Studying in Portugal

What a year costs

Tuition for international students is set by each institution, not nationally. Portuguese and EU students pay a regulated fee, €697 a year for bachelor's and integrated master's degrees at public universities in 2025-2026 and 2026-2027. International students (non-EU nationals who have not lived legally in Portugal for two years) pay more:

• University of Lisbon, Faculty of Sciences, 2026-2027: €3,500 a year for bachelor's and master's degrees, with exceptions such as Medical Physics at €7,000.
• University of Porto: each faculty sets the international fee "according to the real cost of the course". Check the specific course page.
• Private universities and business schools charge considerably more.

Living costs. Rent is the variable. Universidade Católica Portuguesa's Porto international office tells students to budget €350-450 a month for housing alone. Lisbon is more expensive than Porto; Coimbra, Braga, Aveiro and other university towns are cheaper. We could not find an official, dated all-in monthly budget from a public university, so treat any single figure you see as indicative.

The visa

You need a residence visa for study (the national D visa) from the Portuguese consulate or its visa centre in your country. After you arrive you apply to AIMA (the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum, which replaced SEF in 2023) for a residence permit for higher education students under Article 91 of Law 23/2007.

The money. Portugal does not publish a single student figure. The rule, in Portaria 1563/2007, is that you must show means of subsistence equal to 100% of the national minimum wage per month for 12 months or the length of your stay. The minimum wage rose to €920 a month from 1 January 2026, so the working figure is €920 a month, or €11,040 for a year. The Portaria allows this to be cut to half (€460 a month) if you prove your accommodation is guaranteed, and further if food is also covered.

Be aware that the consular visa portal's means-of-subsistence page still quotes the 2024 minimum wage of €820. Consulates apply the current minimum wage; showing only €820 a month is a risk you do not need to take.

Visa fee: we could not verify it. The consular fee table on the Portuguese visa portal was not accessible when we checked, and fees were revised in 2025. Confirm the current fee with the consulate or visa centre where you apply before you pay.

Processing. The Universidade NOVA de Lisboa's international office warns that the visa process "can take several months" and tells students to apply as early as possible. Build in the AIMA step too: appointments for residence permits have been a long-running bottleneck.

Working while you study

The official guidance we could read is permissive: holders of a residence permit for study may work as an employee or be self-employed in addition to their studies, according to NOVA FCT's guidance based on the law. We did not find a statutory weekly hour cap in the official material. Two cautions:

• Your permit is renewed on the basis that you are still studying and progressing. If work pushes your studies aside, renewal becomes difficult.
• Employers must register you with Social Security, and you need a tax number (NIF) and social security number (NISS). Cash-in-hand work gives you no record to show AIMA.

After you graduate

Master's and PhD graduates who held an Article 91 student residence permit can apply under Article 122(1)(p) for a residence permit giving up to one year to look for work or set up a company compatible with their qualifications.

Bachelor's graduates are not covered by that route. There is a separate provision, Article 122(1)(o), for those who finished their studies and want to take up paid or self-employed work in Portugal, which means you need the job lined up.

Law 61/2025, in force since 22 October 2025, reshaped the rest of the system: the general job-seeker visa for applicants abroad was replaced by a visa for highly qualified job seekers, and family reunification now generally requires two years of prior residence. Anyone relying on older advice about "coming back on a job-seeker visa" should re-check it.

Language

Most bachelor's degrees at public universities are taught in Portuguese. English-taught provision is concentrated at master's level and in business and economics schools. Programmes set their own language requirements: check each course page.

For daily life, Portuguese matters more than in Lisbon's tourist centre suggests. AIMA, Finanças (the tax office), landlords and most part-time jobs work in Portuguese. Students from Portuguese-speaking countries have a real advantage here.

When to apply

Portugal runs a special admission route for international students (the concurso especial para estudantes internacionais), with dates set by each university. The University of Lisbon's 2026-2027 calendar is a typical example:

• Bachelor's: first period 2 January to 6 February 2026, second period 6 April to 22 May 2026
• Master's: first period 9 March to 17 April 2026, second period 22 June to 17 July 2026
• PhD: 1 July to 17 August 2026, and 2 December 2026 to 15 January 2027

Apply in the first period. A second-period offer in late May or July leaves too little time for a consulate queue and an AIMA appointment before classes start in September.

What to watch out for

AIMA delays. Your visa is only the first step. The residence permit comes from AIMA, and appointment availability has been a persistent problem since the agency took over from SEF. Keep copies of every submission and receipt; they are what protect you if your visa expires while your permit application is pending.

The €820 trap. Agents and older guides still quote €820 a month, the 2024 minimum wage. The rule is tied to the current minimum wage, which is €920 in 2026. Show at least that.

Bachelor's graduates have fewer options than they think. The one-year search permit is for master's and PhD graduates. If your plan depends on staying after a bachelor's degree, plan to have a job offer before your student permit ends.

Housing. Lisbon rents have risen fast and university residences are limited. Pay deposits only to verifiable landlords or platforms, get a written contract, and make sure the contract can be registered: you need a documented address for AIMA.

Where these numbers come from

Rules change, sometimes at short notice. Every figure above carries the date we checked it. Check the official source before you rely on it, and confirm the visa fee directly with the consulate, because we could not verify it.