While so many European countries still refuse to pass legislation that would legalize online gambling, Portugal did so in 2015 and allowed international online casinos to apply for local Portugal licenses. The body in charge of issuing these licenses is called the Portugal Games Regulation and Inspection Service and to this date this regulator has already passed quite a few licenses, with new online casinos constantly entering the market. With this recent law, Portugal has lifted the ISP ban on international casinos, allowed them to apply for licenses and went a step in the right direction in complying with the EU open market policy.

Portugal has agreed to issue licenses to international casinos and has done so shortly upon the passing of the law back in 2015 for many operators. However, extremely high taxes imposed by the government are now causing many online casinos to question whether they want to stay in this country as it may be costing them too much to continue to cater to Portuguese players.  Be as it may, online casinos that currently operate under the Portugal Games Regulation and Inspection Service license are the safest bet for players in Portugal.

As soon as legislation was announced, online casinos left and right started to apply for a license to legally operate within Portugal. As such, quite a few licenses were issued over the few years that they have been available and you can find plenty of casinos that are licensed for legal operation within Portugal at this time.

If you are a Portuguese player, there are two options for you when it comes to choosing an online casino. First, you could play with an international online casino that operates under foreign licenses, and while these casinos are often very safe, you may want to consider playing with a domestically regulated casino after all. The added security guaranteed by a license from Portugal Games Regulation and Inspection Service cannot be matched if you are a Portugal player, so we suggest checking out one of the many online casinos that hold this license.