Portugal job offer and work visa check: how to verify the employer and your documents

We found no public "Portugal work permit" lookup for someone still in India. Before you travel, permission to work in Portugal comes as a D1 residence visa, applied for through VFS for the Portuguese Embassy or Consulate, followed by a residence permit from AIMA in Portugal. What you can check from India is the employer's paper trail.

For example, imagine an agent tells you a Portuguese farm has a job for you and asks for a payment to "book your D1 slot" at VFS. Under the Embassy in New Delhi's procedure, that slot isn't something an agent can sell, because the Portuguese company requests the appointment from the Embassy.

This guide shows what a genuine Portugal job file contains, how to check the employer from India, how the D1 appointment works, and which routes have closed.

Can you check a Portugal work permit online?

A Portugal work permit can't be looked up online by someone still in India, because before travel the official document is a D1 residence visa, not a stand-alone permit. You can still check the employer's company certificate, its tax identity, any temp agency's licence, the contract, and whether your D1 appointment came through the official channel.

• Before you travel: the D1 is a residence visa for people with a job offer or employment contract with a Portuguese company lasting at least 12 months (D1 checklist, Embassy of Portugal in New Delhi, via VFS).
• After you arrive: you apply to AIMA for a residence permit while the visa is valid (D1 checklist, Consulate General in Goa, via VFS).
• What you can check from India: the employer's Certidão Permanente (with an access code), its NIF, any temporary work agency in the IEFP register, the contract's legal form, and the appointment email.

Got a Portugal offer or contract? Get it checked →

What should a genuine Portugal job file contain at each stage?

A genuine Portugal job file builds up in stages: a contract of at least 12 months signed by both sides, employer documents, a D1 appointment that comes from VFS, the D1 visa itself, and then an AIMA residence permit in Portugal. The Goa consulate asks for more employer paperwork than New Delhi, so check which office covers your state.

Sources: New Delhi D1 checklist; Goa D1 checklist, both linked from VFS Global's Portugal page for India as of 8 October 2026.

Which office covers you? The Consulate General in Goa covers Goa, Maharashtra, Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The Embassy in New Delhi covers the rest of India (Consulate General in Goa; Embassy in New Delhi).

How long it takes: both checklists give a standard D1 processing time of 60 days from when the file reaches the Embassy or Consulate, which can be extended. A booked flight doesn't speed it up, and a refusal doesn't refund the visa fees.

How do you verify a Portuguese employer from India?

A Portuguese employer can be verified from India in five steps: get its exact legal name and tax number, open its company certificate yourself with an access code, check any temporary work agency in the IEFP register, check the contract details, and contact the company through details you found yourself. None of these needs a lawyer.

1. Get the company's exact legal name and NIF

A real contract names the company with its legal form (Lda., S.A. or Unipessoal Lda.) and its tax number, called the NIF or NIPC. If either is missing, ask why.

2. Open the Certidão Permanente yourself

Ask the employer for the Certidão Permanente access code and open the certificate yourself on Portugal's official services portal. Consulting it with an active access code is free (gov.pt: consult the Certidão Permanente). Check the name, NIPC, registered address, activity (CAE) and managers against your contract. Don't accept a screenshot or a PDF forwarded by the agent.

3. If the employer is a temporary work agency, check the IEFP register

Temporary work agencies (ETT) must be licensed by IEFP, Portugal's public employment service. Search the national ETT register by NIPC or licence (alvará) number. Only the status REGULARIZADO (in good standing) is acceptable; SUSPENSO, REVOGADO and CADUCADO (suspended, revoked, expired) are not (IEFP).

4. Check the contract details

The contract must run for at least 12 months and be signed by both you and the company (New Delhi D1 checklist). For Goa-jurisdiction applicants, it must also be certified by a Portuguese lawyer or notary and state where you'll work (Goa D1 checklist). The salary, hours and job title must be the same in every document.

5. Contact the employer through details you found yourself

Use the company's own website or its registered address from the Certidão Permanente, not the phone number on the agent's PDF. A genuine employer knows your name, the job and the start date.

Before or after these steps, check your Indian agent on the MEA's list of registered recruiting agents on eMigrate. Check my Portugal documents →

How does the Portugal D1 appointment really work?

The Portugal D1 appointment, for the Embassy in New Delhi, isn't open for self-booking at VFS. The Portuguese company writes to the Embassy's visa department, the Embassy confirms the request with the company, and VFS then emails you the date the Embassy decided. Anyone selling a D1 "slot" is offering something outside this process.

According to the New Delhi D1 checklist:

1. D1 applications are not open for appointments at VFS, so applicants cannot book their own.
2. The owner of the company in Portugal writes to the Embassy's visa department (visas.novadeli@mne.pt) with the documents requested.
3. The Embassy always confirms the request with the company.
4. VFS informs you directly, on your personal email address, about your appointment. The Embassy decides the date based on available slots and the order in which companies' requests arrived.

So an agent who says "pay ₹X for a D1 slot" or "we'll get you an earlier date" is offering something that isn't part of the official New Delhi process. A booked flight ticket doesn't speed things up either.

For Goa-jurisdiction applicants, the checklist doesn't describe this employer-request rule. Ask the Consulate General in Goa how D1 appointments work for your case.

Can you still go to Portugal on a tourist visa or a job-seeker visa?

Going to Portugal on a tourist or Schengen visa and getting work papers later is, in general, no longer possible: that route, called manifestação de interesse, was revoked from 4 June 2024. The general job-seeker visa was also replaced in October 2025 by a visa for qualified job seeking, aimed at specialised technical skills.

• Manifestação de interesse: this route let people apply for residence after entering and working without a residence visa. Decree-Law 37-A/2024, published on 3 June 2024, revoked it from the next day. Procedures already started before then continue (Diário da República).
• Job-seeker visa: Lei 61/2025 of 22 October 2025 replaced it with a visa for qualified job seeking, for people with specialised technical skills (Lei 61/2025, official gazette PDF). Portugal's Foreign Ministry said consulates and visa centres could no longer accept the old job-seeker applications from 23 October 2025, and that the new visa could only be applied for once its implementing rules were published (Portuguese Foreign Ministry).

An agent selling "come on a tourist visa, we'll get your papers in Portugal" or a "job-seeker visa" for farm, factory or delivery work is describing routes the law has closed or restricted. Workers now need the correct residence visa, usually the D1, before travelling.

What will you pay for a Portugal work visa, and what is a red flag?

A Portugal work visa from India involves a few official costs: the visa fee, notary or translation costs, and your police clearance certificate. Under Portuguese law, a placement agency licensed in Portugal may not charge job seekers at all, and temporary work agencies must be licensed by IEFP. Large placement fees are a red flag.

• Agencies licensed in Portugal: Decree-Law 260/2009, Art. 23(1)(f), requires their services to job seekers to be free of charge, and a breach is a serious administrative offence (Art. 23(3)) (Decree-Law 260/2009). This rule binds agencies licensed in Portugal, not agents in India.
• Temporary work agencies: licensed by IEFP and listed in the national register.
• Visa fee: check the current amount for your visa category on VFS Global's Portugal page. It isn't refunded if the visa is refused.
• Police clearance certificate: issued by your nearest Regional Passport Office, apostilled, and valid for three months (Goa D1 checklist).
• India side: if an Indian agent has cheated you, complain to the office of the Protector General of Emigrants with the agent's details, as the MEA advises, and report online payment fraud at cybercrime.gov.in or call the national cyber crime helpline 1930 (PIB).

Large "contract fees", "placement fees" or "work permit fees" paid to an agent are a red flag.

What are the warning signs of a fake Portugal job offer?

The clearest warning signs of a fake Portugal job offer are an agent who offers to book or sell your D1 appointment, a contract shorter than 12 months, a company that can't give you a Certidão Permanente access code, and a plan to travel on a tourist visa first. Fees for "placement" are another red flag.

• ✗ The agent offers to book your D1 appointment or sell an earlier "slot" (New Delhi: employer → Embassy → VFS email).
• ✗ The contract is shorter than 12 months, unsigned by the company, missing the workplace, or (for Goa) not certified by a Portuguese lawyer or notary.
• ✗ The company can't give you a Certidão Permanente access code, or the certificate's name, NIPC, address or activity doesn't match the contract.
• ✗ The "employer" is a temporary work agency not listed as REGULARIZADO in the IEFP register.
• ✗ The plan is to travel on a tourist or Schengen visa and "get papers in Portugal".
• ✗ A "job seeker visa" is sold for farm, factory or delivery work.
• ✗ You're asked for "placement", "contract" or "work permit" fees. Agencies licensed in Portugal must be free for job seekers.
• ✗ Visa approval is "guaranteed", or processing faster than 60 days is promised.
• ✗ An agent shows you an "AIMA approval" or residence card "for you" before you have travelled. The AIMA step comes after you arrive in Portugal.
• ✗ Phone numbers or emails on the documents don't match the company's official details, or payment goes to a personal UPI or bank account.

What should you check before you pay for a Portugal job?

Before paying for a Portugal job, confirm eleven things: the company certificate opened with a code, a matching NIF, a signed 12-month contract, the workplace stated, any agency in the IEFP register, a VFS appointment email, no slot sellers, no tourist-visa plan, a registered agent, no placement fee, and an apostilled police certificate.

• ✓ I opened the company's Certidão Permanente myself with an access code.
• ✓ The NIF on the contract matches the certificate.
• ✓ The contract runs at least 12 months and is signed by both sides (certified by a lawyer or notary if I'm in the Goa jurisdiction).
• ✓ The contract states where I will work.
• ✓ Any temporary work agency is REGULARIZADO in the IEFP register.
• ✓ My D1 appointment email came from VFS after the employer requested it (New Delhi).
• ✓ Nobody is selling me a slot.
• ✓ There is no "tourist visa first" plan.
• ✓ My Indian agent is registered on eMigrate.
• ✓ I have paid no placement fee to a Portuguese agency.
• ✓ My police clearance certificate is apostilled.

What if you can't check the documents yourself?

An independent check of your Portugal documents is the next step if the employer won't give you an access code, you only have PDFs from the agent, or your family needs a written answer before paying. Do it after the official checks above. It adds to the registers, VFS and the Embassy; it doesn't replace them.

Testiy is an independent document check for overseas job offers, work permits and visas, run by ARK Tech & Logistics in Thrissur, Kerala. Testiy is not affiliated with any embassy, VFS Global or immigration agency. An AI scan helps a human expert in Germany find signs of editing, and the expert, not the AI, gives the verdict, often after contacting the employer named in the document. The verdict comes within 24 hours, with a certificate and a public verify link, from ₹1,600 incl. GST.

The service does not check with AIMA, IEFP, VFS or the Embassy for you, and it does not guarantee a visa. See how verification works, pricing and refund terms.

Frequently asked questions

How can I check if a Portugal work permit is real?

A Portugal work permit, before you travel, is really a D1 residence visa, not a stand-alone permit. Open the employer's Certidão Permanente yourself with an access code, check that the contract runs at least 12 months and is signed by both sides, and make sure your D1 appointment came from VFS after the employer requested it.

Can my agent book a Portugal D1 visa appointment for me?

No, an agent can't book a Portugal D1 appointment for the Embassy in New Delhi, because D1 appointments aren't open for booking at VFS. The Portuguese company requests them from the Embassy's visa department, the Embassy confirms with the company, and VFS emails you the date.

What documents does a Portuguese employer have to provide for a D1 visa?

A Portuguese employer must provide a signed employment contract or promise of contract of at least 12 months. The Goa consulate also asks for a lawyer- or notary-certified contract, the company's Certidão Permanente, NIF, social-security and tax status, and the workplace. In New Delhi, the company sends its documents with its appointment request.

Can I go to Portugal on a tourist visa and get a work permit there?

A work permit in Portugal can't, in general, be obtained after arriving on a tourist visa any more. The "manifestação de interesse" route was revoked by Decree-Law 37-A/2024 from 4 June 2024, although applications already started continue. Workers now need the correct residence visa from India before travelling.

Is the Portugal job seeker visa still available for Indians?

The general Portugal job-seeker visa was replaced by Lei 61/2025 in October 2025 with a visa for qualified job seeking, aimed at people with specialised technical skills. Portugal's Foreign Ministry said the new visa could only be applied for once its rules were published. Be careful of agents selling job-seeker visas for farm, factory or delivery work.

Can a recruitment agency in Portugal charge me a fee?

A recruitment agency licensed in Portugal may not charge job seekers: Decree-Law 260/2009 (Article 23(1)(f)) requires its services to candidates to be free, and a breach is a serious offence. Temporary work agencies must be licensed by IEFP and listed as REGULARIZADO in its register. Large fees for "contracts" or "permits" are a warning sign.

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Last checked against official sources: 8 October 2026.