Payments under Portugal’s scheme for people who move to the country’s interior have been recalculated, following the rise in the IAS social index. The base amount is up by almost 3%: roughly €2,700 on a fixed-term employment contract and up to €3,800 on an open-ended one. The scheme is called Emprego Interior MAIS, and it covers part of the cost for anyone who relocates to one of the participating areas for work, or who moves an existing job there. To work out where you can actually move without losing quality of life, we compared four regional centres on hospitals, schools, transport, internet and access to Lisbon or Porto.
Who can be approved
The scheme runs on a fixed budget: applications are accepted for as long as the money lasts. So before you make firm plans, check on the IEFP website whether it is still open.
Being a foreign national is not an obstacle. Citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland can apply, as can legally resident nationals of other countries — including residence permit holders, refugees and people under temporary protection.
You need qualifying work, an address inside the scheme’s territory, and no outstanding debts to the tax authority or Segurança Social. Every applicant needs an IEFP Online account; if you are unemployed or looking for new work, you also need an active registration with IEFP.
Which work qualifies
Support applies in three main situations:
- you start work in an interior area, or formally move an existing job there. An open-ended employment contract works, and so does a fixed-term contract or a research contract of at least 12 months;
- you carry on working remotely, but your official place of work is registered in an interior area;
- you start your own business there, or move an existing self-employed activity.
In every case, the paperwork has to state that the work is performed within a territory covered by the scheme.
Remote work for a foreign company can qualify too, provided your employer confirms the start date and the new work address. For non-EU nationals, IEFP additionally checks whether their visa or residence permit allows that kind of work.
What counts as the interior
Interior is an administrative category, not simply anywhere far from the ocean. The districts of Beja, Bragança, Castelo Branco, Évora, Guarda, Portalegre and Vila Real are covered in full; in other districts only certain municipalities or freguesias — the smallest administrative units — take part.
Before you sign a contract or a lease, check your exact freguesia against the official PNCT list of territories. In the municipality of Viseu, for example, only a few outlying freguesias qualify — not the city centre.
As a general rule, your previous home has to be outside an interior territory and the new one inside it. There are two important exceptions:
- a move between two interior territories can also qualify, as long as the old and new addresses are at least 100 kilometres apart;
- you can live outside a qualifying territory if your workplace is inside one and the distance from home to work is no more than 50 kilometres.
The second exception is worth confirming with IEFP in advance.
What the scheme pays, and when to apply
Emprego Interior MAIS does not cover the whole move. It is a one-off payment towards setting-up costs, a family supplement, and a separate reimbursement for transporting your belongings. The amounts are tied to the IAS, which changes annually; in 2026:
- roughly €3,800 — for an open-ended contract, for creating your own job or company, or for moving a self-employed activity to an interior area;
- roughly €2,700 — for a fixed-term contract or a research contract of at least a year, including where an existing job under such a contract is relocated;
- plus 20% of the base amount for each family member who moves with the applicant;
- plus roughly €800 towards transporting belongings to the new home.
Once approved, IEFP pays out 60% of the base amount and the family supplements, and reimburses the transport of belongings in full. The remaining 40% is paid in the 13th month, provided the applicant is still working in a qualifying area.
Both partners can receive the base payment separately, but the family supplement and the transport reimbursement are granted only once per household.
The scheme sets two separate deadlines:
- The move must take place within 180 days before or after the start of the contract, the self-employed activity, or the formal relocation of the job.
- The application must be submitted no later than 180 days after that work event.
The home and the job have to be kept for at least 12 months, or IEFP can ask for the money back. Until the application is approved, treating this money as a guaranteed relocation budget is a risk.
Where to move so life is comfortable
We picked cities whose municipalities are fully inside the scheme and from which you can reach Lisbon or Porto in a few hours. Each has a public hospital, schools, a university and urban transport — but how convenient it feels depends on whether you have a car.
- Évora — a city in the Alentejo, about an hour and a half from Lisbon by train. It has the Hospital do Espírito Santo, state schools, the Universidade de Évora and the TREVO city buses. This is the easiest option for frequent trips to the capital and for living without a car, though demand from tourists and students pushes up rents. The historic centre, with its Roman temple, medieval streets and white houses, is on the UNESCO list; beyond the city walls the Alentejo plains begin, with olives, vineyards and cork oaks.
- Castelo Branco — a city in the east of central Portugal, roughly three hours from Lisbon by train. It has the Hospital Amato Lusitano, four school agrupamentos (state school clusters), a polytechnic institute and the MobiCaB buses. The old town grew around a Templar castle, and the city’s showpiece is the baroque Jardim do Paço Episcopal; part of the Tejo Internacional natural park lies within the municipality.
- Covilhã — a university city at the foot of the Serra da Estrela range. It has the Hospital Pêro da Covilhã, four school agrupamentos and the Universidade da Beira Interior; transport includes buses, funiculars, lifts and a train to Lisbon. The main catch is the terrain: an address that looks close on the map can be awkward without a car. The city grew on the wool industry, and the old mills, the Wool Museum and its industrial architecture are part of its identity; the Serra da Estrela trails start just above town.
- Vila Real — a regional centre in the north, about an hour and a half from Porto by bus. It has the Hospital de São Pedro, state schools, UTAD and city buses. There is no passenger rail line, so outside the centre you depend more heavily on the bus or a car. The old quarter sits above the gorges of the Corgo and Cabril rivers; nearby are the baroque Mateus Palace, the Douro vineyards and the trails of the Alvão natural park.
What else to check
Even within a single city, how liveable a place is comes down to the specific address:
- Internet. Check fixed and mobile coverage on GEO.ANACOM and confirm the connection with the providers. If you work remotely, you need a mobile backup.
- School and healthcare. Find out which state school and which centro de saúde the address belongs to, and how you would get to the hospital.
- Everyday transport. Check the route to work, school, the hospital and the station — not only during the day, but in the evening and at weekends.
- Safety. Judge the specific neighbourhood rather than the whole municipality: walk it by day and after dark, talk to people who live there, and check recent police and municipal notices.
