Article 15 Portugal: residence for the non-EU partner and family of an EU citizen.

Certificado de Registo de Cidadão da União Europeia. It’s the registration certificate your EU partner gets from the Câmara. If only your partner needs one, CRUE Support covers it on its own.

In practice, no. AIMA’s online request checks your partner’s registration and won’t let you continue without it. Your partner registers first, then your request goes in. We plan the dates around that.

Often, yes. Partners in a lasting relationship can apply as well as spouses. Instead of a marriage certificate, you prove the relationship another way: notarised declarations, proof you live together, a child together. The lawyer looks at what you have on the first call.

Yes. The residence card for a family member of an EU citizen lets you work in Portugal, employed or self-employed. The lawyer confirms how it applies to you on the first call.

Usually the ones for the nationality they register under. Civil-status documents can come from either country, and bringing both is often the safer choice. The lawyer tells you which to order on the first call.

For AIMA, documents in English are usually accepted as they are. Anything in another language needs a certified translation into Portuguese or English. The Câmara has its own list for the CRUE. Your checklist marks which documents need one.

The Câmara and AIMA work in Portuguese, and so do their forms. We take you through both in English, and documents in English are usually accepted as they are.

It happens a lot. AIMA often wants civil-status certificates under six months old and birth certificates under a year, counted from the date they were issued, not the apostille.

If AIMA asks for a newer one, you get a deadline to send it, and you can ask for more time. We plan the order of things so you’re not re-ordering certificates from abroad more often than you need to.

Private health insurance works, and so does a national health service (SNS) number. The lawyer tells you which is simpler for your dates.

AIMA wants to see you can support yourselves, and a Portuguese account with savings in it is the usual way to show that. You don’t need a job or a contract in Portugal for this route. The lawyer tells you the balance AIMA expects for your household. We can help open the account as a separate service.

Family members of EU citizens have a right to live with them, and your sent request is your proof that you’ve applied. How that works with your travel plans depends on your dates, so the lawyer covers it on the first call.

Honestly, it can be many months before an appointment comes through. We can’t change that. Keep sending the follow-up email we give you, so there’s a record that you’ve chased.

If the wait drags on, a partner lawyer can take legal action to make AIMA schedule it. That’s quoted separately.

AIMA picks the office, and with the current backlog it may not be the one nearest you. Staff in the bigger cities often speak English. In smaller offices it can help to bring someone who speaks Portuguese.

Mostly paperwork. A certificate without an apostille, one that’s too old, or not enough money in the account. Catching those before you send anything is what the lawyer’s review is for.

It’s a declaration your EU partner signs to say they’re bringing you in as their family member and taking responsibility for you. AIMA has a standard form for it. We prepare it, your partner signs it, and the signature gets certified so AIMA accepts it.

Not for this route. Your EU partner doesn’t need one, and you don’t apply for a Portuguese residence visa. You come to Portugal together, your partner registers, then you apply to AIMA. If your nationality needs a visa just to enter the Schengen area, that still applies.

They register at the Câmara like your partner, each with their own short form. That’s €100 per child on the same order.

No. If nobody in your household needs an AIMA card, CRUE Support is the one you want.

Your order closes. When AIMA gives you a date, Apoio na marcação na AIMA gets you ready for it. If you have questions in between, you can book a Consulta de 45 minutos with the partner lawyer.

No. You go on your own. With the files in order, both appointments are usually straightforward.