Portugal university fees for international students: do residents’ children pay them?

If you’re moving to Portugal with children who’ll be at university in a few years, you’ve seen the two numbers. Locals pay a few hundred euros a year. Foreigners pay thousands.

The question is which of those you’ll pay.

Your child pays the national fee if two things are true:

• You’ve lived in Portugal legally for more than two years, without a break, by 1 January of the year your child starts.
• Your child lives here legally with you.

Then your child isn’t an “international student” at all.

Two catches. If your child starts a degree as an international student, on the text of the law they stay one until the end of that degree, so the timing of the first application matters more than anything else on this page. And it’s a Portuguese rule: it does nothing for a place at a university in another country.

In this guide9 sections

1. Who counts as an international student at a Portuguese university?
2. How do the two years of legal residence work?
3. Does my child need their own two years?
4. Does time on a student visa count?
5. How much does it save in 2026/27?
6. What happens if my child starts as an international student?
7. How does a resident's child apply?
8. Does it work on a Golden Visa, D7, D8 or D2?
9. Does it apply at universities elsewhere in Europe?

Who counts as an international student at a Portuguese university?

Anyone without Portuguese nationality, unless they fall under one of five exceptions in Portugal’s international student statute.^[1] The statute covers every university and polytechnic in Portugal, public or private.

The third exception is the one that matters to most families reading this. It’s the one built on your residence.

The status decides two things for your child:

• The price at public institutions. Each public university sets its own international fee, based on the real cost of the course.
• The door your child applies through, covered below.

How do the two years of legal residence work?

You need more than two years of uninterrupted legal residence on 1 January of the year your child enters, and that date is the only one that counts. The day you apply and the day term starts don’t matter.

This is the sentence in the law that settles it:^[1]

Não sendo nacional de um Estado-Membro da União Europeia, nem de um Estado Parte no Acordo sobre o Espaço Económico Europeu, e não estando abrangido pela alínea anterior, residir legalmente em Portugal há mais de dois anos, de forma ininterrupta, em 1 de janeiro do ano em que pretende ingressar no ensino superior, bem como os seus filhos que com ele residam legalmente, sem prejuízo do disposto no n.º 4;

Portugal’s international student statute

Our translation: someone who, not being an EU or EEA national and not covered by the previous exception, has been legally resident in Portugal for more than two years, without interruption, on 1 January of the year in which they intend to enter higher education, as well as their children who legally reside with them, subject to the study-permit rule below.

Three words in that sentence do the work:

• “More than two years” is strictly more. Two years to the day on 1 January isn’t enough.
• “Without interruption” means continuous. Keep your renewals on time so your residence has no gaps.
• “Legal residence” means holding a residence title. Portugal’s immigration law defines a legal resident as a foreign citizen holding a Portuguese residence title valid for a year or more,^[3] and a University of Lisbon declaration form for international applicants uses that exact definition. So your clock runs while you hold a residence permit.

A worked example

Your child wants to start in September 2029. The test date is 1 January 2029, so your legal residence has to have started before 1 January 2027.

A residence card first issued in March 2027 reaches two years in March 2029, two months too late for 2029 entry. If your child starts a year later, in 2030, you pay the national fee.

Does my child need their own two years?

No. One count of two years is enough, and it can be yours. The exception covers the resident “as well as their children who legally reside with them”, so a child who arrived after you, on family reunification, is covered on the text once you pass the two years, as long as they’re living here legally with you.

• There’s no age limit for your child, and your child doesn’t need a residence period of their own.
• Your child can also qualify in their own right, on their own residence title held for more than two years on 1 January.
• Your spouse is different. The exception names children only. Your partner qualifies for their own studies on their own two years, or under the family-member exception if you’re Portuguese, EU or EEA.

If one parent is an EU, EEA or Portuguese national, you don’t need the two-year test at all. Your child is out of the international category under the family-member exception, whatever their passport. The EU definition the law points to covers children under 21 and older children who are still dependent.

Does time on a student visa count?

Since 19 March 2025, yes, for the years your child spends at secondary school in Portugal on a study permit. Before that date, time on a study permit didn’t count at all, and time on a study permit at university or in any other course still doesn’t.

The change came into the law in March 2025,^[2] and it applies to applications from the 2025/26 academic year onwards.

• If your child comes with you on a family permit, they aren’t on a study permit, so the limit doesn’t touch them.
• If your child comes on their own student visa for a university course, they don’t build up the two years while they study.

The University of Porto’s English page for its 2026/27 international call still says that time under a student visa is not counted, which was the rule until March 2025. Go by the law and the university’s current regulation, and ask the faculty if the two disagree.

How much does it save in 2026/27?

€697 a year against €1,500 to €18,000 at the University of Lisbon, and €697 against €6,500 at the University of Minho, on the fee documents both universities issued in May 2026 for 2026/27. The gap depends entirely on the course.

University	Course (2026/27)	National fee	International fee	CPLP nationals
University of Lisbon, Faculty of Law	Law, licenciatura	€697	€1,500	not listed
University of Lisbon, Faculty of Sciences	Biology and the other science licenciaturas	€697	€3,500	not listed
University of Lisbon, Faculty of Architecture	Design, licenciatura	€697	€7,000	not listed
University of Lisbon, Faculty of Medicine	Nutrition Sciences, licenciatura	€697	€11,000	not listed
University of Lisbon, Faculty of Medicine	Medicine, integrated master’s	€697	€18,000	not listed
University of Minho, School of Sciences	Science licenciaturas (Applied Biology, Biochemistry, Data Science, Physics and others)	€697	€6,500	€1,100
University of Minho, School of Architecture, Art and Design	Architecture, integrated master’s	€697	€6,500	€2,500
University of Porto, all faculties	Licenciaturas and integrated master’s	not in the call page	€3,500 to €16,500	up to 45% off

Sources: University of Lisbon, General Council deliberation on fees, 28 May 2026, tables 1 and 2; University of Minho, Despacho RT-91/2026, 19 May 2026, annex 1; University of Porto, special call for international students 2026/27. A licenciatura is a bachelor’s degree; an integrated master’s is the single-cycle format used for Medicine and Architecture.

On the international side the University of Lisbon has already set its 2027/28 fees at the same amounts, subject to next year’s State Budget law.

• Check the current table before you budget, because universities fix fees year by year. The €697 is the University of Lisbon’s and the University of Minho’s figure for every licenciatura and integrated master’s in 2026/27.
• If your child picks a private university, you pay its own prices. Your child’s status still applies there, but the fee rule binds public institutions only, so check that university’s own table.
• If you’re from Brazil or another CPLP country and your child does end up as an international student, you pay less at the University of Minho and the University of Porto, as the last column shows.

What happens if my child starts as an international student?

On the text of the law, they stay one for the whole degree, and at €6,500 a year at the University of Minho or €3,500 at the University of Lisbon’s Faculty of Sciences that adds up fast.

The law says every student who enters as international keeps that status until the end of the cycle they first enrolled in, or transfer to.^[1] The only exception the law names is acquiring Portuguese, EU or EEA nationality, and even that takes effect from the following academic year. Passing two years of residence during the degree doesn’t get your child out of it.

So don’t apply a year early as an international student if your child will cross the two-year line soon after. Take the March 2027 residence card from the example above.

A year’s wait has its own cost, so weigh it against the course and the child, but know your date before the application goes in.

How does a resident’s child apply?

Through the national access contest for public universities (the Concurso Nacional de Acesso), the same route Portuguese students use. The law says residents under the exceptions enter “on the same terms as students with Portuguese nationality”,^[1] and the international contest is for international students, so it isn’t the door your child uses.

If your child finished secondary school outside Portugal, their foreign exams can stand in for the Portuguese entrance exams in the year they sat them and the four years after.

• The rules come from the national access council (CNAES):^[7] the exams accepted are the ones required for university entry in that country, national in scope or nationally recognised.
• The request, for public institutions, goes through the online form of the national access body, the Instituto para o Ensino Superior (formerly the DGES).
• Whether your child’s exams are accepted for the course they want, A-levels, IB, SAT or ENEM, is a question for the university’s admissions office, well before the application window.

Expect to show residence cards covering the whole period, yours and your child’s. Each university sets its own list.

Does it work on a Golden Visa, D7, D8 or D2?

Yes, on all four. Each one gives you a residence title, and the test is more than two years of legal residence on a title valid for a year or more, with no requirement to have reached permanent residence at year five.

• If you’re on a Golden Visa, your permit and your family’s permits are, on the text, residence titles like any other for this purpose, so your child doesn’t wait until year five. How your family joins the application, and what the permit costs, is covered in our Golden Visa guide.
• If you’re on a D7, the visa for people living on passive income such as a pension, rent or dividends, the two years run on the residence permit you hold after you arrive.
• If you’re on a D8, the visa for remote workers earning from an employer or clients abroad, the same applies.
• If you’re on a D2, the visa for people running their own business in Portugal, the same again.

If you’re still choosing between them, our D7 vs D8 vs D2 comparison covers who each one suits.

On every route your count runs on the residence title, so a family with a child two or three years from university should check the dates early. AIMA can take a long time to issue a first card, as our post on Golden Visa processing times shows.

Does it apply at universities elsewhere in Europe?

No. You only get this in Portugal. The exception sits in one Portuguese law that binds higher-education institutions in Portugal, and every other country decides fee status under its own rules. If your child is looking at a university in another EU country, check that country’s rule before you count on it.

Frequently asked questions

Do residents’ children pay international student fees in Portugal?

No, if two things are true. You’ve lived in Portugal legally for more than two years, without a break, by 1 January of the year your child starts. And your child lives here legally with you. Then your child pays the national fee.

How much is the national university fee in Portugal?

€697 a year at the University of Lisbon and the University of Minho in 2026/27, for every licenciatura and integrated master’s. Universities set their fees year by year, so check the current table.

Does my child need their own residence permit for two years?

No. Your two years can cover your child, as long as your child lives in Portugal legally with you. Your child can also qualify on their own residence title held for more than two years on 1 January.

Is exactly two years of residence enough?

No. You need more than two years on 1 January of the entry year. Two years to the day isn’t enough.

Which date counts for the two-year test?

1 January of the year your child wants to start. The day you apply and the day term starts don’t matter.

Does a Golden Visa count as legal residence for university fees?

Yes. Your Golden Visa permit is a residence title, and the test needs a title valid for a year or more. You don’t have to wait until year five or permanent residence.

Do the D7, D8 and D2 count too?

Yes. Each gives you a residence permit, and the two years run on the permit you hold after you arrive.

Does time on a student visa count towards the two years?

Only the years your child spends at secondary school in Portugal on a study permit, since 19 March 2025. Time on a study permit at university or in any other course doesn’t count.

Can my child switch to the national fee partway through a degree?

On the text of the law, no. A student who enters as international keeps that status until the end of the degree. The only exception the law names is acquiring Portuguese, EU or EEA nationality, which takes effect from the following academic year.

Does the rule apply at private universities?

Your child’s status applies there too, but you pay the private university’s own prices. The fee rule binds public institutions only, so check that university’s table.

My spouse is an EU citizen. Does my child need the two-year test?

No. Your child falls under the family-member exception, whatever their passport. The EU definition the law points to covers children under 21 and older children who are still dependent.

Do Brazilian students pay less at Portuguese universities?

At some universities, yes, if they end up as international students. In 2026/27 the University of Minho charges CPLP nationals €1,100 to €2,500 instead of €6,500, and the University of Porto gives CPLP nationals up to 45% off.

Sources and how we checked

1. Decreto-Lei 36/2014, consolidated text, Diário da República. Read in full on 3 November 2026: article 2 (scope), article 3 (who is an international student, as amended on 18 March 2025), article 4 (the international contest), article 9 (fees at public institutions) and article 14 (each institution’s own regulation).
2. Decreto-Lei 20/2025, 18 March 2025, Diário da República. The new wording of article 3, the study-permit rule, and which applications it applies to.
3. Lei 23/2007, consolidated text, Diário da República, article 3 v): a legal resident is a holder of a residence title valid for a year or more.
4. University of Lisbon: international student page, fee deliberation for 2026/27 and 2027/28, tuition fees page in English, and the IGOT declaration of honour for international applicants (2026), which carries the legal-resident definition.
5. University of Minho: Despacho RT-91/2026, 19 May 2026, fees for 2026/27, annex 1.
6. University of Porto: special call for international students 2026/27, fee range and the student-visa sentence.
7. CNAES: Deliberação 414/2023, Diário da República, 2.ª série, n.º 76, 18 April 2023, on foreign exams replacing Portuguese entrance exams.

Both decree-laws were read on the Diário da República site, and the translation of the quoted sentence is ours. Every fee figure comes from the university’s own fee document for 2026/27, with the course and faculty named. Nothing here is legal advice for your family’s case.