lawyer, an accountant and an employer. You hire one team once. Since April 2025 AIMA has been checking whether the employer behind a D3 is real, which is exactly why the employment has to be genuine and properly run before the residence file is built on it.
What you actually get
A standard Portuguese contract with your agreed gross salary, role title and start date. Portuguese labour protections apply.
Employee social security registration, monthly payslips and IRS withholding at the Portuguese rates, with 14 payments a year as Portuguese law requires.
For qualifying highly skilled work the rate is 20% flat for 10 years. The application is filed by 15 January of the year after you first become Portuguese tax resident, with the deadline coordinated against the payroll timetable.
Employment, payroll, social security, tax and the D3 dossier coordinated end to end, not split across three vendors who blame each other.
Responsibility
No hidden hand-off and no blurred employer story. Each party knows which decisions and documents are theirs.
Makes the commercial decision to hire, funds the employment, defines the result it needs and checks the deliverable.
Signs the local contract, sets the day-to-day tasks, manages time off and HR, and runs the statutory payroll and employer administration.
Coordinates onboarding, evidence, D3 preparation and the IFICI application, and stays accountable after filing.
Provides accurate records, reviews the contract and attends the authority appointments the case needs.
If a residence file has stopped moving, the payroll setup is not the fix. Legal escalation is. We run that as a separate service.
See AIMA rescue
A real number before you commit
The specimen below uses the verified calculation from our D3 page: one ordinary month at the salary most D3 roles are contracted on.
Portuguese law pays 14 salaries a year, not 12: the extra holiday and Christmas payments sit on top of the twelve months above. Personal tax position and payroll period change the exact figures.
Calculate your own scenarioIFICI is Portugal's tax status for qualifying highly skilled work: a flat 20% income tax rate for 10 years instead of the standard brackets. Preparing and filing your application is included. The Portuguese tax authority decides who qualifies.
From your first call to payroll running
Your case manager, with a licensed lawyer where the case needs one, handles the paperwork, so you are not the one chasing Portuguese bureaucracy. The sequence joins the commercial hire, the local employment setup and the residence file without pretending that one automatically approves the other.
We check the role and salary against the D3 requirement: the legal floor is €1,611.39 a month (3× IAS 2026), and in practice we contract from €2,300 a month for most roles and €2,500 to €3,000 for managerial ones. We also check the role against the IFICI activity list.
Onboarding checks are completed and the Portuguese contract is prepared with your agreed gross salary, role title and start date.
The employment is registered and payroll deductions and reporting are configured for monthly processing.
We obtain your NIF and send a step-by-step guide for opening the Portuguese bank account the payroll needs.
We prepare and double-check the residence dossier, then book the consulate slot where the jurisdiction allows it, or give you step-by-step instructions where you must appear in person.
Payslips, social security filings and IRS withholding run every month, with year-end IRS support when the annual return is due. Your IFICI application is filed by 15 January of the year after you first become Portuguese tax resident, which is the deadline that governs the whole plan.
Plan 3 to 4 months from the first call to entering Portugal as an employed D3 holder.
Service pricing
Pick Essential if you already have a Portuguese employer. Pick Full Service if your foreign employer or clients need a Portuguese hire.
€2,490 one-time
+€990 per family member
For people who already have a Portuguese employer and only need the D3 filed properly. No payroll service.
Check this hire for free€6,900 setup, then €430/month
For comparison: corporate EOR seats at Deel start at $599/month, and an individual applicant cannot buy visa sponsorship there at all.
For people whose foreign employer or clients fund a Portuguese hire, and who need the employment set up as well as the visa. Monthly payroll starts once the local employment is active.
Check this hire for freeOur service fee is separate from government fees and from your own salary. Your gross salary is what we agree, and net is what you receive after standard Portuguese deductions. The government fees themselves are small: €110 at the consulate. AIMA fees for a temporary residence permit (table in force since 1 March 2026): €133.00 application fee plus €114.30 card issuance, €247.30 in total, or €185.60 if filed online. Renewal costs the same. Translations, apostilles and any exceptional third-party work are confirmed with you before they are incurred.
The two cheaper-looking options
Most visa agencies stop at the dossier. Payroll platforms only sell to companies. Neither does the one thing that makes a D3 work for an individual: put a real Portuguese employer behind it who is still there after the file is submitted.
Visa sponsorship on these platforms is a corporate feature sold to employers. An individual applicant cannot buy it.
They do not assemble or file a D3 case that AIMA will accept, and they do not answer for it afterwards.
The 20% rate needs a personal tax application on a deadline. Platform payroll does not include it.
Cheap visa agencies sell a checklist, not an outcome.
Evidence, not decoration
Residence, work, founder, family and private-client cases for clients across North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the CIS.
Historical share of completed cases approved. Open, withdrawn and incomplete cases are not included.
The immigration lawyers and consultants on our case teams bring 10+ years each.
The 99.2% figure counts completed cases only.
People behind your case
Every case is led and coordinated by Relovisa. We bring in the immigration consultants, lawyers, payroll and tax specialists the route needs, while Relovisa remains your single point of contact.
One coordinated case team, built around the route you actually need.
Leads strategy for founder, business and non-standard cases, connecting the route with the client's business, family and long-term plan.
Leads client and partner operations so case teams, local specialists and next steps stay coordinated from assessment to completion.
Supports UK immigration and Talent Visa case management where licensed legal input is required.
Supports German work immigration cases across process planning, local requirements and case coordination.
Supports Portuguese residence matters that require legal review, representation or procedural escalation.
Supports Portugal D2, D3, D7 and D8 cases, including clients with different income structures.
Supports global mobility for self-employed, founder and highly skilled cases through Portugal D8, D2 and D3 routes.
Supports highly qualified professionals and procedural cases involving residence delays and AIMA proceedings.
Advises on international tax structures and non-standard cross-border situations across Europe, Asia and the United States.
Supports clients whose move intersects with crypto assets, international business and tax planning.
Local coverage for routes and services that require authorised in-country specialists.
Payroll questions
A real foreign employer orders a real role, a Portuguese payroll company runs the local employment, and Relovisa coordinates the connected case.
A payroll company. It signs the Portuguese employment contract and carries the payroll, Segurança Social and IRS obligations that come with it. The payroll company sets your day-to-day tasks and handles HR; your own company orders the result and pays for the arrangement. Relovisa coordinates the onboarding and the connected residence file, and is never the employer.
The payroll company has been employing for Portuguese cases for several years, with active Segurança Social filings, IRS payroll and accounting infrastructure in Portugal. Since April 2025 AIMA has been checking employer credibility on D3 filings, which is exactly why an established, properly run employment setup matters. The company's details are shared during your consultation.
It means the payroll company is the Portuguese legal employer for contract and payroll administration, while the foreign company orders the result and checks the deliverable. Day-to-day tasks, time off and HR sit with the Portuguese employer. Relovisa is the coordinator, not the employing company.
The legal floor is €1,611.39 a month (3× IAS 2026). In practice we contract from €2,300 a month for most roles, and €2,500 to €3,000 a month for managerial ones. We confirm the exact figure for the specific role before anything is contracted.
You agree a gross monthly salary in euros. Standard Portuguese deductions apply: employee social security and IRS withholding at the Portuguese rates. For roles that qualify, IRS withholding moves to the 20% flat rate as soon as the IFICI registration is filed, because the tax authority instructs employers to apply 20% on proof of filing without waiting for approval. If the registration is later refused, the annual IRS assessment simply recomputes at standard rates. You get monthly payslips and year-end IRS support, with 14 payments across the year as Portuguese law requires.
IFICI is Portugal's tax status for qualifying highly skilled work: a flat 20% income tax rate for 10 years instead of the standard brackets. Eligibility depends on the activity you actually perform, and most senior tech, engineering and business roles fit. Full Service includes preparing and filing the application by 15 January of the year after you first become Portuguese tax resident. The Portuguese tax authority decides whether the activity and the applicant qualify.
Yes, this is a common structure. Your foreign company, whether it is a Delaware, BVI or UK Ltd, orders the hire, and a payroll company employs you in Portugal at the agreed gross salary and handles Segurança Social, IRS withholding and monthly payroll. Your foreign company keeps its profits and you receive Portuguese employment income and benefits. We coordinate the arrangement with your accountant, and the payroll company confirms whether it can accept the hire. We also publish a full comparison of running your own Portuguese company against payroll employment.
Around 6 to 8 weeks for the employment contract, social security registration, NIF and the full dossier, then 30 to 60 days of consulate processing. Plan 3 to 4 months from start to entering Portugal on a D3. These are planning ranges: documents, employer checks and consulate capacity move them.
Yes. Spouse, minor children and dependent parents apply alongside you at €990 per person, on your timeline.
For Portuguese cases we handle directly, if a refusal follows a complete document set you supplied, we re-file once at no additional service fee, on the conditions set out in your engagement. The employment and the residence file are separate, so we also review what the refusal means for your contract.
Yes, on 30 days' notice, with the standard Portuguese exit documents. At your next renewal you would need another qualifying employer or a different visa category to keep your residency.
Because the agency cannot set up Portuguese employment. It prepares forms and stops at submission. Full Service covers the setup of the Portuguese employment your employer or clients fund, the payroll and social security that run every month, the D3 dossier, the IFICI application on its deadline, and one team that is still accountable after the file is in.
A clearer Portugal hire
Bring the role, the salary and the employee profile. We will map the employer decision, the payroll setup and the connected residence case before any work begins.
Check this hire for freeFree written check first · €40 live session, credited to your package.
You leave with the route, the cost end to end, and the date your IFICI application would be due.
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