Portugal HQA Visa Program
The Benefits of the HQA Visa
- The HQA Visa Program is built specifically for business people
- There is no property investment required
- The program allows applicants to have access to the EU as a plan B or second residency
- Provides a clear pathway to Portuguese Citizenship
- The ability to easily start and maintain a venture in the EU
- Portugal’s fantastic lifestyle and climate
- Provides pathway to citizenship and Permanent Residency for family members.
- You will benefit from Portugal’s Non-Habitual Tax Residency Program for the first 10 years of your residence
HQA Visa Program Website
You can read more about the HQA Visa Program in detail, including learning more about the legislation that supports the program by visiting the HQA Visa website.
Visit HQAVISA.PT
HQA Research Projects & Partners
One of the requirements for the HQA Visa Program is making an investment in research and development activities that can be used to support your new venture at one of Portugal’s universities. We partner with several of Portugal’s leading Universities. For more details, request more information.
Using our proven and powerful methodology, network, market insight and business expertise, we guide entrepreneurs on a path to successfully start a business in Portugal.

Become the Best
We educate and empower founders to build market offers and business models that empower their ideas to become the best in the world. We guide them through the rigours of Lean StartUp and Horizon Methodology, and cycle through the validated learning process of build-measure-learn.

Connect with the Best
We select entrepreneurs from around the world with the best innovative and scalable concepts to startup in Portugal, with international reach. We are skilled at assisting entrepreneurs in de-risking their projects, increasing their speed to market, and enhancing the overall prosperity of the Portuguese ecosystem they are entering.

Sell Internationally
We build startups that define and aggressively pursue revenue goals on this equation: My startup will sell $X of Y product to customers A, B, C in N number of countries in M number of months.
OUR PARTNERS
Our valued partnerships provide transnational entrepreneurs with opportunities to deepen the foundations and extend the reach of their ventures.
Politechnic of Leiria
Our partnership with the Politecnic of Leiria offers entrepreneurs access to innovative research in sea basin technologies.
University of Évora
Our partnership with the University of Évora provides entrepreneurs with access to state-of-the-art expertise in Industry 4.0 solutions.
BEP
Our partnership with BEP provides start ups with ready access to top tier researchers, according to their business needs.
PORTUGAL NEWS
Empowered Startups Releases 4th Video Featuring The Government of Portugal’s Endorsement of Empowered’s HQA Visa™ Program
Empowered Startups has released the 4th video in a series of recordings highlighting the Portugal HQA Visa™ Program. In this video we hear from the Government of Portugal, who in February, officially endorsed Empowered Startups as the delivery partner for the Portugal...
Bloomberg Reports Europe’s ‘Golden Visa’ Programs Are Dying Out as Housing Costs Rise
On May 4th, Bloomberg Online posted an article about the impending death of Golden Visa programs in the EU, siting the driver for shutting down "golden visa" programs across Europe is rising home prices. These CBI (citizenship by investment) programs allow foreign...
Empowered Startups’ HQA Visa™ Program Makes Headlines With Another New Partnership
Empowered Startups is making headlines for their recent partnership with Instituto Politécnico de Portalegre, a renowned educational institution in Portugal. This partnership provides a pathway for entrepreneurs and domain experts to utilize world class R&D...
ADVISORS
The following professionals generously offer their perspectives on our plans. We are grateful for the influence they continue to have on our projects.
Paulo
Bandeira
Executive Director, STARTUP LAB – SRS Advogados
Hugo
Barros
Director , CRIA – University of the Algarve
Alex
Rodrigues
Entrepreneurship & Investments Officer, Brigantia-EcoPark