What it costs to relocate to Portugal: agency prices and official fees

What do relocation agencies charge in Portugal?

Most agencies in Portugal quote on request. Our research on 6 October 2026 found published prices at one agency listed on ReloFinder, Relocate to Portugal in Porto. Naming it is a citation of its price page, not a recommendation or a ranking. This is one price list, not a market average.

As recorded by our research on 6 October 2026 (fees page):

• Housing search: EUR 1,000 for 15 hours, then EUR 90 an hour.
• Residency package: EUR 1,250 for one adult.
• Residency package: EUR 2,000 for a couple.

The page now sits behind a bot check, so we could not read it again on 7 October, and we did not record whether VAT is included or what each package covers. Check the page, and get the scope in writing before any payment. Other agencies show no price on the pages we read, or quote on request.

What do the official fees add?

Government fees are small next to agency fees, and a quote may or may not include them.

• National visa. The processing fee is EUR 110. Children under 6 and a few other groups are exempt (visa portal, fees).
• NIF. Free to request, according to the consumer association DECO PROteste’s summary of Tax Authority rules (DECO, 9 Jul 2024).
• Driving licence exchange. EUR 30, with a 10% discount online (IMT).
• Residence permit. We did not find the AIMA fee on a page we could read, so we give none.

There is also a threshold, not a fee. The visa portal sets means of subsistence from the EUR 920 minimum monthly salary in 2026, and asks remote workers for four times that, or EUR 3,680 a month (visa portal).

What does a flat cost on top?

The statistics office measured median rents on new leases of EUR 17.79 per m2 in Lisbon city and EUR 10.83 in the Porto metropolitan area in the second quarter of 2026 (INE, 29 Sep 2026). A 60 m2 flat at those medians is about EUR 1,067 a month in Lisbon (60 x 17.79) and about EUR 650 in the Porto area (60 x 10.83). We did not read the Civil Code limits on deposits and rent in advance at the law’s text, so we give none. The web guides we saw disagree, so ask the landlord to show you the article.

What does the first month add up to?

Take a couple with one child who apply together for a residence visa. The visa portal counts the first adult at 100% of the EUR 920 minimum monthly salary, a second adult at 50% and a child at 30%, which gives EUR 1,656 a month as the reference amount for means of subsistence (920 x 1.8) (visa portal). Each national visa application carries the EUR 110 processing fee, with the exemptions the portal lists. On arrival you add the rent: about EUR 1,067 a month for 60 m2 in Lisbon city and about EUR 650 in the Porto area at the second-quarter medians, which are arithmetic from the INE release, not quotes. The NIF is free, and a licence exchange costs EUR 30. Insurance, travel, the move and any agency fee come on top, and we did not source the first three.

Why is it hard to compare quotes?

Because the same word covers different jobs. A quote can sell search time by the hour, a package with a set scope, or a bundle of search, lease review and paperwork. It may or may not include VAT, expenses and government fees. Put two quotes into the same list of steps, in the section on what a quote should say, before you compare the totals.

Who pays: you, the landlord or your employer?

In a private move you pay for what you hire. In a company move, the employer’s relocation policy sets what is covered, and the employer may name the provider, so ask HR before you hire anyone. We did not read the rule on who pays an estate agent in a Portuguese rental, so ask each agent who hired them for the home you are viewing. We found no published corporate rates and no Portuguese figure for how often employers pay.

What moves the price?

• Scope. A search by the hour, a scouting trip and a visa package are different jobs. Compare like with like.
• Presence. An in-person search costs more than a virtual one, and expenses may come on top.
• Household. A couple costs more than one adult in the one price list we have: EUR 2,000 against EUR 1,250 for the residency package.
• Legal work. Lease review and permit filing are included in some prices and sold separately in others.
• Hours. Where an agency sells time, the total depends on how long your search takes.

When does an agency pay for itself?

Compare the fee to what a month of delay costs you. At the Lisbon city median, a 60 m2 flat is about EUR 1,067 a month, so EUR 1,000 for 15 hours of housing search is under one month’s rent. At the Porto-area median it is about EUR 650 a month, so the same fee is about one and a half months. These are comparisons of scale, not advice. If you can visit in person and read a lease in Portuguese, an hourly search may be enough. If a visa file and a lease must fit the same deadline, a package may save a failed appointment.

What should a quote say?

1. The scope in steps: search, viewings, lease review, NIF, bank, visa file, appointment.
2. What the price excludes: expenses, VAT, government fees, translations.
3. The retainer, and whether it is refundable.
4. Who files the visa and who is liable if the file is refused.
5. What happens if no home is found.

What we could not source

We found no typical private package range for Portugal that rests on a published method, no corporate rates, and no AIMA fee for the residence permit. We did not re-read the Relocate to Portugal page after 6 October 2026, and we did not check whether other agencies listed on ReloFinder have published prices since. To compare agencies, read how to choose a relocation agency in Lisbon, or get matched to request quotes. Our guide to moving to Portugal covers the first 90 days.