Portugal and the United States at a glance
Figures last checked:
- Visiting
- In the Visa Waiver Program since 1999: viewing trips need an ESTA, not a visa.
- Treaty visas
- E-1 trader and E-2 investor visas can be issued to Portuguese nationals from 15 March 2024.
- Income tax treaty
- Yes, in force.
- Estate tax treaty
- No.
- Social security agreement
- Yes, since 1 August 1989.
- Currency
- Euro, so the down payment carries exchange-rate risk against the dollar.
- Already there
- About 150,000 people born in Portugal live in the United States (Census Bureau, 2024).
Your route into the United States
Portuguese citizens have travelled visa-free to the United States since 1999, which covers viewing trips. Living there takes a separate status, and that status decides which mortgages are open to you. Lenders offer standard loans to people who are lawfully resident, on a green card or a temporary visa.
The news for entrepreneurs is the E-2. Portuguese nationals became eligible for E-1 and E-2 visas from 15 March 2024, after years in which neighbours such as Spain had access and Portugal did not. It is a visa for running a business. The guide to visa status and US loans explains how each status affects the financing, including the foreign national loans used by buyers who stay resident in Portugal.
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What a US lender sees of your Portuguese finances
Your record at the Banco de Portugal does not feed a US credit score. Download your credit map before you go and keep it with your IRS returns and bank statements. Lenders that follow Fannie Mae's rules need two years of US federal tax returns before counting income paid by a foreign employer in foreign currency, want documents in English or translated, and require savings held abroad to be exchanged into dollars and held in a US-regulated institution before closing.
A purchase on a tighter clock
A Portuguese purchase usually runs from a promissory contract to a deed, at a pace the parties agree. In the United States the convention is 30 to 45 days from accepted offer to closing, with a deposit of typically 1% to 5% paid at the start. There is no notary in the Portuguese sense. A title or escrow company, or an attorney in some states, handles the money and the recording, and your protection lies in the contingencies written into the contract. See how the US timeline compares with Europe.
Portuguese tax at home and abroad
If you sell your home in Portugal to fund the move, the gain on an own permanent home is excluded from tax when the proceeds are reinvested in another own permanent home within a window that runs from 24 months before to 36 months after the sale. The law limits where the new home can be, and we could not confirm that a home in the United States qualifies. Ask before you rely on it.
The deduction for mortgage interest on a permanent home exists only for loans contracted up to the end of 2011, so most recent borrowers have nothing to lose there. If you stay resident in Portugal and let a US property, the rent goes in Anexo J and the United States taxes it first, at 30% of the gross amount unless you elect to be taxed on net income.
No estate tax treaty
Portugal has no estate tax treaty with the United States. For an owner who is neither a US citizen nor a US resident, a US estate tax return is required once US assets, a house included, exceed $60,000. Take advice on how to hold the property before you buy.
Checklist for Portuguese buyers
- Confirm your US status and when it starts.
- If you plan an E-2, build the business case separately from the home purchase.
- Download your Banco de Portugal credit map and collect IRS returns and statements.
- Have documents translated into English.
- Get advice before relying on the reinvestment exemption for a US home.
- Open a US account, move the down payment early and plan the currency conversion.
- Take estate tax advice before deciding how to hold the property.
Questions people moving from Europe ask
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Sources (12)
Figures and rules on this page were checked against these sources on 3 October 2026. Rates, prices and local rules change, so confirm anything you rely on before you commit.
- US Department of State, 9 FAM 402.9-10, treaty trader and investor countries
- US Department of Homeland Security, Visa Waiver Program countries
- USCIS, E-2 treaty investors
- IRS, United States income tax treaties A to Z
- IRS, Estate and gift tax treaties
- IRS, Estate tax for nonresidents not citizens of the United States
- US Social Security Administration, international agreements
- US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024, table B05006
- Banco de Portugal, reading your credit liabilities map
- Portal das Finanças, foreign property income in Anexo J
- Portal das Finanças, CIRS article 10 (capital gains and reinvestment)
- Portal das Finanças, CIRS article 78-E (housing charges)
Who made this guide. Bas Terpstra makes, reviews and approves every guide, using AI tools and public sources as a starting point. Rules and figures change, so treat this as general information and confirm the details for your own situation.
This page is general information, not personal financial, legal, tax or immigration advice. Nothing here is an offer, and no rate, loan amount, approval or visa outcome is promised. Mortgage availability is subject to immigration status, income, credit, appraisal and lender criteria, and lending, tax and local rules change. Consult a licensed US lender, an immigration attorney and a cross-border tax adviser. Any property securing a loan may be at risk if payments are not made.