From Dubai to Portugal: Karim’s D2 Visa, From Pre-Refusal to Approval

Karim applied for a Portugal D2 visa at VFS in Dubai in January 2026. Two months later, a letter told him the Portuguese authorities were minded to refuse it.

He had ten working days to answer. He did, and his visa was approved that spring.

We’ve changed his name and some details.

Karim has lived in the UAE for about fifteen years. Alongside his salaried job, he’s a shareholder in a technology company in Dubai that sells software to restaurants and cafés. He wanted to take the business into Portugal and, from there, into Europe. He’d started learning Portuguese long before he applied.

Applying from Dubai

Karim came to us in early January 2026, a week before his VFS appointment. By then he already had a lot in place: a Portuguese tax number, a newly registered Portuguese company and a one-year lease registered with the tax office.

He went through his documents with our partner lawyer before the appointment. As a long-term UAE resident, he applied in Dubai. His UAE police certificate went through the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, because the UAE isn’t part of the Apostille Convention.

As he put it: “I have big plans, I’ve been thinking about it for long.”

He handed in his file in mid-January.

The pre-refusal

In March, the letter arrived. It’s called a pre-refusal notice: the authority tells you it intends to refuse, explains why, and gives you a short window to reply before it decides.

His notice listed three grounds:

• His funds weren’t in Portugal. He hadn’t opened a Portuguese bank account.
• His tax and social security position wasn’t clear. The UAE has no personal income tax, so he had no tax returns to show.
• The business plan didn’t convince them. The authority doubted the business as described.

He called us the next day, and our partner lawyer went through the notice with him a few days later.

Ten working days to answer three reasons for refusal.

Answering in ten working days

Karim’s reply covered all three points:

• He opened a Portuguese bank account. If you’re still in the UAE, we can open yours remotely.
• He showed his tax and social security position with official Portuguese documents. Our team arranged his social security non-registration declaration, the official proof that you’re not in the Portuguese system.
• He rewrote the business plan himself. The first plan described a brand-new Portuguese company. The new one told the real story: the Portuguese company would run his Dubai business in Portugal and the rest of Europe, under a signed agreement between the two companies. If you’d rather not write yours alone, we offer business plan support written to what the consulate expects.

That last change mattered most to him. The connection to his Dubai company had been part of his thinking from the start, but it wasn’t in the plan he first submitted. His approach, in his words: “I’ll just say the truth, I’ll say what I’m planning to do, I’ll fix the numbers.”

If you run a business abroad too, our guide on opening a new Portuguese company or a branch explains why this kind of set-up works for a D2.

Approved

His D2 was approved that spring, about four months after his VFS appointment. When he told us in May, he was already planning his next steps in Portugal, and introducing friends in Dubai who were planning D2s of their own.

If you’re applying for a D2 from the UAE

• Make your plan tell your real story. If your Portuguese business grows out of one you already run in the UAE, say so, and show how the two connect.
• Have your money in a Portuguese account before you apply. “Funds not in Portugal” was the first ground on his notice.
• Be ready to explain your tax position. With no UAE tax returns, have other official proof of where you stand.
• Get your UAE police certificate stamped by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• If a pre-refusal arrives, act the same week. The window is short, and some documents take days to come through. Our guide explains what the letter means and how to answer it.

Our D2 visa support covers your document checklist and a review of your whole file by our partner lawyer before you submit, so the points in Karim’s notice are dealt with up front.

Names are pseudonyms, and some dates and details have been changed. 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.