WHO IS CONSIDERED AN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT?

All students who do not have Portuguese nationality, except those who: 

Are nationals of a Member State of the European Union;

Are family members, under the terms of Law 37/2006, of 9 August, of Portuguese citizens or nationals of a Member State of the European Union, regardless of their nationality;

Not being nationals of a member state of the European Union and not being covered by the previous point, have been legally residing in Portugal for more than two years, continuously, on the 1st January of the year in which they wish to enter higher education, as well as their children who are legally residing with them

On January 1st of the year they wish to enter higher education, they are beneficiaries of an equal rights and duties status granted under the terms of an international treaty signed between the Portuguese State and the State of which they are nationals;

Apply for enrolment in higher education through the special regimens for access and enrolment regulated by Decree-Law no. 393-A/99, of 2 October, as amended by Decree-Law no. 272/2009, of 1 October;

Foreign students who are attending a Portuguese higher education institution in the context of an international mobility program for the completion of part of a study cycle in a foreign higher education institution with which the Portuguese institution has established an exchange agreement for that purpose.

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Students who enter higher education under the provisions of the present diploma shall maintain their quality of international student until the end of the study cycle in which they initially enrolled or to which they transit, even if, during the frequency of the study cycle, they are granted the status of equal rights and duties under the terms of an international treaty signed between the Portuguese State and the State of which they are nationals. The provisions set forth in the previous number shall not apply to international students who acquire the nationality of a European Union member State.

Until when is the International Student status maintained?

Students who entered higher education under the terms of the present diploma shall maintain their quality of international student until the end of the study cycle in which they initially enrolled or to which they transit, even if, during the course of the study cycle, they are granted the status of equal rights and duties under the terms of an international treaty signed between the Portuguese State and the State of which they are nationals. The provisions set forth in the previous number shall not apply to international students who acquire the nationality of a European Union member State.