Portuguese law for Japanese nationals: visas, nationality, family, estates, tax

Two codes, one difference that decides everything

Japan and Portugal are both civil-law countries with a Civil Code (Japan’s of 1896, Portugal’s of 1966), professional judges and family courts. The difference a Japanese national feels first is not in private law but in nationality: Japan does not allow its adult citizens to hold another nationality, so naturalising Portuguese means losing Japanese citizenship, whereas Portugal has no objection to dual nationals. The second is tax: a 2011 convention with low withholding rates and residence-state taxation of pensions, but no social security agreement — Japan has 24, Portugal is not among them.

• Residence visa needed beyond 90 days; nationality after ten years, at the price of Japanese citizenship
• Treaty of 2011: pensions taxed where you live; dividends 5 % / 10 %, interest 10 %, royalties 5 %
• No social security agreement: contributions follow the place of work; no totalisation of periods
• Inheritance: Japan taxes at 10–55 % above 30 million yen plus 6 million per heir, for ten years after a Japanese national leaves; Portugal 10 % stamp duty outside the direct line

Entering and staying

A Japanese passport gives 90 days in 180 in the Schengen area without a visa; to live, work, study or retire in Portugal a national visa is applied for at the Portuguese embassy in Tokyo — D7 for pensions and passive income, D8 for remote work, D2 for a business, D1 for employment, D3 for highly qualified work, D4 for study — and converted into a residence permit by AIMA after arrival; the visa guide covers each route. Permanent residence comes after five years and naturalisation after ten years of legal residence for a non-EU citizen (2026 Nationality Act), with a language and culture test.

Here the two laws collide: under Japan’s Nationality Act a Japanese citizen who acquires a foreign nationality at their own choice loses Japanese citizenship (art. 11), and a person who holds two nationalities by birth must choose one before 20, or within two years of acquiring the second (art. 14). Portugal, for its part, never asks a new citizen to renounce anything — the loss is on the Japanese side only, and it is automatic.

Documents

Japanese public documents — family register extracts (koseki), certificates of residence, police certificates, powers of attorney — are accepted in Portugal with an apostille from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan has been in the Hague Convention since 1970); Portuguese documents for Japan are apostilled by the Procuradoria-Geral da República for 10,20 €. Japanese-language documents need a certified Portuguese translation, which a lawyer, notary or solicitador certifies in Portugal; the koseki, which has no exact European equivalent, is usually translated in full to prove birth, marriage and parentage.

Courts

Portugal’s civil justice runs from 23 district courts through five courts of appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice, with julgados de paz — small-claims courts with mediation — for civil disputes up to 15 000 €; a lawyer is compulsory above 5 000 €, appeals need a claim above 5 000 € (30 000 € for a second appeal), and hearings are oral before a judge who questions the witnesses. Legal aid comes from Social Security on proof of economic insufficiency and is available to a foreigner holding a Portuguese residence permit. There is no treaty on judgments between Japan and Portugal: a Japanese judgment is enforced here after review and confirmation by the court of appeal (Civil Procedure Code art. 978.º–980.º), which checks authenticity, finality and public policy without reopening the merits.

Marriage, divorce, inheritance

Under the EU Succession Regulation a Japanese national resident in Portugal is governed by Portuguese law unless a will chooses Japanese law (art. 22, open to any nationality) — which would apply the smaller Japanese reserved share to the whole estate. Japan’s inheritance tax follows the people, not the law chosen: a Japanese-national heir or deceased who had an address in Japan within the previous ten years brings the worldwide estate into Japanese tax, while a foreign or long-departed deceased is taxed in Japan only on Japanese assets.

Tax and social security

The convention signed in Lisbon on 19 December 2011 and in force since 28 July 2013 caps Japanese and Portuguese withholding at 5 % on dividends to a company that has held 10 % of the payer’s voting shares (Japan) or capital (Portugal) for twelve months and 10 % otherwise, 10 % on interest (5 % for banks), 5 % on royalties; gives pensions to the residence state only (art. 17) and government-service pensions to the paying state unless the pensioner is resident and national of the other (art. 18); treats a building site as a permanent establishment after 12 months (art. 5); and relieves double taxation by credit (art. 22). A Japanese company pension or public pension received by a Portuguese resident is therefore taxed in Portugal only — at the progressive rates after the 4 587 € deduction — and Japan stops its withholding on a Portuguese residence certificate. The accounting hub has the Portuguese rates and regimes; NHR is closed, and its successor IFICI needs a listed job.

Social security: Japan’s 24 agreements do not include Portugal, so there is no totalisation and no posting exemption. A Japanese employee working in Portugal contributes here (11 % and 23,75 %), and Japanese periods and Portuguese periods are counted by each system on its own; a Japanese citizen aged 20 to 64 living abroad may keep paying into the National Pension voluntarily (a right the Japan Pension Service reserves to Japanese citizens), and a Portuguese old-age pension needs 15 calendar years of contributions in Portugal alone (Decreto-Lei n.º 187/2007, art. 19.º).

Driving, property, business

A Japanese licence is accepted for driving in Portugal even after taking residence, as long as it is valid, issued or renewed within the last 15 years and the holder is under 60 (IMT rules for OECD countries party to the Geneva or Vienna conventions); exchange for a Portuguese licence is possible on the IMT’s online portal with a medical certificate and a certificate of authenticity. Property is bought by deed after a lawyer’s title check; a buyer who is not yet tax resident pays 7,5 % IMT, refundable within two years of becoming resident. A company (Lda) is formed at Empresa na Hora for 360 € with 1 € per partner; no Portuguese director is required.

Steps

Questions from Japanese clients