Portugal D2 visa: open a new company, or a branch of the business you already own?

If you already run a business in Dubai, London or Cairo, the D2 question isn’t “do I have an idea?”. It’s how you bring the business you already have to Portugal.

Most founders we speak to ask the same thing first: should I open a branch of my company, or start a new Portuguese one? Of the founders who’ve asked us recently, most of them from the UAE and the wider Middle East, every one who went ahead started a new Portuguese company.

The choice decides how hard your D2 is, how long the set-up takes and how you’re taxed once you move. This guide walks through the four set-ups and tells you which one we recommend.

The D2 has its own rules on the money you need to show and the documents you send, and we cover those on our D2 visa page, linked below. This post is only about the company behind your application.

In this guide9 sections

1. What are your four options for a D2 if you already own a business?
2. Does the D2 require a Portuguese company?
3. How does a new company linked to your foreign business work?
4. How do you stop your D2 looking like a D8?
5. Why don't we recommend a branch of your foreign company?
6. What about a Portuguese company owned by your foreign company?
7. How much does each option cost you in tax and Social Security?
8. What goes wrong when founders set up their Portuguese company?
9. How we help you set up for a D2

What are your four options for a D2 if you already own a business?

A new standalone company, a new company linked to your foreign business, a Portuguese company owned by your foreign company, or a registered branch. All four are legal. They aren’t equally easy.

We recommend option B for most founders: a new Portuguese company that you own, tied to your existing business by a signed agreement. The rest of this guide explains why, and how to set it up so it works.

Does the D2 require a Portuguese company?

In practice, yes: you need your Portuguese company formed before you apply. On paper, the law only asks for a business investment in Portugal, made or planned.^[1] In the files we handle, though, two steps don’t move until your company exists:

• Your visa application. We prepare your D2 file around a registered company, and you hand it in at VFS with the company’s documents inside.
• Your Portuguese bank account. The bank won’t open a personal account for a D2 applicant until it sees your company’s permanent certificate (certidão permanente), the official registry record that the company exists.

And you need that account funded before you apply, so the company comes first, then the bank, then the appointment.

What happens after you arrive?

The company still matters when you swap your visa for a residence permit. To get the permit as an entrepreneur, you need to have done one of these three things:^[1]

• Formed a company under Portuguese law
• Registered as self-employed with the tax office and Social Security
• Signed a contract to provide professional services

A new Portuguese company ticks the first box on its own. A branch doesn’t, because a branch isn’t a company you formed in Portugal. It’s part of your foreign company. That’s another reason we steer founders away from it.

How does a new company linked to your foreign business work?

Your Portuguese company runs your business in Portugal and Europe, under an agreement with the company you already own.

The agreement can take different forms. The one we’ve seen approved is an exclusive operator agreement: your foreign company gives your Portuguese company the exclusive right to sell its product in Portugal and the rest of Europe.

Why this works for a D2:

• Your plan tells a real story. You aren’t inventing a business from scratch. You’re expanding one with a track record.
• Your Portuguese company can earn from day one, selling a product that already exists.
• Your home company’s history backs you up. Its trade licence, accounts and client history show the authorities you know what you’re doing.
• It’s a standard company formation. No foreign corporate documents, no legalisation chain, no extra registrations.

What does this look like in a real file?

One of our clients turned a pre-refusal into an approval with exactly this set-up. He’d applied for his D2 at VFS Dubai in January 2026 with a plan for a brand-new Portuguese software studio. His plan didn’t mention the software company he already co-owned in Dubai.

Two months later, the authorities told him they were minded to refuse. One of the three reasons was the business plan. He rewrote it: his Portuguese company would be the exclusive operator of his Dubai company in Portugal and Europe, backed by a signed agreement. His D2 was approved that spring.

We’ve told his full story in Karim’s D2: from pre-refusal to approval.

How do you stop your D2 looking like a D8?

Make sure your Portuguese company does real business in Portugal and Europe, and doesn’t just invoice your own foreign company.

This is the trap with a linked company. If the only money coming into your Portuguese company is a monthly fee from your Dubai company, it can look like you’re working remotely for a foreign employer. That’s the D8 digital nomad visa, with its own income test, and a D2 built that way risks refusal.

The exclusive operator set-up passes this test because the Portuguese company sells to its own customers. The foreign company grants the rights; the Portuguese company does the business.

If your plan is closer to remote work, the D8 may simply be the better visa. Our D7 vs D8 vs D2 comparison helps you choose.

Why don’t we recommend a branch of your foreign company?

Because it’s harder to set up, it’s a weaker fit for your residence permit, and it puts your whole foreign company on the hook.

A branch (a sucursal in Portuguese) isn’t a separate company. It’s your foreign company, registered to operate in Portugal. That has consequences:

• Your foreign company is fully liable for everything the branch does, because the branch has no legal personality of its own.^[2]
• The paperwork comes from abroad. The Commercial Registry wants your foreign company’s registry certificate, its articles, a board resolution to open the branch and the representative’s acceptance, translated.^[3]
• For a UAE company, each document needs a UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs stamp, because the UAE isn’t in the Apostille Convention. That adds time before you file anything.
• You need a representative in Portugal with a Portuguese tax number, and a declaration of who ultimately owns the business, filed within 30 days.^[3]
• At the permit stage, you haven’t formed a Portuguese company, so your branch doesn’t tick the first box above on its own.

A branch can make sense for a large company expanding into Portugal with staff on the ground. For a founder whose goal is a D2 and a move, a new company is the simpler, cleaner route.

What about a Portuguese company owned by your foreign company?

It’s a real Portuguese company, but for a D2 it’s usually better to own the company yourself. This is a subsidiary: a Portuguese company whose shareholder is your foreign company, not you personally.

It sits between a new company and a branch:

• Your foreign company’s risk is limited. A subsidiary is a separate company, so it answers for its own debts. Your foreign company risks what it put in.
• The paperwork still comes from abroad. Your foreign company needs its own Portuguese tax number and a tax representative before it can own shares. Its registry extract, board resolution and power of attorney have to be legalised and translated, which for a UAE company means the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stamp.
• You don’t own the company personally. You’d normally be its manager. For a D2, the authorities look for you as the entrepreneur, and it’s cleaner when the company you formed is yours.
• Profits reach you through your foreign company. Dividends paid to a foreign company are taxed in Portugal before they leave, and a UAE parent pays more because the UAE is on Portugal’s low-tax list.^[10]

A subsidiary is a sensible way for an established business to expand into Portugal. If the visa is your goal, own the Portuguese company yourself and link it to your foreign company by agreement. Your foreign company’s track record still backs your plan, without the extra paperwork.

How much does each option cost you in tax and Social Security?

The company pays the same corporate tax either way. The big differences are what you pay yourself and where money flows.

What corporate tax does your Portuguese company pay?

19% in 2026, and 15% on the first €50,000 of profit for small companies.^[4] The general rate drops to 18% in 2027 and 17% from 2028. Many guides still quote 20% or 21%.

What do you pay into Social Security as the manager?

About €187 a month, even if you don’t pay yourself a salary. As the manager of your own Portuguese company, you pay contributions of 34.75% on at least Portugal’s social support index, which is €537.13 in 2026.^[5] Budget for it from the month your company starts.

“My company is in Dubai. Does the money direction matter?”

Yes, a lot. Portugal lists the UAE as a low-tax territory, and its rules are much harsher on money going there than on money coming from there.^[6]

• Money coming in from your UAE company, as in an operator agreement, is ordinary income for your Portuguese company.
• Money going out to your UAE company, like fees or royalties, can’t be deducted from profit unless your company proves the payment is real and normal, and it can be taxed at a special 35% rate.^[7]

So build the agreement so your Portuguese company earns, and doesn’t pay fees back to Dubai. And keep it priced as if the two companies were strangers, because Portugal treats them as related.^[8]

Can your foreign company become Portuguese tax resident?

Yes, if you run it from Portugal. A company is tax resident where it’s effectively managed. If you move to Lisbon and make your Dubai company’s decisions from there, Portugal can treat your Dubai company as Portuguese tax resident too, taxed on its worldwide profit.^[9]

That applies whichever set-up you choose. Plan who runs your foreign company after you move, and talk it through in a tax consultation before you go.

What goes wrong when founders set up their Portuguese company?

Share capital, missed deadlines and timing. These came up again and again in the recent files we analysed.

• Don’t copy your foreign company’s figures into your share capital. The legal minimum is €1 per partner. Pick a realistic figure for the business you’re starting in Portugal. In one file, changing the share capital mid-way got the filing rejected and had to be redone.
• Register your company’s activity with the tax office within about 15 days of incorporation, or pay a fine.
• You need a certified accountant from the start.
• Set up the company early. Get it done before you chase a VFS appointment, so your plan and bank account can point to a registered company.

How we help you set up for a D2

We form your Portuguese company, help you write the plan, and prepare your D2 around it.

• Company formation, done remotely, with your accountant in place.
• Business plan support, written to what the consulate expects, including the link to your existing business.
• D2 visa support, with a review of your whole file by our partner lawyer before you submit.
• A Portuguese bank account for you and your company.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need my company before my VFS appointment?

Yes, in practice. Your D2 file is built around a registered company, and the bank won’t open your personal account until it sees the company’s permanent certificate. Form the company first, then open and fund the account, then go to your appointment.

Can I get a D2 with a branch of my foreign company?

It’s possible, but we don’t recommend it. On paper, the visa only needs a business investment in Portugal. At the residence-permit stage, though, the law expects you to have formed a company or registered as self-employed, and a branch is neither.

Can my foreign company own the Portuguese company?

Yes, it can. That’s a subsidiary, and it’s a real Portuguese company. For a D2, though, owning the company yourself and linking it to your foreign company by agreement keeps you clearly in the entrepreneur’s seat, with far less paperwork from abroad.

How much share capital do I need?

The legal minimum is €1 per partner. Choose a realistic figure for the Portuguese business you’re starting. Don’t copy your foreign company’s capital.

Can my Portuguese company work with my Dubai company?

Yes, with an agreement between them. The safest version gives your Portuguese company the right to sell in Portugal and Europe, so it earns from its own customers.

Can my home company keep invoicing my clients?

Yes, for clients outside Portugal and Europe. If your Portuguese company is the operator for Portugal and Europe, those customers should be invoiced from Portugal.

Will my D2 be refused if my company only invoices my foreign company?

It may be. A Portuguese company paid only by your own foreign company can look like remote work, which is the D8. Show customers and activity in Portugal and Europe.

Do I pay Social Security if I don’t take a salary?

Yes. As manager of your company you pay contributions on at least €537.13 a month in 2026, about €187.

How long does it take to set up the company?

Mostly, it depends on how ready you are. We form the company remotely, and it goes fastest when your documents and share capital are settled before we file.

Is a branch cheaper than a new company?

Not once you count everything. The registry fees are similar, but a branch needs legalised and translated documents from your foreign company, and it leaves your foreign company fully liable.

Will Portugal tax my Dubai company?

It can, if you run it from Portugal. A company is tax resident where it’s effectively managed. Plan who makes your Dubai company’s decisions before you move.

Sources and how we checked

We built this guide from the recent files of founders who asked us about a branch or a new company, and checked every rule against the sources below. Client details are anonymised.

1. Foreigners Law (Law 23/2007), articles 60 and 89; Regulatory Decree 84/2007, article 31
2. Commercial Companies Code, article 4 (PGDL); gov.pt, setting up a branch
3. Institute of Registries and Notary (IRN), Create a Branch Office
4. Corporate Income Tax Code (CIRC), article 87
5. Portal das Finanças, social support index (IAS) 2026; OCC, Social Security for company managers
6. Portaria 150/2004, list of low-tax territories (Portal das Finanças)
7. Corporate Income Tax Code (CIRC), article 23-A and article 88
8. Corporate Income Tax Code (CIRC), article 63
9. Corporate Income Tax Code (CIRC), article 2
10. PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Portugal withholding taxes