Please forgive me if this has been asked - I searched but did not find an answer. My husband and I are going through the PGV (biometrics appointment August '22). We originally planned to move to Portugal but a job opportunity opened up for him in France. Does anyone have a good guide to whether our PGV allows us to work in other Shengen countries, and if a visa would be required for France before we obtain Portugeuse citizenship? I’m seeing conflicting information about this online.
The Portuguese GV doesn’t allow you to work or live in France. You can visit France for tourism purposes using your PT Biometric Residence Permit, and wouldn’t require a Schengen Visa.
Once a PT citizen, you then acquire freedom of movement (work and live) in the EU.
Many thanks. Do you have any intel (or resources) on the difficulty of obtaining a French residency/work permit as a GV holder? I’m wondering if it’s any simpler than applying as a US citizen, which I understand is not very easy 
They are mutually exclusive - having a PT GV will have no impact on the ease of obtaining a French work permit and French residence card. I’m assuming that the French employment opportunity for your husband is one where the prospective employer will sponsor him for a work permit? Having US citizenship has no material impact on your husband’s French work permit process either.
Thank you for such a quick reply–that is helpful! He would be working for the French company as a freelancer, so we haven’t yet gotten to the question of whether they would sponsor him for a work permit. It sounds like we would need to understand the full French process to see how difficult it would be for both of us to have the right to reside and work.
Do you have any good sources for understanding one’s rights as a GV holder in non-Portuguese Schengen countries? For example, as a US citizen I know I have the right to stay 90/180 days in a place like France, but wonder how that changes with the GV in place.
It doesn’t. Schengen rules still apply. For third-country nationals who do not have schengen rights, it grants schengen rights. If you are a third-country national who already has schengen rights by some other mechanism, it changes nothing.
Thank you for the clarification, Jeff. So for an American, you’re saying there’s no change to the 90-day rule?
nope. For your purposes, it bought you nothing.
France has a version of the digital nomad visa. Not the best one to track down. If he’s a freelancer assume he is independent so then he could go that way.