NextSpring

Where you can move for work if your passport is from Portugal

One question, every country, with your nationality already applied. In 3 of them something is written that changes the answer for you; in the other 41 the general rule is what you get, and that is the answer rather than a gap. Every line is that country’s own record.

Where it changes for you
3
Where it does not
41
Blocs you are in
5

Where your nationality changes the answer

IrelandVerified with official sourceMonitor - can change2026-10-10

The Employment Permits Act Does Not Apply to You

reaches you through Union citizens, as Irish law transposes their right

The general rule it sits on

Working in Ireland without an employment permit is prohibited twice over by section 7 of the Employment Permits Act 2024: the foreign national may not enter the employment and the employer may not provide it. Section 8 lists who the prohibition does not reach, and the limb that matters most here is nationality - anyone entitled to work in the State under the European Union treaties is outside the Act entirely. For everyone else the 2024 Regulations set what the job must pay: 34,000 euro a year for a general employment permit in most employments, 38,000 for a critical skills permit, 64,000 for the critical skills employments on the wider list. And for a general permit the employer must first have advertised the job to Irish citizens and to the exempt classes, and be able to satisfy the Minister that it did.

PanamaVerified with official sourceMonitor - can change2026-10-04

Países Amigos: a Named List of Nationalities With Their Own Route to Residence

reaches you through Panama's Friendly Nations list

The general rule it sits on

Two permissions, two ministries, and you need both. The Servicio Nacional de Migración grants the residence; the Ministerio de Trabajo y Desarrollo Laboral grants the work permit, and the migration file will not move without a copy of it. What constrains the whole thing is a quota written into the labour law and carried into the migration regulation: a company may fill 10% of its ordinary payroll with foreigners and 15% of its specialist payroll, and the two migration subcategories ordinary employees actually use are named after those percentages. The salary floor in both is B/.850 a month. Labour permits are issued for one year at a time up to a total of six years.

SwedenVerified with official sourceMonitor - can change2026-10-10

The Salary Requirement Is Not Your Problem; You Need No Work Permit at All

reaches you through EEA nationals, as Swedish law writes their right of residence

The general rule it sits on

Sweden's work permit turns on a salary figure that the Aliens Act states as a formula rather than an amount. Chapter 6, section 2 requires an employment contract, pay of at least 90 per cent of the median wage in Sweden at the time of the application, terms no worse than a Swedish collective agreement or the practice of the trade, and, for a stay of up to a year, comprehensive health insurance. Two things sit beside that. The Aliens Ordinance names occupations where the salary requirement does not apply and 75 per cent of the median applies instead - a list of twenty-four codes running from IT support technicians to assistant nurses, welders and forestry workers - and a separate rule for young technology and life-science companies. The same Ordinance bans work permits outright for two occupations: personal assistants and forest berry pickers. The permit must be applied for and granted before entry, runs for at most two years at a time, and is tied to one employer for the first two years and to one kind of work after that.

Where the general rule applies to you unchanged

Nothing is recorded in these that treats a citizen of Portugal differently on this question, so what follows is what everyone gets.

Antigua and Barbuda

Working in Antigua and Barbuda

Work permit:
Required for every non-citizen
Permanent resident:
May work without a work permit
Spouse of a citizen:
May work in any occupation while the marriage subsists
Argentina

Temporary Residency as a Migrant Worker

Initial grant:
1 year, renewable
Blocking condition:
Employer registered in RENURE
What you sign:
A pre-contrato laboral, not a final contract
Austria

Two Acts and Two Authorities: the Labour Office Scores You on Points, the Residence Authority Grants the Card

The title:
Rot-Weiss-Rot - Karte
Very highly qualified: pass mark:
70 points out of 100
Shortage occupation: pass mark:
55 points out of 90
Barbados

Working in Barbados

Short-term work permit:
valid for a period up to eleven months
Long-term work permit:
valid for a period of up to 3 years
Labour market test:
Long-term only. The Department requires proof that no resident or Barbadian national is capable and willing to fill the post
Belgium

One Application, Two Governments: a Region Decides the Work and the Federal Minister Decides the Stay

Where the application goes:
To the competent regional authority, not to the federal government
What that application also is:
An application to stay
Who decides the stay:
The federal minister or his delegate
Belize

Working in Belize: the Temporary Employment Permit

Permit durations:
One week or less, one crop season, or one year
Professional worker, holder of a university degree:
BZ$3,000.00 a year
Technical worker, fee schedule:
BZ$1,500.00 a year
Bolivia

Residency Through Work

Length of permit:
1, 2 or 3 years, following the length of the activity
Employment, one year:
960 UFV
Employment, two years:
1260 UFV
Brazil

Residency Through Work

Initial term:
Up to two years
Qualification tier most applicants use:
Higher education plus two years in the profession
Alternative tier without higher education:
Twelve years of schooling plus four years of experience
Canada

A Labour Market Test You Can Be Exempted From by a Treaty You Did Not Sign

The default test:
A neutral or positive effect on the labour market in Canada
Who assesses it:
The Department of Employment and Social Development
Who escapes it:
Work under an agreement, or work in Canada's own interests
Chile

Temporary Residency for Paid Activities

Minimum contract length:
3 months
Initial grant:
Up to 2 years
Extension:
Up to 2 further years, successively
Colombia

Migrant Visa (M) for Workers

Employer income test:
100 monthly minimum wages, averaged over 4 months
Labour-market justification:
Required in writing
Where the burden falls:
On the employer
Costa Rica

Working in Costa Rica: the Employer Applies, and the Labour Ministry Decides First

Salary floor for executives, managers, representatives and technical staff:
The legal minimum wage for that position plus 25%
Who decides whether the work is allowed:
The migration directorate, on the labour ministry's recommendation
Occupations the labour ministry recommends refusing:
260 occupations
Cuba

Working in Cuba as a Foreigner

Who applies:
The Cuban employer, not the foreigner
Maximum temporary residence:
5 years
Renewal of temporary residence:
Every 5 years
Dominica

Working in Dominica

Work permit provision in the Immigration and Passport Act:
None
Employer's repatriation undertaking:
2 years from landing
Security deposit against becoming a public charge:
EC$1,000 / EC$4,000 / EC$10,000
Dominican Republic

Working in the Dominican Republic: the RT-3 Labour Residence

Permit length:
1 year, renewable annually
Years of temporary residence before permanence:
5
Renewal window:
30 days before expiry
Ecuador

Working in Ecuador: the Trabajo Visa

Visa length:
2 years, renewable on multiple occasions
Minimum salary set by the immigration rules:
None found
Employer compliance certificate:
Required, covering SRI, IESS and the Superintendencia de Compañías
El Salvador

Working in El Salvador as a Foreigner

Grant:
Up to 2 years, renewable, multiple entry
Ministry of Labour opinion:
Required for employed work
Time the Ministry has to answer:
30 working days
Germany

A Degree Buys Any Qualified Job, and the Blue Card Is Priced Off the Pension Ceiling

Skilled worker with a degree:
A permit for any qualified employment
Blue Card salary:
At least 50% of the annual pension contribution ceiling
Shortage occupations and recent graduates:
45.3% instead
Grenada

Working in Grenada

Work permit validity:
12 months
Application fee:
EC$100
Permit fee, named CARICOM states and Cuba:
EC$1,000
Guatemala

Working and Living in Guatemala

Residence term:
One to five years, by the length of the job offer
Foreign employer, minimum monthly pay from abroad:
US$ 2,000.00
Foreign employer, with dependants:
US$ 3,000.00
Guyana

Working in Guyana: a Work Permit That Is Not in Any Act

Work permit in the Immigration Act:
Does not exist. The phrase appears nowhere in the Act, its Regulations or the Labour Act
What the Act does issue:
A permit to enter and remain, marked "for purposes of employment"
Ceiling under the Act:
Three years from the date of entry
Haiti

Working in Haiti: Two Permits, a Five Per Cent Cap and a Duty to Train Your Replacement

Maximum period of a work or employment permit:
One year
Ceiling on renewals:
Five consecutive years
Permis de travail fee:
1,000 gourdes
Honduras

Working in Honduras

What you get:
A special permanence permit, not residence
Maximum length:
5 years
Minimum contract length:
Longer than 3 months
Italy

The Employer Applies, the Job Centre Is Asked First, and the Quota Decides Whether Anyone May Apply At All

Who applies:
The employer, to the single immigration desk in the prefecture
Labour market check:
Done before the application, at the employment centre
Accommodation:
Documented as part of the application
Jamaica

Working in Jamaica

Work permit fee:
Not published
Marriage exemption processing fee:
JA$17,250.00
Marriage exemption, expatriate men:
Certificate valid three years
Mexico

Working in Mexico

Up to 180 days of work:
Visitor with permission to carry out remunerated activities
More than 180 days:
Temporary residence, up to 4 years
Who applies:
The employer, at the Institute
Netherlands

The Permission Belongs to the Employer, and the Labour Market Gets First Refusal

Who the prohibition is on:
The employer, not the worker
Labour market test:
Refused where priority supply is available on the labour market for the post
How long the vacancy must have been with the UWV:
Five weeks before the application
Nicaragua

Working in Nicaragua

Temporary residence term:
One to three years, renewable
Card classes:
With the right to work, without it, or to study
Decision time:
30 working days
Paraguay

Working in Paraguay as a Foreigner

Separate work visa:
None
Work while the application is pending:
Permitted
Employer duty:
Notify the migration directorate and meet labour obligations whatever the worker's migration status
Peru

Trabajador Residency for Employees and Contractors

Length of permission:
365 days, renewable
Minimum contract term:
1 year
Contract age limit at filing:
30 calendar days
Poland

Rewritten in 2025: the Old Employment Act Is Repealed, the Labour-Market Test Is Now a Blacklist of Occupations, and the Whole File Is Electronic

The Act that governs this:
Ustawa z dnia 20 marca 2025 r. o warunkach dopuszczalności powierzania pracy cudzoziemcom, in force since 1 June 2025
Labour-market test:
Replaced by a district list of occupations in which a permit is refused
Minimum pay:
No less than comparable workers and no less than the statutory minimum wage
Saint Kitts and Nevis

Working in Saint Kitts and Nevis

Permit required before working:
Yes, for all but three classes
Where you must be when the application is made:
Outside the Federation
Status that comes with the permit:
Work permit holder's residency
Saint Lucia

Working in Saint Lucia

Permissions needed:
Two
Work permit exemption for Eastern Caribbean citizens:
Since 18 August 2014
Economic citizens of other Protocol states:
Not exempt
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Working in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Statute governing the employment of foreign nationals:
Employment of Foreign Nationals and Commonwealth Citizens Act, Chapter 208
Where a work permit is applied for:
The Prime Minister's Office
Work permit fee:
Not published
Spain

Work Is Applied for by the Employer, and the Labour Market Is Asked First

Who applies:
The employer, at the immigration office of the workplace's province
Labour market test:
Applied, unless an exception reaches you
Part-time contracts:
Total pay must still reach the full-time minimum wage, counted annually
Suriname

Work Permits: the Employer Applies and the Employer Is Punished, and the Fee Moved to Dollars in 2022

Who must hold the permit:
The employer, who commits the offence if there is none
Fee:
USD 100, or the equivalent in Surinamese dollars
Decision time:
Thirty days, extendable once by thirty days
The Bahamas

Working in The Bahamas: a Labour Certificate, a Newspaper, and a Fee by Occupation

Working without a permit (Immigration Act s. 29):
An offence
Employing someone without one:
A fine of up to ten thousand dollars, five years, or both
Top of the fee scale:
$16,275 at Scale 1, plus a five per cent levy
Trinidad and Tobago

Working in Trinidad and Tobago

Work without a permit:
One period not exceeding thirty days in every twelve consecutive months
Application fee:
TT$1,200
Fee for the duration of the permit:
TT$900 per month, minimum TT$2,700
United States

The Visa That Exists Only If Your Country Signed a Treaty

What the category turns on:
A treaty between the United States and your state of nationality
If your state has no treaty:
The category is closed to you, whatever your business
Citizenship acquired by investment:
Three continuous years of domicile in that state as well
Uruguay

Temporary Residency for Workers

Pay floor:
One national minimum wage
Renewal window:
Within the 90 days before expiry
Engagements under 180 days:
A provisional identity sheet may be used instead
Venezuela

Working in Venezuela

Visa validity and stay:
One year, multiple entries, one year of stay
Who applies for the labour authorisation:
The employer in Venezuela
Visa duration:
The same as the labour authorisation