Uruguay vs Portugal: what changed after the NHR ended
Portugal tightened immigration, extended citizenship to seven years and saw housing rise 17.6% in a year. What that changes in the comparison with Uruguay.
For almost a decade, Portugal was the obvious answer for the Brazilian family that wanted to leave the country without leaving the language. Language, Europe, the coast, a reasonable cost and a tax regime designed to attract exactly that profile.
Most of that equation still stands. But three pieces of it changed between 2024 and 2026 — and changed enough that many people who had Portugal as plan A are redoing the sums.
This article compares the two destinations with what is actually in force now.
Where Portugal remains ahead
Start here, because it is substantial and because no honest comparison can leave it out.
Sovereign strength. Portugal is in an improving rating cycle: A3 stable from Moody’s, A+ with a positive outlook from S&P, A with a positive outlook from Fitch and A (high) positive from DBRS. That is a higher rating than the Uruguayan one, sustained by public debt that fell to 89.7% of GDP in 2025, a reduction of 3.8 percentage points in a year.
Safety. Portugal holds 7th place worldwide in the Global Peace Index — far ahead of Uruguay, at 43rd. On that specific measure, there is no comparison.
The European Union. Portuguese residency is European residency. Free movement in the Schengen area, access to the European market and, in time, a passport that opens 27 countries. Uruguay has nothing equivalent to offer.
Language and community. More than 500,000 Brazilians live in Portugal, forming the largest foreign community in the country. For anyone arriving from Brazil, arriving is not arriving alone.
Public healthcare. The Serviço Nacional de Saúde, the national health service, is universal and accessible to legal residents.
If the objective is Europe, Portugal remains the most natural door for anyone arriving from Brazil. That has not changed and probably will not.
What changed is everything that came with it.
What changed: three alterations that reorganised the decision
1. The tax regime is no longer what it was — and has become uncertain
The Residente Não Habitual regime, known internationally as the NHR, was closed in 2024, with a transitional regime for pending applications. In its place came IFICI — Incentivo Fiscal à Investigação Científica e Inovação, the tax incentive for scientific research and innovation — with a special IRS rate of 20%, but a far narrower scope: aimed at research, innovation and highly qualified professions, and no longer at the broad retiree or self-employed professional profile the NHR served. We deal with the differences in End of Portugal NHR: what the new IFICI gives (and takes).
In April 2026 an additional layer of uncertainty appeared. The Portuguese Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional the ministerial order approving the table of high value-added activities under the previous regime, on the grounds that the matter should be set out in a law of the Assembly of the Republic and not in a government order.
The sensitive point: because IFICI refers, for as long as there is no order of its own, precisely to the table declared unconstitutional, specialists in Portuguese tax law consider the decision extendable to the new regime. The matter depends on a legislative fix and is not yet resolved.
Important note: this is an open scenario, subject to legislative change at any moment. Any decision based on the Portuguese tax regime needs to be verified at the official source on the date it is taken.
2. Citizenship moved further away
The new nationality law, in force since May 2026, changed the minimum period of residence required to apply for Portuguese nationality:
| Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|
| Citizens of the CPLP, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (includes Brazil) | 5 years | 7 years |
| Other nationalities | 5 years | 10 years |
And it also changed how the period is counted: it now runs from the issue of the residence permit, and no longer from the date the application was submitted. As many applications take two, three or four years to be decided, some families have lost years already served.
For anyone who entered Portugal with a five-year horizon to the European passport — which was, for many, the real objective — the finishing line has moved significantly further away.
3. Entry became more restricted
The Foreigners Act of 2025 removed the manifestação de interesse, the expression-of-interest mechanism that allowed anyone already in Portugal to regularise their status locally. A residence visa must now be applied for at the Portuguese consulate in the country of origin, before travelling.
The job-seeker visa now requires proof of higher or technical education. And AIMA, the agency that succeeded the SEF, has accumulated delays that have already been the subject of a court decision: the legal deadlines of 90 working days for grant and 60 for renewal are not being met.
In the words of the Portuguese government itself: the doors are not closed, but they are no longer wide open either.
Housing: the number that reorganises everything
If there is a single figure to take from this article, it is this one.
In 2025, housing prices in Portugal rose 17.6% — the largest annual variation in the euro area, where the average was 5.2%, according to the Banco de Portugal, the central bank. In existing homes, which account for around 80% of transactions, the rise was 18.9%.
And it is not an isolated peak. Fitch projects a further 15% in 2026, and says it sees no reversal of the trend in the short term, because of scarce supply and strong demand.
The contrast with income is what makes the figure serious: in the same year, prices rose 17.6% while disposable household income rose 5.7%. The Banco de Portugal records “signs of overvaluation” and a worsening of housing affordability problems. Foreign buyers accounted for 28% of transactions, at an average value higher than that of resident buyers.
Translated into the decision facing a family: the cost of entering Portugal is rising three times faster than the capacity to pay it. Whoever arrived in 2019 bought one country; whoever arrives in 2026 buys another.
In Uruguay, the same indicator tells a different story. According to the INE, the average rent in the country rose 5.49% over twelve months to May 2025 — practically in line with inflation of 4.27% and with wages, which rose 5.16%. There is no gap between price and income.
What Uruguay offers by contrast
| Uruguay | Portugal | |
|---|---|---|
| Housing variation | ~5.5% a year (rents, INE) | +17.6% in 2025, projected +15% in 2026 |
| Period to citizenship | Its own rules, different periods | 7 years (CPLP) / 10 years |
| Entry | Its own residency rules | Consular visa compulsory in the country of origin |
| Tax regime for new residents | Exists, depends on individual analysis | IFICI, with constitutional uncertainty unresolved |
| Distance from Brazil | Short flight, no meaningful time difference | Long flight, 4 to 5 hours of time difference |
| Investment grade | Confirmed by seven agencies | Higher rating, in an improving cycle |
| Global Peace Index 2026 | 43rd | 7th |
The honest reading of this table: Portugal wins on safety, on rating and on European access. Uruguay wins on cost predictability, on stability of rules and on proximity.
And that is where the point lies: the three things that changed in Portugal — tax regime, citizenship period and entry rules — changed after many people had decided to go. In Uruguay, the set of rules underpinning the decision has a long record of stability, which is precisely what seven rating agencies are pricing when they confirm investment grade with a stable outlook. The full argument is in Why Uruguay became a destination for family wealth.
The forgotten variable: distance
No spreadsheet measures this, and it is what weighs most after the second year.
Portugal is nine or ten hours by air from Brazil, with a four to five hour time difference. That means: no popping over. No settling a meeting in the morning. No visiting a sick mother the same day. No having the grandchildren for a weekend.
Uruguay is a short flight away, with no meaningful time difference for most of the year, and a land border. Anyone keeping a business, family or medical treatment in Brazil does not sever the tie — they only move the base.
That is why we describe Uruguay as the international move that demands the least giving up. The direct comparison with Brazil is in Uruguay vs Brazil.
Note on scope: the Portuguese data come from the Banco de Portugal (Financial Stability Report of May 2026), the IGCP, Fitch Ratings, the Diário da República and Portuguese press coverage of the new nationality law, the Foreigners Act of 2025 and the Constitutional Court ruling of April 2026. The situation of the IFICI regime depends on a legislative fix and was unresolved at the date of this publication — any decision based on it should be verified at the official source at the moment it is taken. The Uruguayan data come from the INE and the Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas. Immigration and tax regimes depend on individual analysis.
Frequently asked questions
Has the NHR ended in Portugal?
Yes, it was closed in 2024, with a transitional regime for pending applications. It was replaced by IFICI, with a narrower scope, aimed at research, innovation and highly qualified professions.
How long does it take to obtain Portuguese citizenship today?
The minimum period of residence went from five to seven years for Brazilians and other CPLP citizens, and to ten years for other nationalities. The count now runs from the issue of the residence permit.
Has Portugal become more expensive?
In housing, very much so. Prices rose 17.6% in 2025 — the largest rise in the euro area — while household income rose 5.7%. Fitch projects a further 15% in 2026.
Is Portugal safer than Uruguay?
Yes, and by a wide margin: Portugal is in 7th place in the Global Peace Index 2026, Uruguay in 43rd among 163 countries.
So why consider Uruguay instead of Portugal?
For predictability of rules, stability of housing costs and proximity to Brazil. Portugal altered its tax regime, its citizenship period and its entry rules within two years; Uruguay has a long record of regulatory stability, recognised by seven rating agencies.
Is it possible to have both?
In some cases, yes — families that combine South American residency with European citizenship by descent, for example. It is exactly the kind of architecture that has to be designed case by case, taking into account the rules of every jurisdiction involved.
The starting point
Portugal has not stopped being a good destination. It has stopped being the same destination.
Whoever decided to go in 2019 was buying a package: a favourable tax regime, citizenship in five years, accessible entry and housing at a reasonable price. In 2026, of those four pieces, three have changed — and the fourth is rising at 17.6% a year.
That does not make the decision wrong. It makes it different, and the question that settles it has changed too: do you want Europe, or do you want stability and proximity? Because both answers exist, and they point to different places.
If the portrait of the South American country in this equation is still missing, start with What living in Uruguay is like and with the budget in Cost of living in Uruguay in 2026.
And if the decision involves wealth, retirement or a company on both sides of the Atlantic, it stops being a comparison of countries and becomes a design of structure — this is where that conversation begins.
Informational content. It does not constitute legal, tax, immigration or investment advice. Data verified on 21 August 2026 in the sources cited. The Portuguese IFICI regime is subject to a legislative fix and its situation was unresolved at the date of this publication. Immigration and tax regimes vary according to profile, nationality and wealth situation — individual analysis precedes any strategy.