Rights of a non-EU spouse or partner of an EU citizen in Portugal
Your partner’s EU passport lets them live in Portugal with no visa and no paperwork for the first three months.
Your passport doesn’t do that on its own. So the question couples ask us first is simple: “Does my partner’s passport cover me?”
Mostly, yes. As the family member of an EU citizen, you can come, stay, work and travel on most of the same terms as your partner. But you need your own residence card from AIMA, Portugal’s immigration agency, and you can only ask for it after your partner has registered at the town hall.
The short version
- Who’s covered: spouses, unmarried partners in a recognised long-term relationship, children under 21 or dependent, and dependent parents.
- No Portuguese residence visa: you come in on your passport, plus a short-stay visa only if your nationality needs one for Schengen.
- Two offices, in order: your partner registers at the Câmara after three months, then you send your request to AIMA in the same 30-day window.
- Work: yes, employed or self-employed, with no separate work permit.
- If things change: a break-up, or your partner’s death or move away, doesn’t by itself end your right to stay.
- After 5 years: you can get permanent residence.
If you’d like help with the two files, the Câmara registration and the AIMA request, that’s what our EU Family Setup for EU citizens’ families is for. The rest of this guide goes through your rights, one question at a time.
In this guide11 sections
- Who counts as family of an EU citizen in Portugal?
- Do you need a visa to come to Portugal with your EU partner?
- How do you stay in Portugal longer than 90 days?
- What is the residence card for family members of EU citizens?
- Can a non-EU spouse work in Portugal?
- Can you travel to other EU countries with your EU partner?
- What happens if you separate, or your partner dies or leaves Portugal?
- When can you get permanent residence in Portugal?
- What if you're not married?
- What if your partner is Portuguese?
- Where can you get help with all this?
Who counts as family of an EU citizen in Portugal?
A spouse, an unmarried partner in a recognised relationship, children and dependent parents all count as family of an EU citizen in Portugal. Portugal’s law on EU citizens’ residence lists them like this:[1]
- Spouses. Married couples, whatever the sex.
- Unmarried partners. You count if you live with your EU partner in a união de facto (an unmarried couple living together under Portuguese law), or if your relationship is certified as permanent by the authorities of the EU country where your partner lives.
- Children and grandchildren. Under 21, or older and dependent. They can be from either partner.
- Parents and grandparents. If they’re dependent, again from either partner’s side.
Other relatives get an easier path too, if they depend on the EU citizen, share their home, or need their care for serious health reasons. Portugal has to make their entry and residence easier, and if it says no, it has to give reasons.[1]
This helps unmarried couples. The EU free movement directive only asks countries to “facilitate” entry for a partner in a durable relationship.[2] Portugal goes further and lists the partner as family outright. More on that below.
The same rules cover the family of Icelandic, Liechtenstein, Norwegian and Swiss citizens.[1]
Do you need a visa to come to Portugal with your EU partner?
No Portuguese residence visa is needed. A non-EU spouse or partner of an EU citizen enters Portugal on a valid passport.[1]
The only visa you might need is the ordinary short-stay visa to enter the Schengen area, and only if your nationality needs one anyway.
If it does, the law makes it easier:
- It’s free. You pay nothing for the visa.[1]
- It’s fast-tracked. The consulate has to use a quicker procedure.[2] The EU’s guidance says a wait of more than 15 days should be rare.[3]
Once you hold your Portuguese family residence card, you can enter Portugal without any visa, and border staff don’t stamp your passport.[1]
How do you stay in Portugal longer than 90 days?
For the first three months, your passport is enough, as long as you’re with your EU partner or joining them.[1]
After three months, your right to stay depends on your partner’s. Your partner has to meet one of these:[1]
- They work in Portugal, employed or self-employed.
- They have enough money for the whole household, plus health cover.
- They study here.
“Do I need a job in Portugal?”
No. You don’t need a job or a contract here.
In practice, AIMA wants to see that the two of you can support yourselves, and a Portuguese bank account with savings is the usual way to show it. For health cover, private insurance or an SNS number (Portugal’s health service) works.
The two offices, one after the other
You can’t go to AIMA first. Your partner’s registration has to come before your request.
Two offices, one after the other
You arrive together, on your passports
After 3 months, your partner registers at the Câmara (CRUE)
In the same 30 days, you send your request to AIMA
AIMA sees you and issues your card
AIMA’s online request needs your partner’s CRUE, so it can’t go in first. The wait for an AIMA appointment can be many months.
- Your partner registers at the Câmara Municipal (the town hall) where you live. Portugal’s law gives them 30 days once the first three months are up.[1] They leave with a registration certificate, usually called the CRUE.
- You send your request to AIMA for your own residence card, in that same 30-day window.[1] Your partner signs a declaration of responsibility, the Termo de Responsabilidade, with the signature certified.[4] AIMA’s online request asks for your partner’s registration certificate, so you can’t send it until the CRUE exists.[5]
- AIMA gives you an appointment. That’s where they take your photo and fingerprints. AIMA then issues the card.
If you miss the deadline, you can be fined €400 to €1,500. The same fine applies if your partner registers late.[1]
“Can I stay while AIMA decides?”
In practice, once your request is in, the 90-day limit no longer applies to you.
The EU’s guidance backs this up on two points. If your visa or visa-free stay runs out while AIMA is processing your request, that can’t be a reason to send you away.[6] And you don’t have to go home to get a new visa.[3]
You also don’t need the card in your hand to use your rights. Portugal’s law says the card, or proof you’ve applied, can never be a condition for using a right, and you can prove you’re a family member in any other way.[1] Keep the confirmation of your AIMA request somewhere safe: it’s your proof you’ve applied.
Staying in Portugal while you wait is fine. Leaving is the risky part. Until your card is issued, you can’t use the card to travel without a visa, and your first visa or 90 days may have run out.[3] Our advice: if you can, wait for the card before you travel outside Portugal.
What is the residence card for family members of EU citizens?
It’s the card that shows you have the right to live in Portugal as the family member of an EU citizen. In Portuguese it’s the cartão de residência de familiar de cidadão da União Europeia (residence card for a family member of an EU citizen), and AIMA issues it.[4]
Here’s what the law says about it:
- Valid for 5 years, or for your partner’s planned stay if that’s shorter.[1]
- The law gives AIMA 3 months from your application to issue it. The EU allows up to six months, so Portugal’s deadline is shorter.[1][2]
- The fee can’t be more than a Portuguese ID card costs.[1]
- Trips abroad of up to six months a year don’t affect it.[1]
“So it takes three months?”
The law says three months from your application. Getting an AIMA appointment in the first place can take much longer.
It can be many months before AIMA sees you. Nobody can speed that up, and that includes us. AIMA decides, and we never promise a date or an outcome.
What’s different about this card
Compared with other AIMA residence permits, a few things stand out:
- No residence visa first. You apply from inside Portugal.
- Your right comes from your partner’s. The card is proof of that right, and you can use the right before the card arrives.[1]
- AIMA can only refuse for a few reasons. Those are public policy, public security or public health, and it has to be about your own conduct. A past conviction on its own isn’t enough.[1]
- You get reasons. If AIMA refuses, it has to tell you in writing, with the reasons and how to appeal.[6]
- Fraud is the exception. If the marriage or union is a sham, you’re refused or you lose your rights.[1]
Can a non-EU spouse work in Portugal?
Yes. A non-EU spouse or partner of an EU citizen can work in Portugal, employed or self-employed, with no separate work permit.[1]
If you’ve seen the question in Portuguese, pode trabalhar?, the answer is the same. Sim.
The right to work comes straight from the law, for anyone with the right to live here as an EU citizen’s family member.[1][2] So you don’t have to wait for the card to arrive before you take a job.
You’re treated like a Portuguese citizen in most things, including work.[1] Two limits apply:
- Social support: you can’t get some benefits in your first three months.
- Study grants: you usually only get them after permanent residence, unless you or your partner work here.
Can you travel to other EU countries with your EU partner?
Yes. With the Portuguese card, you can travel to any EU country without a visa, with your partner or without them. That includes Ireland and Cyprus, which sit outside Schengen, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.[3]
How long you can stay depends on who you’re travelling with.
| If you’re travelling… | Visa? | How long |
|---|---|---|
| With your EU partner, or to join them | None with the card. Without it, a short-stay visa if your nationality needs one. | Up to 3 months in each country. The Schengen 90-days-in-180 count doesn’t apply.[3] |
| On your own, with the card | None, in any EU country or the four listed above.[3] | Our advice: plan these trips as visits, and keep to 90 days in any 180. |
| On your own, without a card or residence permit | The normal rules for your nationality. | 90 days in any 180 in the Schengen area.[3] |
“Can we move to Spain with my Portuguese card?”
You can visit Spain with it.
But outside Portugal, the card works for travel. If you want to live in another EU country, you apply for a new residence card there.[6]
What happens if you separate, or your partner dies or leaves Portugal?
Death, divorce, an annulment, the end of a união de facto, or your partner leaving Portugal doesn’t by itself end your right to live here.[1]
“What if we split up before I have permanent residence?”
Until you get permanent residence, you keep your right to stay if one of these is true:[1]
Before permanent residence, you keep your right if
- ✓You work, employed or self-employed
- ✓You have enough money for yourself and your family, plus health insurance
- ✓You’re family of someone who meets one of those, and your family was formed in Portugal
If you have children in school here, and your partner dies or leaves, the children keep their residence, and so does the parent who has custody of them.[1]
These are Portugal’s own rules. If your situation is complicated, it’s worth a lawyer call before anything changes.
When can you get permanent residence in Portugal?
After 5 consecutive years of legal residence with your EU partner in Portugal, you have the right to permanent residence.[1]
The same applies if you kept your right after a break-up or your partner’s death: 5 consecutive years of legal residence here.[1]
Once you have it, you no longer have to show that your partner works or has enough money.[1]
Once you have permanent residence, you only lose it if you’re away for more than two years in a row.
“Will time abroad break my five years?”
Not if it’s short. Absences of up to six months a year don’t break the five years, and neither does one longer absence of up to 12 months for a serious reason such as pregnancy, serious illness, study or a work posting.[1]
Once you have permanent residence, you only lose it if you’re away from Portugal for more than 2 years in a row.[1]
How to apply
- Apply before your current card expires.[1]
- Use AIMA’s renewals portal. Since 1 July 2026, that’s where permanent residence requests go.[7]
- The law gives AIMA 3 months from your request to issue the permanent card.[1]
What if you’re not married?
You can still qualify. Portugal’s law counts your partner as family if you live in a união de facto.[1]
Under Portugal’s law on unmarried couples, that means two people, of any sex, living together like a married couple for more than 2 years.[8] You can prove it by any legal means, or with a declaration from your Junta de Freguesia (parish council).[8] AIMA asks unmarried couples for proof you’ve lived together for at least 2 years.[4]
“Will AIMA accept our relationship?”
In practice, AIMA looks closely at unmarried couples’ proof.
If you’re married
The simplest route
Your marriage certificate settles the question.
If your union is registered
The safest proof without marriage
A registered union of at least two years.
If there’s no official record
Much harder to prove
Often refused. You’d build the file from notarised declarations and proof you live together.
Whichever fits you, it’s the first thing to ask a lawyer about.
What if your partner is Portuguese?
If your partner is Portuguese and you live in Portugal, the EU rules alone don’t cover you, but Portugal’s law extends the same family rules to you.
EU free movement law is about EU citizens living in a country other than their own. The EU’s court has said it doesn’t give family members a right to live in the EU citizen’s own country.[9] The EU’s guidance puts it plainly: if you join your spouse in their home country and you haven’t lived together in another EU country before, national rules apply.[10]
Portugal’s law on EU citizens’ residence then says its family-member rules extend to the family of Portuguese citizens, whatever their nationality.[1]
- If your partner is from another EU country: the two-office route above applies, starting with their CRUE.
- If your partner is Portuguese: the CRUE is for citizens of other EU countries, so your steps are different.[5] Book a lawyer call before you plan anything.
- If you’ve lived together in another EU country: the EU’s court has said EU rules can also apply when you move back together, as long as you genuinely lived there as a family.[9]
Where can you get help with all this?
We can help with the two files: the Câmara registration and the AIMA request.
Our EU Family Setup, the route people often call Article 15, covers both, with two calls with our partner immigration lawyer. It’s €1,199 for the two of you. We prepare and check the files and you send them; you book your own appointments.
If you only need one piece:
- Only the EU partner needs to register? CRUE Support covers the Câmara on its own.
- AIMA has given you a date? AIMA appointment support helps you prepare.
- Portuguese partner, a break-up, or anything unusual? Book a 45-minute call with an immigration lawyer.
Moving here can also make you tax resident in Portugal. A tax consultation before you move shows what that means for the two of you.
We help with both files: your partner’s registration at the Câmara and your request to AIMA, with two calls with our partner immigration lawyer. €1,199 for the two of you. You don’t need your documents ready to order.
Frequently asked questions
Does my partner’s EU passport cover me in Portugal?
Mostly, yes. You have rights as their family member, but you need your own residence card from AIMA. You apply after your partner has registered at the Câmara.
Do I need a visa to move to Portugal with my EU spouse?
No Portuguese residence visa. You only need a short-stay Schengen visa if your nationality needs one anyway, and it’s free and fast-tracked.
Can I work while I wait for my residence card?
Yes. Your right to work comes from the law, so you don’t need the card first. You can work employed or self-employed, with no separate permit.
How long is the family member residence card valid?
5 years, or your EU partner’s planned stay if that’s shorter. Trips abroad of up to six months a year don’t affect it.
How long does AIMA take to issue the card?
The law gives AIMA 3 months from your application. The wait for an AIMA appointment can be many months on top of that, and nobody can speed it up.
What happens if we miss the 30-day window?
You can be fined €400 to €1,500. The deadline is 30 days after your first three months in Portugal, for your partner’s registration and your AIMA request alike.
Can I travel while my AIMA request is pending?
Staying in Portugal is fine. Leaving is the risky part, so if you can, wait for your card before you travel. Until it arrives, you can’t use the card to travel without a visa.
Can I visit Ireland with my Portuguese family residence card?
Yes. The card lets you travel visa-free to every EU country, including Ireland and Cyprus, even without your partner. Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland are covered too.
Can I move to another EU country on my Portuguese card?
No. To live in another EU country, you apply for a new residence card there. Outside Portugal, your Portuguese card works for travel.
Do we have to be married?
No. Portugal’s law counts a partner in a união de facto as family. In practice, a registered union of at least two years is the safest proof, and marriage is simpler still.
What happens if we divorce?
Divorce doesn’t by itself end your right to live in Portugal. Before permanent residence, you keep it if you work, or have enough money and health insurance, or are family of someone who does, with the family formed in Portugal.
Are same-sex couples covered?
Yes. A união de facto can be between two people of any sex. If you’re in a same-sex marriage and you move to another EU country together, that country must recognise your residence rights.
Sources and how we checked
- Portugal’s law on EU citizens’ residence, Law 37/2006 of 9 August, consolidated text on Diário da República (last amended by Decree-Law 41/2023, in force from 29 October 2023). Articles 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 29, 30 and 31.
- EU free movement directive, Directive 2004/38/EC, consolidated text on EUR-Lex (version of 16 June 2011). Articles 3(2), 5(2), 10(1) and 23.
- Your Europe, travel documents for non-EU family members (last checked by the European Commission 3 November 2026). Visa-free travel with the card, length of stay, visas while an application is processed.
- AIMA, residence card for family members of EU nationals (current page). Who applies, when, the Termo de Responsabilidade, proof for unmarried partners.
- AIMA notice on the online contact form for EU family residence cards (30 September 2025). The request asks for the EU citizen’s registration certificate; EU citizens register with their municipality.
- Your Europe, residence cards for non-EU family members (last checked by the European Commission 16 June 2026). No expulsion while the application is processed, written refusals, moving to another country.
- AIMA, permanent residence card for family members of EU nationals (current page). Renewals portal from 1 July 2026.
- Portugal’s law on unmarried couples, Law 7/2001 of 11 May, consolidated text on Diário da República (last changed 31 December 2018). Articles 1 and 2-A.
- Court of Justice of the EU, O and B, case C-456/12, judgment of 12 March 2014. Paragraph 43 and the operative part.
- Your Europe, residence rights of non-EU spouses and children (last checked by the European Commission 18 September 2026). National rules for joining a spouse in their home country; same-sex marriages.
We read every source above on 10 November 2026, using the Portuguese originals for Portugal’s laws and AIMA’s pages. Practice points (the bank account, health cover, AIMA’s waiting times, how AIMA treats unmarried couples’ proof, the 90-day limit once your request is in, and travel while you wait or on your own) come from our partner immigration lawyer’s work on the EU Family Setup service.
