Portugal D7 visa: the full guide, and a partner lawyer to check your file

What changed for the D7 in 2025 and 2026?

Four changes affect a Portugal D7 visa application today: a higher visa fee, a 2-year wait to bring family later, higher income and savings figures, and a longer path to citizenship.

• 10 March 2025: the consular fee for residence visas went up (Portaria 91/2025/1), its first update since 2011. We confirm the current amount on your order.
• 23 October 2025: Law 61/2025 changed family reunification. Bringing family over later now generally needs 2 years on a residence permit first, so if your family is moving with you, apply together.
• January 2026: the Portuguese minimum wage rose to €920 a month (Decree-Law 139/2025), which sets the D7 income at €920 a month and the savings at €11,040. Figures you read in older guides are too low.
• 19 May 2026: Organic Law 1/2026 changed the Nationality Law. Citizenship now takes 10 years of legal residence, or 7 for EU and CPLP nationals, counted from your first residence permit. It also adds a knowledge requirement on Portuguese culture and civics, and the test for it is still being set.

How much income do you need for the D7?

The Portugal D7 visa requires at least €920 a month after tax for the main applicant in 2026, from passive sources, in every single month. Each adult dependant adds 50% and each child adds 30%. The figure is tied to the Portuguese minimum wage, so it changes each January. The official basis is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs page on means of subsistence for national visas.

These are the minimums most consulates apply. Showing more is safer, and we confirm the exact figure for your household before you file.

"I clear the annual total easily. Is that enough?" Not always. Three rules decide whether the income passes.

Every month has to clear the bar on its own. Averaging doesn't help you. €10,000 in March and nothing in April is a problem, even though the yearly figure looks fine. April doesn't know about March.

Bring at least 3 months of statements. Six is better. Statements showing the income landing in your account prove it's real, and six months shows it was steady before you decided to move. If part of your income isn't a fixed monthly payment, the longer history matters more.

The source has to be traceable. Every step from the asset to the money in your account should be documented: a pension statement for a pension, the deed and tenancy contracts for rent, dividend statements for investment dividends.

What counts as passive income for the D7?

• State and private pensions, including military and disability pensions
• Rental income from property you own
• Dividends from investments
• Interest on savings or term deposits
• A mix of these, as long as the total clears the bar every month and each source has its own evidence

What doesn't count?

• A salary, whether from an employer or your own company
• Freelance work or client invoices
• Informal private arrangements with no official, traceable source

Which income types need extra care?

Interest taxed at source is the first. If your bank deducts tax from interest automatically, the income may never appear on a tax return. An official letter from the bank confirming the income closes that gap.

Dividends from a company you own are the second. Whether they count depends on how the company is set up and how the dividends are paid, and the consulate will look hard at whether you'll keep working in that company. Talk to a lawyer before you build your application around them.

Which documents do you need for the D7?

A typical Portugal D7 visa application has 18 documents. Your consulate or VFS centre publishes its own checklist, and that list decides what gets rejected at the counter, so read it next to this one. The official baseline is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs list of residency visa documents.

1. A national visa application form for each applicant, children included. Sign it in front of the consular officer, so leave it unsigned until then.
2. Your passport, valid for at least 3 months beyond your planned return (some consulates ask for more).
3. Two recent passport photos.
4. Proof of passive income: 3 to 6 months of statements showing it arrive, plus proof of the source.
5. Tax returns for the last 1 to 2 years, main applicant only. These don't need an apostille.
6. Proof of accommodation in Portugal: a 12-month lease registered with the tax office, a property deed, or a host declaration from someone in Portugal.
7. Travel health insurance covering medical expenses, urgent care and repatriation. The D7 rules set no minimum amount; €30,000 is the short-stay Schengen norm, and many applicants use it. Some consulates ask for 6 months of cover (Toronto did in our files), so match your consulate's list and buy a fixed-term policy with a certificate showing the dates and cover.
8. A criminal record certificate for everyone aged 16 and over, apostilled, translated if needed, and issued within 90 days of your appointment.
9. A cover letter explaining why you're moving and how you'll live on passive income.
10. A Portuguese bank statement showing your savings.
11. Your travel plans. Planned dates are usually enough, so you don't need to buy tickets yet.
12. Your NIF, the Portuguese tax number.
13. Consular registration, if your consulate requires it.
14. Proof of where you live now, such as a current lease or utility bill.
15. Proof of visa fee payment.
16. A signed authorisation for AIMA to check Portuguese criminal records, for everyone aged 16 and over.
17. Your marriage certificate if your spouse is on the application, apostilled and issued within 6 months of the appointment.
18. A birth certificate for each child, apostilled.

Documents that aren't in English or Portuguese generally need a certified translation. Some consulates also accept Spanish, Italian or French.

Two rules catch people more often than any single document. You'll need more apostilles than you think: marriage and birth certificates need one as well as the criminal record, and counters do refuse files over a missing one. And some documents expire, the criminal record after 90 days and the marriage certificate after 6 months, so order them once you have an appointment date and expect to reorder if the date moves.

What order should you do things in?

Start your Portugal D7 visa application 6 to 12 months before you want to move, and make your first job finding out when you can realistically get an appointment. Slots are the bottleneck, so everything else works backwards from the appointment date.

1. Check your consulate or VFS centre's slots and booking rules. How far out are appointments? How and when are new slots released? Do you have to show a Portuguese bank account before you can book? The answers decide your route.

If your centre lets you book without a Portuguese account:

2. Book a slot early, for a date you can realistically be ready for. You book it yourself, through VFS, the e-Visa portal or the consulate. Don't take a date you can't make, because a moved appointment restarts the clock on expiring documents.
3. Get your NIF. You need it for the bank account and the lease. Our NIF service takes 3 to 7 business days, fully online.
4. Open a Portuguese bank account and move your savings in, so you hold a funded statement before the appointment.

If your consulate requires a Portuguese account to book, as Ankara did in our files:

2. Get your NIF first.
3. Open the bank account and move the savings in. Start both 2 to 3 months before you want an appointment.
4. Book the appointment as soon as you can show the account.

Then, on both routes:

5. Gather the documents that don't expire: tax returns, income statements, proof of address, photos, insurance.
6. Sort your accommodation, and leave time for the lease registration certificate to arrive.
7. Order the documents that expire, timed to your appointment date: the criminal record and the marriage certificate, with their apostilles.
8. Write your cover letter. Keep it short and honest, and keep it about passive income.
9. Have the whole file reviewed. In the 2026 files we've supported, something needed fixing in the final week. It was usually small, and it's always easier to catch with someone reading the whole file.
10. Go to your appointment with originals and copies. It's often quick, and not always friendly.
11. Wait for the decision, then send or collect your passport for the visa.
12. Enter Portugal within the visa's 4 months, then go to your AIMA appointment, where residence is granted.

How do Americans apply for the Portugal D7 visa?

Americans apply for the Portugal D7 visa at a VFS Global centre or a Portuguese consulate, depending on the state they live in. You'll need an FBI Identity History Summary with a State Department apostille, issued within 90 days of your appointment, and proof of US income such as Social Security, a pension, rent or dividends. You book the appointment yourself. We prepare the file with you, and our partner immigration lawyer reviews it before you go.

"We've done all of this in English. Will they accept it?" In our US files, yes: English documents went through without a Portuguese translation.

Where do you apply from the US?

Your state isn't listed? Check the VFS jurisdiction list before you hunt for slots. It changes, and a file at the wrong office is a wasted trip.

How does the FBI check work for the D7?

The criminal record for Americans is the FBI Identity History Summary, for everyone aged 16 and over. It's a federal document, so the apostille comes from the US Department of State, not your state's Secretary of State. Allow a few weeks for that. The 90 days run from the date the FBI issues it, not the apostille date, so time the request to your appointment. One of our applicants needed three FBI checks because the appointment kept moving.

Which US income works for the D7?

• Social Security: your latest benefit verification letter, plus the monthly bank statements showing each payment arrive.
• Pensions, including military and disability pensions: the pension statement, plus the payments landing in your account. Monthly pension credits are the cleanest proof there is.
• Rental income: the deed, the leases and the rent arriving in your account.
• Dividends and interest: brokerage or bank statements, plus your tax returns.
• 401(k) and IRA: the balance is savings, not income. Whether regular distributions count toward the €920 a month depends on how they're paid, so have that checked before you build your file around them.
• Once you live in Portugal: Portugal taxes your withdrawals as pension income. See how both countries tax your 401(k) or IRA, or work out your figure with our 401(k) and IRA tax calculator.

IRS tax transcripts and returns don't need an apostille. US bank and brokerage statements are often online printouts, and consulates prefer signed and stamped documents, so plan for that early. Moving savings out of US retirement accounts can take weeks, and it holds up the Portuguese bank account and the lease behind it.

Who books the appointment?

You do, through VFS, the e-Visa portal or the consulate. We guide you on when and how. What our US files ran into:

• VFS San Francisco releases slots in batches that go within minutes, and for a while the payment page failed for everyone. If you're a couple, keep a VFS account each.
• VFS accounts can lock after repeated login attempts, and watching for slots is mostly repeated login attempts.
• At VFS Washington DC, one applicant was turned away because the appointment had been booked under a short-stay category. Book the long-stay (national visa) category.
• Newark's e-Visa registration can fail repeatedly. Keep trying. Each e-Visa application holds two people, so each adult applies separately, and the Newark window asked for apostilled birth certificates for the children.
• Buy A4 paper. Portuguese bank forms have to be printed, signed and posted on A4, and US printers are loaded with letter size.

What does our partner lawyer check before your appointment?

Our partner immigration lawyer reads the whole file against your office's own checklist, then looks hardest at the points that sink US files:

• that every month of income clears the bar on its own, from a source that counts as passive
• that each income source has its own evidence, from the letter to the deposit
• that the FBI check, apostilles and marriage certificate will still be in date on the day
• that the savings are in your Portuguese account and match your household
• that the lease or deed matches what the consulate expects

You get written feedback and a call to go through it. That's the €530 Check-Up if you've built the file yourself, or part of Premium at €1,199. Read how it went for Jason and Amy, approved at VFS San Francisco in 28 days, and for Daniel, a US citizen who applied from Cairo. Americans living abroad apply where they legally live. If you're weighing the Golden Visa instead and want to fund it from retirement savings, read the Golden Visa with a 401(k) or IRA.

How do UK residents apply for the Portugal D7 visa?

UK residents apply for the Portugal D7 visa through VFS Global, at London, Manchester or Edinburgh depending on where you live. You'll need an ACRO police certificate with an apostille from the FCDO, issued within 90 days of your appointment, proof of income such as the State Pension or a workplace pension, and €11,040 in a Portuguese bank account. You book the appointment yourself. We prepare the file with you, and our partner immigration lawyer reviews it before you go.

Which VFS centre do you use?

Manchester and Edinburgh take residents of the counties on VFS's list, which covers the North of England, the Midlands, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Everyone else applies in London. Check the VFS county list before you book, because a file at the wrong centre is turned away. If you're not a British citizen, you'll also need proof of your UK immigration status.

How does the criminal record work for UK applicants?

The criminal record is the ACRO police certificate, for everyone aged 16 and over, with an apostille from the FCDO Legalisation Office. A DBS check isn't accepted: VFS London turned one down in our files, and reissuing it as an ACRO certificate cost the couple about six weeks. ACRO and the apostille each take time, and the certificate has to be under 90 days old on the day, so order it once you have a date.

Which UK income works for the D7?

• State Pension: the proof of benefit letter from GOV.UK, plus the payments arriving in your account.
• Workplace and private pensions: the pension statement and the monthly payments. Annuity income works the same way.
• Rental income: the title, the tenancy agreements and the rent landing in your account.
• ISAs and other investments: the dividends and interest paid out count as income. The balance counts as savings.
• Drawdown from a pension pot: the pot is savings. Whether regular drawdown payments count toward the €920 depends on how they're set up, so have that checked first.

The €920 is checked in euros, every month. A weak month for the pound can push a month under the line, so build in a margin, and remember the €11,040 savings have to be in euros in a Portuguese account.

What did UK files run into?

• Unmarried couples usually can't apply as main applicant plus dependant. Each partner needs a full file meeting the minimum on their own, which is how Richard and Lucy were approved at VFS London in 17 days.
• In our files at VFS Manchester, VFS wouldn't book two applicants into one slot, so the couple booked two. They were then seen together.
• Have the lease registration certificate in hand before the appointment. In one file it arrived the night before.

Who books, and what does our partner lawyer check?

You book the appointment through VFS, and we guide you on when and how. Before you go, our partner immigration lawyer reads the whole file against the checklist and looks hardest at:

• that the criminal record is ACRO, apostilled and still under 90 days old on the day
• that every month of income clears €920 on its own, after conversion
• that each partner's file stands on its own if you're not married
• that the savings are in your Portuguese account and match your household
• that the lease is registered and matches what the consulate expects

You get written feedback and a call to go through it: the €530 Check-Up if you've built the file yourself, or part of Premium at €1,199, both in the packages below.

What's different in your country?

The Portugal D7 visa has one set of rules on paper, and every consulate and VFS centre runs them its own way. These are the differences our files ran into. Where a point comes from a D8 file at the same consulate, we say so, because the counter and booking system are shared.

USA

Americans have their own section above: how Americans apply for the D7.

United Kingdom

UK residents have their own section above: how UK residents apply for the D7.

Canada

Canadians have their own section above: how Canadians apply for the D7.

India

In India you apply through VFS, which forwards the file to Delhi and posts the visa back, so you don't collect it.

• A first appointment was refused at the counter because the marriage document wasn't apostilled. Apostille your civil documents as well as the police certificate.
• The police clearance certificate must be apostilled. A notarised copy wasn't enough.
• The visa may arrive without an AIMA appointment. In that file the AIMA date was requested by email and came about four months later.

Read Arun and Meera's D7 from India.

Turkey

In Turkey you apply at the consulate in Ankara, which won't let you book the appointment until you can show a Portuguese bank account. The NIF and the bank account come before booking.

• The consulate answers by email, slowly, and a rescheduled appointment can be months away.
• Interest on a term deposit taxed at source doesn't appear on a tax return, so you'll need the official bank letter described in the income section.
• In one file the bank account still wasn't ready by the appointment, so the consulate held the file and decided once the bank statement arrived.
• Keep the spelling of names consistent across every document. Turkish letters such as İ and ı are often Latinised on forms.

Read Ersel and Kübra's D7 from Ankara.

Egypt

In Egypt you apply through VFS Cairo.

• VFS Cairo showed no appointment slots for months, so watch for them early.
• Egypt isn't in the Hague apostille convention, so documents are legalised through the consular route: a stamp from the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then the Portuguese Embassy in Cairo.
• Cairo held passports for over three months in one file, and the applicant collected them in person.

United Arab Emirates

A UAE criminal record needs the Ministry of Foreign Affairs attestation stamp before it's accepted.

For the lessons from six files side by side, read applying for a D7 or D8 in 2026. If your country isn't listed, read your own centre's checklist line by line. A free 15-minute call is a quick way to check yours.

What happens after your D7 visa is approved?

The Portugal D7 visa gets you into Portugal, and residence comes later, from AIMA, the Portuguese immigration agency. The visa is valid for 4 months with two entries, and you enter Portugal in that window (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, types of visa).

In our files, AIMA appointments are often 7 to 9 months away, with 2027 dates common now, and sometimes in a different city from where you live. Many visas arrive with the appointment already set in the consulate's paperwork. If yours doesn't, you request one through AIMA's official contact channel, and the appointment is free. Dates get moved, so check AIMA's own system too. Once AIMA has your application, the law gives it 90 days to decide.

"Can I fly home for a few weeks while I wait?" Short trips while the visa is valid are generally fine, but the visa can be cancelled if you spend 60 days away from Portugal without good reason. After it expires and before your AIMA appointment, you're legally resident, yet re-entry can be refused, especially when you arrive from outside Schengen. Plan your trips around that, and if your first Schengen entry wasn't Portugal, keep proof that you entered Portugal.

What happens at the AIMA appointment?

AIMA takes your biometrics (photo, signature and fingerprints) and checks your documents:

• your passport with the residence visa
• recent proof of your means of subsistence
• proof of address: the landlord's declaration if you rent, or a sworn declaration plus the land-registry certificate if you own
• your tax and social security registration, if you have them
• Portuguese-valid health insurance, or proof that you're covered by the SNS, the national health service

You don't need a foreign criminal record, because AIMA checks the Portuguese record itself. In our experience the check centres on your Portuguese savings, your registered accommodation and the insurance. The travel policy that got you the visa usually won't do here, so arrange Portuguese-valid cover first. After the appointment, the residence card arrives by post. Once you've moved, update the address on your NIF too.

How do you renew the permit, and how long can you be away?

Apply to renew at least 30 days before the card expires, and AIMA should decide within 60 days. To renew, you still need the means of subsistence and accommodation, your tax and social security obligations must be up to date, and you can't have prison sentences totalling more than a year.

The stay rule comes from the absences each card allows without a valid reason:

What does the path from visa to citizenship look like?

• Visa: 4 months to enter Portugal.
• AIMA appointment and first residence permit: valid 2 years.
• First renewal: valid 3 years.
• Permanent residence: after 5 years on temporary permits.
• Citizenship: after 10 years of legal residence counted from your first permit, or 7 for EU and CPLP nationals.

Permanent residence needs basic Portuguese (A2), continued means of subsistence and accommodation, and no prison sentences over a year in the last 5 years. Citizenship needs A2 Portuguese, the means of subsistence, no disqualifying conviction, a declaration of adherence to the rule of law and, since the 2026 law, knowledge of Portuguese culture, history and civics, shown by test or certificate. The test format is still being set by regulation.

AIMA has its own checklist, so our support for it is a separate package. Most of our visa clients add AIMA appointment support once their visa is issued.

How is your income taxed once you live in Portugal?

On a Portugal D7 visa you'll normally become a Portuguese tax resident: more than 183 days in Portugal in any 12-month period makes you resident, and so can a home there you intend to keep as your habitual residence. A NIF on its own doesn't make you tax resident.

NHR, the old 10-year regime, is closed to new applicants. People already registered under it keep their window. Its replacement, IFICI, applies only to people who take up a qualifying activity in Portugal, such as research, innovation, startups or certain qualified professions, so it doesn't fit someone living purely on passive income.

Pensions and dividends are generally taxed in Portugal once you're resident, with relief under the tax treaty with your home country. How much depends on your country and income type, which is what the tax consultation in Premium is for. For a first estimate, try our Portugal income tax calculator, and for a full plan before you move, see our tax planning report. When the time comes, here's how to file your first Portuguese tax return.

Can you bring your family on the D7?

Yes. Your spouse or registered partner and your children under 18 can join your Portugal D7 visa application. Each adult dependant adds 50% to the income and savings you need, and each child adds 30%, as the household table shows.

You can also include adult children studying in Portugal, parents who depend on you financially, and minor siblings in your care.

If you're not married or in a registered partnership, you'll usually need two separate applications, each meeting the full minimum on its own. That's what our UK couple did, and both files were approved in 17 days.

"Can my spouse follow once I'm settled?" Yes, after a long wait. Since 23 October 2025 (Law 61/2025), you generally have to hold your residence permit for 2 years before you can apply for family reunification. Minor or incapacitated children have no wait, and a spouse you'd already lived with for at least 18 months may be able to apply after about 15 months. AIMA then has up to 9 months to decide.

So if your family is moving with you, apply together. Each family member files their own visa application alongside yours, which avoids the reunification wait entirely.

How does Novomove help with the D7, and what does it cost?

Novomove offers two D7 packages: the Check-Up at €530 if you've built your file yourself, and Novomove Premium at €1,199 if you want us with you from the first document to the consulate's decision. Both are listed on our pricing page.

Family members cost €350 for each adult dependant and €250 for each child.

Not sure yet? A 45-minute call with our partner immigration lawyer is €80, and we credit it toward a package if you order within two weeks. Book it on the immigration consultation page. The 15-minute call with our team is free.

What isn't included?

• Your NIF and bank account, which are separate: NIF €79, NIF plus bank account €359 solo or €428 for a couple.
• Government fees, translations and apostilles, which you pay directly. Fees change, so we confirm the current amounts for your consulate on your order.
• AIMA support, which is a separate package.
• Booking the appointment. You book it, and we guide you on when and how.

Our support covers your application up to the consulate's decision.

What else do people ask about the Portugal D7 visa?