Applying for a D7 or D8 Visa in 2026: What Our Clients’ Stories Taught Us
This year we’ve helped clients from all over the world apply for Portugal’s D7 and D8 visas. For this article we picked six of their stories, from the US, the UK, India, Turkey and Egypt, and read them side by side to see what they had in common.
The short version: the visa itself is rarely the hard part. The hard parts are the booking system, the paperwork from your own country, and timing all of it so nothing expires before the appointment.
Here’s what we’d tell anyone starting a D7 or D8 in 2026.
The six applications
| Story | Applied from | Visa | Where | Appointment to decision |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graham & Alison | Scotland | D8, company directors | VFS Manchester | 27 days |
| Richard & Lucy | England | Two D7s, unmarried couple | VFS London | 17 days |
| Jason & Amy | Pacific Northwest, US | D7, pension | VFS San Francisco | 28 days |
| Arun & Meera | India | D7, retirees | VFS India | 35 days |
| Ersel & Kübra | Turkey | D7, interest income | Consulate in Ankara | 57 days |
| Daniel | Egypt (US citizen) | D7, several income sources | Cairo | About 3 months |
The fastest took 17 days and the slowest about three months. How long you wait depends far more on where you apply than on how strong your file is.
1. Every VFS centre has its own rules
On paper the process is the same everywhere. In practice each centre works differently, and nobody writes the differences down.
- San Francisco released slots in batches that went within minutes. Jason checked several times a day for weeks, and the payment page broke for a while too.
- Manchester wouldn’t book a couple into one slot. Graham and Alison booked two separate appointments, went to the first together, and VFS took both files at once.
- India sends the file on to Delhi and posts the visa back. You don’t collect it.
- Ankara answers by email, slowly. A rescheduled appointment can be months away, so Ersel went ahead with his even though the bank account wasn’t open yet.
- Cairo held Daniel’s passports for over three months, and in the end he collected them himself.
Before you book, find out how your centre handles couples, passports and rescheduling. If you’re a couple, keep a VFS account each. It gave Jason and Amy a way round a reschedule button that didn’t work.
2. Apostille more than you think
Most people know the criminal-record certificate needs an apostille. Fewer realise the civil documents do too.
Arun and Meera’s marriage was recognised by a later document, because no certificate was issued when they married in 1990. That document needed an apostille, plus a short letter explaining why there was no original. Graham and Alison’s marriage certificate needed one as well, and the apostilled original was still in the post on the day. VFS accepted a scan after checking with the consulate.
The safe rule: any civil document going into your file needs an apostille.
3. Documents expire, so time them to the appointment
A criminal-record certificate is generally only accepted if it was issued within 90 days of your appointment. Jason and Amy paid for an expedited apostille on their FBI check to keep inside that window. Richard and Lucy ordered theirs once they knew their date.
Bank statements age too. Recent statements show your current position, and if part of your income isn’t a fixed monthly payment, a longer history (six months rather than three) makes it look steady. That’s why Lucy’s dividends needed it.
Get the slow, long-lasting things done early: NIF, bank account, savings transfers. Leave the things that expire until you have a date.
The visa itself is rarely the hard part. Timing is.
4. There’s more than one way to prove where you’ll live
The D7 and D8 need proof of accommodation in Portugal. A 12-month lease is the usual route, but it isn’t the only one.
- A registered lease. What VFS needs is proof the lease is registered with the tax office, not just a signed contract. The landlord registers it, and Graham and Alison’s certificate arrived the night before their appointment.
- A host declaration. Arun and Meera hadn’t found a flat yet. A friend in Portugal signed a declaration to host them, and they looked for a home once they’d arrived.
- A property deed. Richard and Lucy were buying a house, so the deed was their proof.
- A lease found fast. Jason and Amy’s savings arrived late, so they found a Porto flat in 16 days and had it reviewed and signed in time.
If you have pets, check the lease. Ersel and Kübra needed a cat-friendly flat, and many landlords refused Daniel’s cat outright.
5. Your income doesn’t have to be a pension
The textbook D7 applicant has one pension arriving every month. Only two of our six looked like that.
- Several sources. Arun and Meera had pensions, rental income and interest. Daniel had five or six bank accounts and put a summary sheet on top of each section of his file. Either way, the point is to show clearly which money is regular income and which is savings.
- Interest from abroad. Ersel’s income was interest on a term deposit in Turkey, taxed at source, so no tax return showed it. Highlighted statements, translations, the exchange rate and a short explanatory letter covered it.
- Your own company. Lucy took dividends from a company she owns. That counted as passive income for the D7, backed by tax returns and company accounts. Graham and Alison took the D8 instead, because they kept actively running their company from Portugal.
- Two incomes, not married. Without a marriage or registered partnership, a couple usually can’t apply as main applicant plus dependent, so Richard and Lucy each met the full minimum on their own.
If you still work, compare the D7 and D8 before you decide. The D8 sets a much higher income bar.
6. The visa is only the first half
The visa gets you into Portugal. Residence comes at the AIMA appointment, and that’s often where things slow down.
- Arun and Meera’s visas came without an AIMA appointment. An email to AIMA got them one, about four months later.
- Jason and Amy’s appointment came with the visa, but it’s in June 2027, in a different city from where they live. That’s common now.
- Graham and Alison’s appointment fell on a strike day, and Alison’s was later moved to another city without anyone telling her. Check AIMA’s own system rather than relying on the slip in your passport.
7. The last week always has fixes
In every one of these files, something needed sorting in the final week. Usually it was small:
- a lease registration certificate that came the night before
- an accountant’s letter, because a tax return showed less than current income
- a bank account that opened two days before the appointment, or after it
- insurance and rent receipts that came together at the last minute
None of these sank an application. They were all easier to fix with someone reviewing the whole file before the day. That review is where our team spends most of its time.
Applying for a Golden Visa or a D2?
These six stories are all D7 and D8, but most of the paperwork lessons carry over: apostilles, expiry dates, proof of accommodation and AIMA. See our pages on the Golden Visa and the D2 visa for what’s different.
You can read every story in full on our client stories page.
Every story here started with a short call. Tell us where you're applying from and how your income works, and we'll tell you what to sort out first.
Some clients in these stories asked us to change their names and details. Images are illustrative. Every application is different, and consulate requirements and timelines change. Novomove is a relocation technology platform that coordinates licensed Portuguese lawyers, not a law firm.
