Family reunification in Portugal: EU citizens vs non-EU residents

Since 23 October 2025, most non-EU residents of Portugal have to hold their residence permit for two years before their husband or wife can join them.^[3]

If you’re joining an EU or Portuguese citizen: that rule doesn’t apply to you. No waiting period, and no family income formula.^[1]

If you’re joining a non-EU resident: it probably does, unless your family moves with them.

Both get called “family reunification” online. So people read the wrong rules, and some couples spend months apart that they never needed to.

The passport of the person you’re joining decides your route. Here are both routes side by side, and where to go next.

If your partner is an EU, EEA, Swiss or Portuguese citizen, our EU Family Setup takes you from their CRUE at the Câmara to your Article 15 request at AIMA, with a partner lawyer checking both files.

Both routes end at AIMA, Portugal’s immigration agency. If you already have an AIMA appointment and want your file checked before you go, that’s what our Apoio na marcação na AIMA .

Neste guia8 sections

1. What does "family reunification" mean in Portugal?
2. Which route are you on?
3. How does the EU-family route work?
4. How can we help you with the EU-family route?
5. How does family reunification work for non-EU residents?
6. How do the two routes compare, side by side?
7. What are the most common mix-ups?
8. Where should you go next?

What does “family reunification” mean in Portugal?

In Portugal, “family reunification” covers two different routes under two different laws. Which one applies depends on who you’re joining.

• The EU-family route. You’re joining an EU, EEA, Swiss or Portuguese citizen. Portugal’s free-movement law applies.^[1] Your partner registers with the local council, and you ask AIMA for a residence card as their family member. This is the route people call “Article 15”.
• Family reunification for non-EU residents. You’re joining someone who lives in Portugal on a residence permit, such as a D7, D8, D2 or Golden Visa. Portugal’s immigration law applies.^[2] In Portuguese it’s reagrupamento familiar, and it comes with housing and means tests and, for most spouses, a wait.

The two laws even say so themselves. Portugal’s immigration law says it doesn’t apply to non-EU family members of EU or Portuguese citizens.^[2] They go through the free-movement law instead.

Which route are you on?

Look at the passport of the person you’re joining in Portugal. Your own passport only decides whether you need a visa to travel. Theirs decides the route.

“My partner is Portuguese. Do the EU rules really apply to us?”

Yes. EU free-movement rules normally don’t cover people living in their own country.^[7] Mas Portugal’s free-movement law extends its family rules to family members of Portuguese citizens, whatever their nationality.^[1] So if you’re married to a Portuguese citizen, you’re on the same route as the spouse of a German or an Italian.

“We’re not married. Do we still count?”

On both routes you can, but you’ll have to prove the relationship.

• EU-family route: a partner counts if you’re in a união de facto (a de facto union) recognised under the law, or in a durable relationship certified by the authorities of the EU country where your partner lives.^[1]
• Reunification route: a proven de facto union counts, in Portugal or abroad. AIMA looks at things like a child in common, living together before, or a registered partnership.^[2]

On the reunification route, you and your spouse or partner must both be at least 18 when you apply, and the marriage or union has to be valid under Portuguese law.^[2]

How does the EU-family route work?

Your EU partner registers with the Câmara (the local council), and you ask AIMA for a residence card, both within 30 days after your first three months in Portugal.^[1] The law then gives AIMA three months to issue your card.

For the card, you bring:^[1]

• Your valid passport.
• Proof of your relationship, such as a marriage certificate or proof of your partnership.
• Your partner’s registration certificate (the CRUE).
• Proof that you depend on them, if you’re a child aged 21 or over or a parent.

You apply at an AIMA office, with an appointment booked in advance.^[6] When you apply, you get a certificate showing you’ve asked for the card.^[1]

What does your EU partner have to show?

Your partner has to meet one of three conditions:^[1]

• They work in Portugal, employed or self-employed.
• They have enough money for the family, plus health insurance.
• They’re studying in Portugal, with enough money and health insurance.

The law sets no fixed figure for “enough money”. It means not falling below the level at which Portugal would give you social support, and it looks at your personal situation.^[1] When we check a family’s money before the AIMA request, we use the same figures as for visas. You’ll find them further down.

What does the card give you?

• You can work, employed or self-employed, as soon as you have the right to live here.^[1]
• You’re treated like a Portuguese citizen in most things, though there’s no social assistance in your first three months.^[1]
• You can travel to Portugal without a visa while your card is valid, and to other EU countries.^[1][7]
• Your right doesn’t end automatically if you divorce or your partner dies or leaves Portugal. Until you get permanent residence, you then need to work, have your own means, or be family of someone who does.^[1]
• After 5 years living legally with your partner in Portugal, you can get permanent residence.^[1]

If you need a visa to travel in the first place, it’s free and should be fast-tracked.^[1]

How can we help you with the EU-family route?

Our EU Family Setup takes you from your partner’s CRUE at the Câmara to sending your Article 15 request to AIMA. It costs €1,199 for the two of you, and a partner lawyer checks both files and preps you on two calls.

You don’t need your documents ready to order. The first call is where you plan the dates together.

What you get:

• A document checklist for each person in your household, in a shared folder you upload to as you go.
• A lawyer’s review of your partner’s CRUE file, and a 45-minute call the week before their Câmara appointment.
• A lawyer’s review of your AIMA file, and a second call before you send it.
• Your AIMA request letter and the Termo de Responsabilidade (the declaration your EU partner signs), drafted for you.
• A follow-up template for chasing AIMA once your request is in.
• Four extras: a rental search through a local agent (the agency charges its own fee), a lease review, a 45-minute tax consultation and a NIF address update.

Vem com família? It’s €100 per EU child, €350 per non-EU adult and €250 per non-EU child.

What isn’t included:

• Booking or going to the appointments. You book the Câmara and AIMA dates, and you go yourselves.
• The wait for AIMA. AIMA sets the date, and we can’t speed it up or promise a slot.
• The AIMA appointment itself, your NIFs and bank accounts. Those are separate orders.

Your order closes once your AIMA request is sent. See everything EU Family Setup includes.

How does family reunification work for non-EU residents?

If the person you’re joining is a non-EU citizen living in Portugal on a residence permit, you can come in two ways: apply for your visas together, or ask AIMA for family reunification later. The second way has a wait for most spouses.

“Can my family come with me, or do they have to wait?”

They can come with you.

The law lets your family apply with you. Your spouse and children can apply for a residence visa to come with you, at the same time as your own visa application.^[2] And when you apply for your own permit at AIMA, you can ask for reunification in the same request.^[2]

That’s why we tell families moving on a D7, D8 or D2 to apply together if you can. If you don’t, your spouse could wait up to two years to join you.

Our partner immigration lawyer gives the same advice: include your family from the start. Joining later also means getting a reunification appointment at AIMA, and in the files we’ve seen that’s slow.

What applying together looks like in practice:

• Each of you fills in your own visa form and goes to your own AIMA appointment.
• Your spouse brings the marriage certificate to their own appointment. If you bring it to yours instead, their file can stall.
• Everyone arrives at the same time, which separate applications don’t guarantee.

How long is the wait if your family joins later?

Two years on your residence permit, for most family members.^[2] That rule has applied to applications made since 23 October 2025.^[3]

Your spouse can apply after 15 months instead if two things are true:^[2]

• You’d lived together for at least 18 months.
• Those 18 months came right before you moved to Portugal.

There’s no wait at all for:^[2]

• Your minor children (and dependent family members who can’t legally look after themselves).
• A spouse who is the other parent of those children.
• The family of a Golden Visa holder, a highly qualified worker or an EU Blue Card holder.

The minister for migration can waive or shorten the wait, but only in exceptional cases.^[2]

Who can you bring?

Your spouse, your minor children and a de facto partner are the core list.^[2] The law also covers:

• Adult children who are single, depend on you and study in Portugal. With a Golden Visa, they can study anywhere.
• Your parents or your spouse’s parents, if they depend on you.
• Minor brothers and sisters under your legal guardianship.

If a child is only one parent’s, you’ll need the other parent’s consent or a custody decision.^[2]

What do you have to show?

You need housing that’s normal for a family your size in that region, and enough money to support everyone without social support.^[2] Your family also brings proof of the family ties, copies of their passports and criminal record certificates from their country of nationality and the country where they live.^[8]

These are the figures we plan with for 2026. They come from Portugal’s means rules and the 2026 minimum wage of €920 a month:^[4][5]

Who	Share of the minimum wage	For a year
You	100%	€11,040
Each other adult	50%	€5,520
Each child	30%	€3,312
A couple with two children		€23,184

After they get their permits, your family members have to take Portuguese-language and civic-values training, and children go to school. Renewing their permits depends on it, unless the delay isn’t their fault.^[2]

Where do you apply, and how long does AIMA take?

You ask AIMA for your family’s entry and residence, and AIMA has nine months to decide.^[2] If AIMA says yes, your family gets a residence visa to come in.^[2]

Only family members who skip the wait can apply from inside Portugal: minor children, a co-parent spouse, and the family of Golden Visa, highly qualified and Blue Card holders. Even then, they must have come in and stayed legally.^[2] Everyone else applies while they’re still abroad.

Once approved, your family member gets a permit for the same length as yours, and can work like any permit holder.^[2] After two years they can get a permit of their own, and a spouse married to you for more than five years gets one straight away.^[2]

How do the two routes compare, side by side?

The EU-family route has no wait and fewer tests. Reunification adds housing and money tests and, for most spouses, a wait. Here’s everything in one table.

	EU-family route	Family reunification
You’re joining	An EU, EEA, Swiss or Portuguese citizen	A non-EU citizen with a Portuguese residence permit
The law	Portugal’s free-movement law	Portugal’s immigration law
Family who qualify	Spouse, recognised partner, children under 21 or dependent, dependent parents. Other dependants case by case	Spouse, de facto partner, minor children, dependent adult children studying, dependent parents, minor siblings in your care
Onde pedir	Your partner: the Câmara. You: AIMA	AIMA, then the consulate for the visa. Or together with the main visa
When	Within 30 days after your first 3 months	With the main visa, or after 2 years on the permit (15 months or no wait in some cases)
Money	No fixed figure. Your partner works, studies or has enough money	Enough for everyone without social support. We plan with €11,040 + 50% + 30%
Habitação	No housing test for the card	Normal housing for a family your size
AIMA’s deadline	3 months to issue the card	9 months to decide
Trabalho	Yes, employed or self-employed	Yes, employed or self-employed
Língua	No requirement	Portuguese and civic-values training after the permit
After 5 years	Residência permanente	Permanent residence, with basic Portuguese

These are the deadlines the law sets for AIMA. They don’t tell you when you’ll actually hear back, and AIMA decides every file.

What are the most common mix-ups?

The costly one is moving alone and planning to bring your spouse “later”. Since 23 October 2025, later usually means two years.^[3]

• “I’ll go first on my D7 and my wife will follow.” Unless an exception fits, she waits until you’ve held your permit for two years, or 15 months at best. Apply together instead.
• “My partner is Italian, so I’ll apply for a D7 myself.” You can, and for some couples it’s the better fit. But you’d take on income, housing and visa rules the EU-family route doesn’t ask for. Which route fits depends on your case, and our partner immigration lawyer checks it with you.
• “My husband is Portuguese, so none of this applies to us.” It does. You use the EU-family route, with the same steps as the spouse of any EU citizen.^[1]
• “We’ve lived together for years, that’s enough.” It counts, but only with proof. Start gathering it before you apply.
• “AIMA has three months, so we’re fine.” That’s the deadline in the law. It isn’t a guarantee, so keep your application certificate safe.

Where should you go next?

Pick the card that matches the person you’re joining. Each one goes to the page that covers your route in full.

Perguntas frequentes

Is family reunification the same as the Article 15 residence card?

Não. The Article 15 card is for non-EU family of EU, EEA, Swiss and Portuguese citizens, under the free-movement law. Family reunification is for family of non-EU residents, under the immigration law, with its own tests and waiting period. If the Article 15 card is your route, our EU Family Setup takes you through it.

Is there a minimum income to join my EU partner in Portugal?

No fixed figure. Your partner has to work, study or have enough money for the family, and “enough” is measured against the level at which Portugal gives social support, looking at your situation.

My spouse is Portuguese. Which route do I use?

The EU-family route. Portugal extends its free-movement family rules to family of Portuguese citizens, whatever their nationality, and its immigration law excludes them.

Do I need a visa to join my EU partner?

Only if your passport needs one for Portugal. If it does, the visa is free and should be fast-tracked. With a valid residence card as an EU citizen’s family member, you can enter without one.

How long does AIMA have to give me my card on the EU route?

Three months from your application, under Portuguese law. You get a certificate when you apply, and the card is valid for 5 years or for your partner’s planned stay, if shorter.

Can my non-EU spouse work in Portugal?

Yes, on both routes. On the EU route, family members can work employed or self-employed. On the reunification route, any residence permit holder can work without a separate authorisation.

Do my children have to wait two years too?

Não. Minor children have no waiting period, and neither does a spouse who is the other parent of those children.

I have a Golden Visa. Does my family have to wait?

Não. The family of Golden Visa holders, highly qualified workers and EU Blue Card holders can apply without the two-year wait.

Can my spouse apply for reunification from inside Portugal?

Only in some cases. Family members who skip the wait (minor children, a co-parent spouse, or Golden Visa, highly qualified and Blue Card families) can apply in Portugal if they came in and stayed legally. Everyone else applies from abroad.

Can my parents join me in Portugal?

Yes, if they depend on you. That’s true on both routes, and you’ll need proof of the dependency. On the reunification route, your spouse’s parents can qualify too. Parents with their own pension often apply for their own D7 instead, which is what our partner immigration lawyer usually suggests.

What happens to my residence if we divorce?

On the EU route, divorce doesn’t end it automatically, but until you get permanent residence you need to work, have your own means, or be family of someone who does. On the reunification route, you can get your own permit after two years, or sooner in exceptional cases such as divorce.

Do my family members have to learn Portuguese?

On the reunification route, yes. After the permit, they take Portuguese-language and civic-values training, and their renewal depends on it. The EU route has no language requirement at any stage. On the reunification route you’ll also need basic Portuguese for permanent residence.

Sources and how we checked

1. Lei 37/2006, consolidated text, Diário da República (last amended by Decreto-Lei 41/2023). Portugal’s free-movement law, read on 10 November 2026: article 2 (who counts as family; “sufficient resources”), article 3 (scope, including number 5 on family of Portuguese citizens), article 4 (visas), articles 7 and 8 (right of residence and keeping it), article 10 (permanent residence), article 14 (CRUE), article 15 (residence card), article 17 (permanent card), articles 19 and 20 (work and equal treatment).
2. Lei 23/2007, consolidated text, Diário da República (consolidated to Lei 62/2026). Portugal’s immigration law, read on 10 November 2026: article 4 (who it doesn’t apply to), article 58 (residence visa and accompanying family), article 64 (reunification visa), article 80 (permanent residence), article 81 (asking for reunification with your permit), article 83 (right to work), articles 98 to 107 (family reunification: wait, family members, conditions, procedure, nine-month deadline, the family member’s permit).
3. Lei 61/2025, 22 October 2025, Diário da República. Rewrote the reunification rules; article 8 applies them to procedures started after it came into force on 23 October 2025.
4. Portaria 1563/2007, Diário da República. The means formula: 100% of the minimum wage for the first adult, 50% for each other adult, 30% for each child.
5. DGERT, minimum wage for 2026: €920 a month (Decreto-Lei 139/2025).
6. AIMA, EU nationals and family e family of EU nationals: the residence card is requested at AIMA offices with a prior appointment.
7. Your Europe (European Commission): residence cards for non-EU family members, permanent residence e entry visas for non-EU family.
8. Decreto Regulamentar 84/2007, consolidated text, Diário da República, article 67: what goes in a reunification file.

We read both laws on the official consolidated texts and translated the rules ourselves. The household figures are the ones we use to plan visa and residence files in 2026. Nothing here is legal advice for your family’s case.