Portugal D7 Visa Requirements 2026: Full Checklist

Portugal D7 Visa Requirements 2026: The Complete Checklist for Retirees and Passive Income

By Arturo García de la Cruz · Immigration Lawyer at MoveWise · Last updated: 29 October 2026

💡 The short answer: The Portugal D7 is a residence visa for non-EU nationals who live on passive income: pensions, rents, dividends, interest or royalties. In 2026 you need at least €920 a month for the main applicant (100% of the Portuguese minimum wage) and, in practice, €11,040 of savings in a Portuguese bank account. You apply at the Portuguese consulate or its visa centre in your country of residence. The consular decision typically takes about 60 days, and the residence card from AIMA usually follows months after arrival.

Key facts for 2026

Minimum passive income: €920 a month for the main applicant, equal to 100% of the national minimum wage (Portaria 1563/2007, art. 2; minimum wage set by Decreto-Lei 139/2025).
Savings expected by consulates: 12 months of the threshold, so €11,040 for a single applicant, normally held in a Portuguese bank account (consular checklists).
Family increments: +€460 a month (+€5,520 a year) for each additional adult and +€276 a month (+€3,312 a year) for each child (Portaria 1563/2007, art. 2(2); Decreto Regulamentar 84/2007 as amended by Decreto Regulamentar 4/2022, art. 24.º-B).
Residence visa: valid for four months (often quoted as 120 days) with two entries (Lei 23/2007, art. 58).
Residence permit: issued by AIMA in Portugal, valid for 2 years and renewable for successive 3-year periods (rules in force since Lei 18/2022).
Permanent residence: possible after 5 years of legal residence, with basic Portuguese (Lei 23/2007, art. 80).
Citizenship: 10 years of legal residence, or 7 for EU and CPLP nationals, since 19 May 2026 (Lei Orgânica 1/2026).
AIMA fee for a first temporary permit: about €247.30 per adult at the counter, less online, under the table in force since 1 March 2026.
Criminal record: required for everyone aged 16 or over; how recent it must be depends on your consulate (90 days at VFS USA, 4 months at VFS UK).
Work: once AIMA issues your residence permit, you may take up employed or self-employed activity in Portugal.

Portugal's D7 is officially the residence visa for retirees, religious persons and people living on their own income, and it has the lowest income threshold of any Portuguese residence visa. If you plan to retire to the Algarve or move to Lisbon on what your pension or assets already pay you, this is usually your route.

This guide is for retirees, landlords, investors and authors: anyone whose income arrives whether or not they work. By the end you will know whether you qualify, which documents your income profile needs, how much your household must show, and how the consular and AIMA stages fit together.

It is written by the MoveWise Portugal team from the D7 files we prepare. Every legal figure is checked against Portuguese legislation and current consular checklists, and where something depends on your consulate, we say so.

The main pitfall it helps you avoid: treating the D7 as a numbers test. The threshold is low. What consulates actually scrutinise is whether your income is genuinely passive, genuinely regular and documented consistently across every page of the file.

In this guide:

What changed in 2026
Is this the right visa for you?
How the D7 works: three stages
Requirements 1–4: income, proof of income, bank statements, savings and your Portuguese bank account
Requirements 5–9: accommodation and NIF, criminal record, insurance, passport, forms
Requirement 10: income profiles A–F and the religious track
Requirement 11: bringing your family
Apostille and translation cheat sheet
How to apply, step by step
Timeline: what to realistically expect
How much it costs
Can you work on a D7?
After approval: renewal, absences, tax and citizenship
D7 or D8? And how the D7 compares with Spain
Most common reasons for refusal (and how to avoid them)
Frequently asked questions
How MoveWise can help

What changed in 2026

Most of the D7 framework is stable. What moved in 2026 are the numbers it is built on and the long-term path it leads to.

New thresholds from 1 January 2026. The national minimum wage (RMMG) rose from €870 to €920 a month (Decreto-Lei 139/2025). A single applicant now needs €920 a month and €11,040 of savings. Some consular checklists still print older amounts (one VFS UK checklist shows €9,840, based on the 2024 minimum wage), so always prepare on the current year's figures.
Citizenship takes longer. Since 19 May 2026, Lei Orgânica 1/2026 requires 10 years of legal residence to naturalise, or 7 for EU and CPLP nationals (previously 5). The period now runs from when you hold a residence permit, procedures pending on 19 May 2026 follow the old rules, and proof of Portuguese language and civic knowledge is required.
New AIMA fee table. A revised table has applied since 1 March 2026. A first temporary permit costs about €247.30 per adult at the counter and about €185.60 if filed online.
Passport stamping changed for visitors, not for you. Since 10 April 2026 the EU Entry/Exit System (EES) has replaced passport stamps for short-stay travellers. D-visa and residence-permit holders are outside the EES, so your entry on a D7 visa may still be stamped; if it is not, keep your boarding pass.
Family reunification is stricter, joint applications are not affected. Lei 61/2025 (in force 23 October 2025) added waiting periods for family joining later; joint applications are not affected (see Requirement 11).

Is this the right visa for you?

Yes, if your income would still reach your account if you stopped working tomorrow. That single question decides the whole file.

✅ The D7 is for you if:

You receive a state, social security, company or private pension
You live on rental income from property in Portugal or abroad
You live on dividends, interest, bond coupons or fund distributions
You earn royalties from books, music, patents or licences
You combine two or more of these sources with a savings buffer
You are a minister of religion or a member of an institute of consecrated life (separate documentary track)

❌ The D7 is not for you if:

You earn a salary from a foreign employer or fees from foreign clients while working remotely. That is active income, and it belongs to the Portugal D8 digital nomad visa.
Your plan rests on savings alone, with no recurring income (see Requirement 1).
You want to live in Spain without working on passive income. That is Spain's Non-Lucrative Visa, with a much higher threshold.
You prefer Italy. Italy's Elective Residence Visa is the equivalent route for people living on passive income.

💡 Pro tip: Mixed situations are where files go wrong. A pension plus occasional consulting, or rents plus freelance work, can fit either the D7 or the D8 depending on which stream carries the file. Decide this before you collect a single document. You can see how we handle both routes on our D7 passive income visa service page.

👉 Check your D7 eligibility with a MoveWise Client Manager — tell us your income sources and household, and we will tell you honestly whether the D7 fits or another route is better.

How the D7 works: three stages

Every D7 applicant goes through the same three stages, with two different authorities.

📍 Stage 1 — The residence visa (consulate). The Portuguese consulate, often through VFS Global, issues a residence visa valid for four months with two entries. It is an entry document, not a residence permit.

📍 Stage 2 — The residence permit (AIMA). After you arrive, the Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo (AIMA) takes your biometrics and decides on your residence permit. It is valid for 2 years and renewable for successive 3-year periods while you still meet the conditions.

📍 Stage 3 — Long-term status. Permanent residence after 5 years; citizenship after 10 (7 for EU and CPLP nationals).

The visa is only half the process: the consular decision is fairly predictable, while most of the waiting and most of the real risk sit at the AIMA stage.

Requirement 1: Financial resources (income and savings)

You need regular passive income of at least €920 a month as a single applicant in 2026, plus 12 months of savings (€11,040). Both rise with each family member.

The D7 thresholds are calculated on the Portuguese national minimum wage (retribuição mínima mensal garantida, RMMG), which is €920 a month in 2026 under Decreto-Lei 139/2025. It is updated every January. The means of subsistence are set by Portaria 1563/2007 (article 2): 100% of the RMMG for the main applicant, 50% for each additional adult and 30% for each child. Family members who apply with you are covered by article 24.º-B of Decreto Regulamentar 84/2007, as amended by Decreto Regulamentar 4/2022, which asks for "stable and regular resources" for the whole household for the requested stay or 12 months, whichever is shorter.

The 12-month savings figure comes from consular checklists (the VFS USA checklist states "12 minimum wages" for one adult): it is consular practice rather than a separate legal figure, but in practice every consulate we work with expects it.

Minimum amounts per person (2026):

👉 Main applicant (100% of RMMG): €920 a month, plus €11,040 in savings
👉 Spouse, partner or other adult, including a dependent parent (+50%): +€460 a month, plus +€5,520 in savings
👉 Each child under 18 or dependent adult child (+30%): +€276 a month, plus +€3,312 in savings

👉 Totals for couples, children and dependent parents are listed under Requirement 11.

Income and savings work together

The D7 is assessed on income and savings together. The strongest files show passive income at or above the monthly threshold, received consistently for at least the last three to six months, together with 12 months of savings in a Portuguese bank account. Where your passive income comfortably exceeds the minimum, some consulates are more flexible on the savings. Where your income sits close to the minimum, the savings buffer becomes decisive.

💡 Pro tip — the one that saves files: AIMA assesses your means of subsistence on the date of your residence appointment in Portugal, not on the date of your consular application. Because the thresholds rise with the minimum wage every January, a file built at the exact minimum in the autumn can be short the following spring. We always prepare on current-year figures and, where the margin is thin, document a deliberate buffer above the minimum.

💡 Pro tip — currency risk is real: Income paid in a foreign currency is converted into euros, so a fall in that currency can push a borderline file below the threshold between submission and the AIMA appointment. We build the Financial Resume on the net amounts actually credited to your account, which is what the consulate can verify in your statements, and use gross figures only as supporting evidence.

⚠️ Common mistake: Building the file on savings alone. Some consulates will look at a savings-based file, but the D7 is designed around income that continues after you arrive, and in the files we see, an application with no regular passive income is one of the most frequent reasons for a refusal or a request for more documents. If your recurring income is limited, discuss it before you submit.

Requirement 2: Proof of passive income

Your documents must prove three things about each income source: who pays it, how much, and how often. This is the heart of a D7 file.

✅ Source: who pays the income and on what basis (pension entitlement, lease, shareholding, licence)
✅ Amount: the amount of each payment, in the original currency
✅ Regularity: the payment frequency (monthly, quarterly, annually) and, where relevant, the expected duration

Consulates also expect the income to have been received for at least three months before you apply, and to be verifiable through your tax return, a statement from a certified accountant or the paying body, and your bank statements.

Documents not issued in English or Portuguese need a certified translation. Private documents such as pension statements and bank statements are not normally apostilled. Public documents are (see the cheat sheet below).

💡 Pro tip: The income figure must match every other document in the file: bank statements, tax return and Financial Resume. In our experience, a gap between them is the single most common cause of a consular request for additional information.

💡 Pro tip: Private pension providers and brokerages often issue documents that say nothing about frequency or duration. You can usually close that gap with a confirmation letter from the payer or a statement from a certified accountant summarising the last 12 months. Review every income document the day it arrives, not the week before the appointment.

Requirement 3: Bank statements and the Financial Resume

You need personal bank statements for at least the last 3 months that clearly show the passive income arriving in your account.

✅ Personal bank statements covering at least the last 3 months, from an account in your name, showing the income you declare
✅ Where income is paid quarterly or annually, extend the period so that at least two payments are visible, which means six months or more
✅ Statements ideally stamped by the bank, or accompanied by a bank letter confirming you own the account
✅ Latest income tax return, strongly recommended: it confirms the income is declared, regular and consistent with the rest of the file

MoveWise prepares a Financial Resume for every D7 file: one document that matches each incoming payment to its source document, converts foreign-currency amounts into euros, adds up all income sources and savings, and compares the monthly and annual totals with the thresholds for your household.

💡 Pro tip: If your statement has a high volume of transactions, highlight the pension, rent, dividend or royalty credits so they can be found at a glance. A consular officer who has to hunt for your income across forty pages is an officer who ends up requesting more documents.

Requirement 4: Proof of savings and your Portuguese bank account

Separately from your income, you must show savings of at least €11,040 for a single applicant (more for families), normally in a Portuguese bank account in your name.

✅ A certificate or statement from a Portuguese bank, for an account in your name opened with your NIF, showing the balance and the account holder
✅ Dated shortly before your appointment
✅ Cash balances preferred: investment portfolios are generally accepted only as supporting evidence

Current VFS checklists for the USA and the UK require a Portuguese bank account for pensioners and people living on their own income (VFS USA D7 checklist, VFS UK D7 checklist). Most other consulates expect the same.

Opening the account. Several Portuguese banks let non-residents open an account remotely, but checks on identity, source of funds and tax residence can take a few weeks. The funds must be credited and the statement available before your consular appointment, which means the NIF has to come first.

💡 Pro tip — plan this months ahead: Electronic money institutions such as Wise or Revolut are generally not accepted as proof of savings, at the consulate or at AIMA. If your funds sit there, move them to a traditional bank, ideally your Portuguese one, well before your appointment, so the balance has a visible, verifiable history in an accepted institution.

⚠️ Common mistake: Transferring the whole savings amount a few days before the appointment from an account the consulate has never seen. Large, unexplained deposits invite questions about the source of funds. Keep the paper trail from your home bank to Portugal.

👉 Want a MoveWise Client Manager to check your income and savings evidence before you apply? — we review the Financial Resume, the bank evidence and the timing against the figures AIMA will apply.

Requirement 5: Accommodation and your NIF

You must show where you will live in Portugal for at least 12 months before you apply. Three options are accepted.

👉 Option 1: Property deed in your name
👉 Option 2: Rental agreement for a property in Portugal, for at least 12 months from your intended arrival, together with proof that it is registered with the Portuguese tax authority (Autoridade Tributária, known as Finanças)
👉 Option 3: Term of responsibility signed by a host in Portugal, with the signature certified by a notary, lawyer or solicitor, together with:
a copy of the host's ID or passport, and their Portuguese residence permit where applicable
the host's property deed or rental agreement, proving ownership or lawful use
where the host is a tenant, an authorisation from the landlord plus a copy of the landlord's ID

⚠️ Common mistake: Hotel reservations and holiday-rental bookings. They are not accepted by the consulate or by AIMA.

💡 Pro tip: Registration of the lease with Finanças is checked at the residence stage. A lease that was never registered can create a problem at AIMA even after your visa was granted. Some checklists do not mention it, which is why applicants skip it. Check it before you sign, not after.

Your Portuguese tax number (NIF)

The NIF (número de identificação fiscal) unlocks the lease, the bank account and the AIMA file. Non-residents usually obtain it through a tax representative in Portugal. Arrange it at the very start, for you and each family member.

Requirement 6: Criminal record certificate

Everyone aged 16 or over (16, not 18) needs an apostilled criminal record certificate from their country of nationality and from any country where they have lived for more than a year.

✅ Recent, according to your consulate's rule: issued within 90 days at VFS USA and VFS Brazil, within the past 4 months at VFS UK. There is no single rule for every consulate.
✅ Hague Apostille, or, for countries outside the Hague Convention, legalisation by the competent Portuguese consular post
✅ Certified translation into Portuguese where it is not in English or Portuguese
✅ A signed request authorising AIMA to check your Portuguese criminal record

UK and US residents: the UK requires an ACRO police certificate apostilled by the UK Legalisation Office; VFS USA asks for an apostilled FBI background check issued within 90 days.

⚠️ Common mistake: A notary or solicitor apostille. The apostille must authenticate the certificate issued by the competent government authority, not a notarised copy of it.

💡 Pro tip: Because of the short validity, the criminal record is deliberately the last document we request. We identify the issuing authority and its lead time at the very beginning of the file, then time the request so the certificate arrives shortly before your consular appointment. Ordering it too early is an expensive mistake: in the US, apostille lead times alone can run 4 to 8 weeks.

Requirement 7: Health and travel insurance

You need travel and health insurance valid in Portugal and the Schengen Area, covering medical expenses, urgent medical assistance and repatriation, for every applicant including children.

✅ Minimum cover of €30,000, the standard Schengen figure most consulates apply
✅ Valid at least for the visa period from your intended entry; VFS UK asks for 6 months from the date of the visa request
✅ British nationals who meet the criteria may submit a stamped S1 form instead

Once you hold your residence permit you can register with the National Health Service (SNS), and private cover becomes optional.

Requirement 8: Passport, photographs and legal status

These are the same as for the D8, so we cover them briefly here; the details are in our Portugal D8 requirements checklist.

✅ Passport valid for at least 3 months beyond the visa period, with a copy of the biodata page (VFS USA asks for a notarised colour copy). We ask for every page scanned, to catch old visas and stamps that may raise questions.
✅ 2 recent passport photographs, 45 × 35 mm, white background
✅ Proof of legal residence if you apply in a country of which you are not a national: residence permit, biometric card or digital share code, ideally valid for at least 120 days beyond your intended entry into Portugal

Requirement 9: Forms, personal statement and appointment

The consulate needs one completed national visa form per applicant, a signed personal statement and your appointment confirmation.

✅ National visa application form, one per applicant, fully completed and signed. For minors or legally incapacitated applicants, signed by both parents or the legal guardian.
✅ Personal statement, signed, explaining:
the reasons for settling in Portugal
the full address of your accommodation, including the postcode
your sources of income and the conditions of your stay
✅ Consulate or VFS appointment confirmation with your name, date, time and location. Each family member needs their own slot, booked in the same session so the files are submitted together.
✅ Consular fee paid as your consulate specifies (see costs below)

What you do NOT need: unlike Spain's Non-Lucrative Visa, the D7 does not require a medical certificate or a notarised declaration that you will not work. Do not obtain them unless your consulate expressly asks.

Requirement 10: Extra documents by income profile (A–F) and the religious track

On top of the general documents, each type of passive income has its own evidence. In the files we prepare, six profiles come up again and again, alone or combined:

👉 A. Public pension: a state or social security retirement pension paid by a foreign public body. The most straightforward D7 profile: lifelong, indexed income is viewed very favourably.
👉 B. Private or occupational pension: a company pension, private retirement plan or annuity. Accepted where payments are regular; drawdown arrangements need proof that the fund can sustain them.
👉 C. Rental income: rent from one or more properties, in Portugal or abroad. Accepted where the leases are in force and the income is declared. Holiday lets run as a business are assessed differently, because they look like active work.
👉 D. Dividends and investment income: dividends, interest, bond coupons, fund distributions. Accepted where the history shows regularity; irregular distributions shift the weight onto savings.
👉 E. Royalties: income from intellectual property such as books, music, patents or licences. Accepted where supported by contracts and a consistent payment history.
👉 F. Mixed passive income: two or more of the above, with a savings buffer. All sources are added together, each documented according to its nature.

A. Public pension

✅ Pension award letter or latest annual benefit statement from the pension authority, showing the amount and payment frequency
✅ Bank statements for the last 3 to 6 months showing the pension credits
✅ Where the pension is paid through an intermediary, evidence linking each payment to your account

B. Private or occupational pension

✅ Statement from the pension provider or insurer confirming the amount, frequency and duration of payments
✅ The plan or policy documents
✅ Bank statements for the last 3 to 6 months
✅ For drawdown arrangements, the latest fund valuation showing the payments are sustainable

C. Rental income

✅ Property deed or land registry extract proving ownership
✅ Rental agreements in force, required alongside the deeds
✅ The latest tax return declaring the rental income
✅ Bank statements showing the rent received

💡 Pro tip: If a property is jointly owned, only your share of the rent counts towards your threshold. This catches out more couples than any other detail in the rental profile.

D. Dividends and investment income

✅ Dividend vouchers or brokerage statements covering the last 12 months
✅ The latest tax return
✅ For dividends from a company you own: the company's financial statements and a shareholder certificate, showing the distributions are sustainable and do not depend on your active work in the business

⚠️ Common mistake: Paying yourself "dividends" from a company where you are the only person doing the work. If the company stops earning when you stop working, a consulate may treat that income as active, and the D8 may be the honest route.

E. Royalties

✅ Publishing, licensing or distribution agreements
✅ Royalty statements covering at least the last 12 months
✅ The latest tax return declaring the income

F. Mixed passive income

✅ The full set of documents for each source
✅ A reconciliation of all sources and savings against the monthly and annual thresholds, prepared in your Financial Resume

The religious track

The same visa category covers ministers of religion and members of institutes of consecrated life, with a different set of documents:

✅ Term of responsibility from the host religious institution, with the signature certified by a notary, lawyer or solicitor
✅ Document confirming your status as a minister of religion or member of an institute of consecrated life, issued by the church or religious community and duly recognised or legalised under Portuguese rules
✅ Proof of financial resources held in a Portuguese bank account, in your name or the host institution's

👉 Under the VFS USA checklist, the means of subsistence can be reduced by half where accommodation is secured, and by up to 90% where food is also provided. Confirm with your consulate how it applies this reduction.

Requirement 11: Bringing your family

Family members should apply at the same time as you, in the same submission, on accompanying-family residence visas. Each one adds to the household income and savings thresholds.

Who can join you

✅ Spouse, or partner in a duly evidenced de facto union
✅ Unmarried children under 18 in the care of the couple or of one spouse, including adopted children where the adoption is recognised in Portugal
✅ Unmarried adult children in the care of the couple, financially dependent and enrolled full time in education
✅ Parents (first-degree ascendants) of the applicant or spouse, provided they are dependent on you
✅ Minor siblings under the main applicant's guardianship, by decision of a competent authority recognised in Portugal

How much a family needs (2026)

Main applicant + spouse: €1,380 a month + €16,560 in savings
Main applicant + spouse + 1 child: €1,656 a month + €19,872 in savings
Main applicant + spouse + 2 children: €1,932 a month + €23,184 in savings
Main applicant + spouse + 3 children: €2,208 a month + €26,496 in savings
Main applicant + spouse + 1 dependent parent: €1,840 a month + €22,080 in savings
Main applicant + spouse + 2 dependent parents: €2,300 a month + €27,600 in savings

These totals follow Portaria 1563/2007 (100% / 50% / 30% of the minimum wage per person), the same increments used for the D8.

Documents for each family member

Each family member provides the same general documents as you (form, passport, photographs, insurance, legal residence, and a criminal record if aged 16 or over), plus their own NIF. Your Financial Resume must show that income and savings cover the whole household.

Relationship documents (apostilled and translated)

👉 Spouse: marriage certificate or civil partnership certificate
👉 De facto partner: evidence of the union under Portuguese law, usually with proof of at least two years of living together (council tax and utility bills, joint bank statements, leases or property records) and, where the consulate asks, a certificate of no marriage record for both partners
👉 Child under 18: birth certificate. If only one parent travels, a travel authorisation from the other parent with a notarised signature, or a court order
👉 Adult child in your care: birth certificate, certificate of full-time enrolment, certificate of marital status and evidence of financial dependency
👉 Dependent parent: birth certificate proving the relationship, plus evidence of financial dependency such as regular transfers, shared residence or payment of medical expenses

Bringing dependent parents

Including dependent parents is common in D7 files. Each parent adds €460 a month and €5,520 of savings. The dependency must be real and documented: regular transfers from you, ideally for at least the last six months, a shared home, or payment of their medical and living costs. A statement of dependency with nothing behind it is not enough.

Minors travelling alone or with a third party

✅ Unabridged birth certificate showing both parents, legalised and translated
✅ Passports of both parents, or certified copies of the biodata pages
✅ Letter of consent from both parents
✅ For sole custody: a birth certificate naming only the custodial parent, a death certificate, or a court order granting sole custody, in each case legalised

Joining you later instead

Family members can also join you later through family reunification, but since Lei 61/2025 (in force 23 October 2025) this route has waiting periods. D7 holders generally must have held their residence permit for at least 2 years before a spouse can follow, or 15 months for a spouse or partner you lived with for at least 18 months before you moved. Dependent minor children, and a spouse who is the parent of a dependent minor, have no wait. Applying together on accompanying-family visas (Decreto Regulamentar 84/2007, art. 24.º-B) avoids the wait entirely.

💡 Pro tip: Whenever the family is already formed, apply together from the outset. It is cheaper, faster and keeps every permit on the same renewal calendar.

CPLP citizens

Nationals of Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe, East Timor and Equatorial Guinea benefit from the CPLP Mobility Agreement. Under current consular checklists, they do not need to present travel insurance, a return ticket or the standard proof of means of subsistence. Instead they provide a term of responsibility from a Portuguese citizen or legal resident, with a notarised signature, covering food, accommodation and removal costs, together with the sponsor's last tax return (IRS) and 3 months of bank statements.

In practice, the D7 is still built on your own means, and we prepare CPLP files with full income and savings evidence unless the specific consulate confirms otherwise. Also note that since Lei 61/2025 a CPLP residence permit requires entry on a residence visa.

Apostille and translation cheat sheet

Public documents need an apostille and a certified translation; private financial documents usually need only the translation; some documents are written directly in Portuguese.

Apostille + certified translation into Portuguese:

Criminal record certificate (validity set by your consulate)
Marriage or civil partnership certificate
Birth certificates
Court orders and custody decisions
Any other civil registry document produced in support

Certified translation only (no apostille), if not in English or Portuguese: the private financial documents listed under Requirements 2, 3 and 10 (pension statements, leases and deeds, dividend and royalty statements, bank statements, tax return).

Prepared directly in Portuguese:

Personal statement
Financial Resume
Term of responsibility (where a host arrangement is used)
Any explanatory notes

⚠️ Common mistake: A notary or solicitor apostille instead of a government apostille on the original public document. Countries outside the Hague Convention use legalisation by the Portuguese consular post instead.

💡 Pro tip: Portuguese consulates accept English for most items, but we translate into Portuguese whenever the document will also be used at AIMA, so one file serves both stages. Translating twice, six months apart, costs more than translating once.

How to apply, step by step

The D7 runs in two phases with two authorities: the consulate in your country of residence, then AIMA in Portugal. The order of the steps matters more than their number.

📍 Phase 1 — The consular phase (in your country)

Eligibility and strategy. Confirm that your income is genuinely passive, identify your profile (A–F) and check the thresholds for your household.
Start the slow documents first. Civil documents that need an apostille (marriage and birth certificates) and anything you must request from third parties (pension award letters, provider, brokerage or accountant statements), because their response times are outside your control.
Portuguese preliminaries, in this order. Your NIF through a tax representative, then your Portuguese bank account (checks can take weeks), then your accommodation, with the lease registered with Finanças. Each step depends on the previous one.
Fund the Portuguese account. Move your savings from a traditional bank with a clear paper trail, early enough for the balance to show on the statement you will submit.
Collect the short-life documents close to submission: bank statements, savings certificate, insurance, passport scans, photographs, proof of legal residence. Then prepare the forms, personal statement and Financial Resume.
Order the criminal record last, so it arrives inside your consulate's validity window.
Appointment and submission. One slot per family member in the same session, fee paid, final check of the whole file.
The decision. The VFS UK checklist states decisions typically take up to 60 days, with possible extensions in justified cases. Consulates may ask for additional documents at any point.

📍 Phase 2 — The AIMA phase (in Portugal)

Enter Portugal within the validity of the visa. The visa is valid for four months and two entries. If the AIMA appointment is not shown with the visa, request it from AIMA; enter anyway, as the visa covers your stay while the process runs.
Keep the money flowing through Portugal. Keep your savings in your Portuguese account and, wherever possible, have your pension or other passive income paid into it. A clean, local history of income received in Portugal is the strongest evidence at the AIMA appointment and, later, at renewal.
AIMA appointment and biometrics. Fingerprints, photograph and signature, plus the residence file: passport with visa, registered lease, proof of income and savings, NIF, insurance and family documents. The financial thresholds are checked again here, against the figures in force on that date.
Health service and Social Security. Register at your local health centre (Centro de Saúde) for your SNS user number (número de utente). S1 holders register the form with Portuguese Social Security, which then covers their healthcare. A Social Security number (NISS) is only needed once you work in Portugal.
Residence card. Once approved, the card is produced and sent by post. Reported delivery times range from a few weeks to several months, and no official service level is published. The first card is valid for 2 years.

⚠️ Fraud warning. AIMA has warned about fraudulent emails sent from noreplyportalsef@saf-aima.pt announcing fake appointments. Genuine AIMA emails come from the aima.gov.pt domain. AIMA has also said that aimapt.com has no link to it. Use only official.gov.pt sites.

Timeline: what to realistically expect

Timings vary by consulate and by AIMA office. These are the typical ranges we see, not guarantees.

👉 Document collection and apostilles: typically 4 to 8 weeks. The longest single variable.
👉 NIF, Portuguese bank account and accommodation: typically 2 to 4 weeks. Bank onboarding sets the pace, not the paperwork.
👉 Waiting for a consular or VFS appointment: typically 4 to 12 weeks.
👉 Consular decision: typically up to 60 days, sometimes longer when the consulate asks for more documents.
👉 Entry into Portugal: within the 4-month validity of the visa.
👉 Residence card delivery: from a few weeks to several months. No official service level is published.
👉 Total, from application to card in hand: typically 6 to 9 months, sometimes more. The consular phase is fairly predictable; the AIMA phase is not.

Plan your move, your lease and the transfer of your money around the residence phase, not the consular decision. Delays at AIMA do not mean something is wrong with your file. Where AIMA exceeds its legal deadlines, Portuguese law provides court remedies to compel a decision, and we advise on them if and when they become appropriate in a specific case.

How much it costs

The official fees are the consular visa fee and the AIMA permit fee. Everything else depends on your documents and your country.

Official fees

Consular visa fee: approximately €90 to €120 per applicant, depending on the consulate and the local currency. Not refunded if the visa is refused.
VFS Global service fee, where your consulate uses VFS: charged separately, typically around €40.
AIMA fee for a first temporary residence permit: about €247.30 per adult at the counter (€133.00 for receipt and analysis + €114.30 for the grant), or about €185.60 if filed online, under the table in force since 1 March 2026. Reductions apply to minors. You can check AIMA's fee table; it is updated every 1 March.

Other costs to budget for (amounts vary): apostilles and FBI or ACRO certificates, certified translations, a tax representative for each NIF, the Portuguese bank account, insurance for every applicant, notarisations, the deposit and first months of a 12-month lease, and professional fees if you use an adviser.

Can you work on a D7?

Yes, once AIMA has issued your residence permit. It is the question we are asked most often.

The residence visa itself is not a work authorisation. But once you hold the D7 residence permit, you may take up employed or self-employed activity in Portugal. This is a real advantage over Spain's Non-Lucrative Visa, which does not allow you to work.

There is one important caveat. Renewal is assessed against the means of subsistence on which your permit was granted. If work becomes your main source of income, the basis of your file changes. Raise it with your adviser before you start, so you can decide whether to keep the D7 permit or move to another residence category.

✅ Before working: get your Social Security number (NISS) and, if self-employed, register your activity with Finanças (início de atividade).
✅ If you start self-employed activity for the first time: you typically pay no Social Security contributions for the first 12 months, because enrolment takes effect in the 12th month after you start. After that, the rate is 21.4% on 70% of your service income, declared quarterly (DGSS information sheet).
✅ Keep the numbers consistent: income declared to Social Security and to the tax office must match what you show AIMA. Discrepancies surface at renewal.

After approval: renewal, absences, tax and citizenship

Your D7 permit has to be kept, not just obtained.

Renewal

✅ Renew before the permit expires. At renewal you must again prove your means of subsistence at the thresholds in force on that date, plus accommodation and health cover.
✅ A two-year history of passive income arriving in your Portuguese account is the cleanest renewal file there is.

Absences

✅ A temporary permit can be cancelled if you are absent for more than 6 consecutive months or 8 non-consecutive months within its validity, unless the absence is justified to AIMA (Lei 23/2007, art. 85). In practice, that means spending about 16 months in Portugal in every 24.
✅ For a permanent permit the limit is 24 consecutive months or 30 non-consecutive months in any 3-year period.

Tax residence

You generally become a Portuguese tax resident if you spend more than 183 days a year in Portugal or have a home there that suggests you intend to live in it. From then on your worldwide income, including foreign pensions and investment income, is declared in Portugal, subject to the double tax treaty with the paying country.

✅ The old non-habitual resident (NHR) regime is closed to new applicants. Its successor, IFICI, covers only specific qualified professional activities such as research, higher education and roles in certified startups (Estatuto dos Benefícios Fiscais, art. 58.º-A). It does not apply to pensions or other passive income, so most D7 holders will not qualify.
✅ Speak to a Portuguese accountant before you become resident, especially about how your pension, rents and dividends will be taxed under the relevant treaty.

Permanent residence and citizenship

Permanent residence is available after 5 years, with basic Portuguese and the usual means, housing and clean-record requirements (Lei 23/2007, art. 80). Citizenship needs 10 years (7 for EU and CPLP nationals), counted from when you hold a residence permit, plus proof of Portuguese language and civic knowledge (Lei Orgânica 1/2026).

D7 or D8? And how the D7 compares with Spain

Your income source decides between the D7 and the D8, not your preference. Both lead to the same permit and the same long-term path.

The D7 is for income that arrives whether or not you work: pensions, rents, dividends, interest and royalties. €920 a month for the main applicant plus €11,040 of savings, both rising with each family member.

The D8 is for income you actively earn, remotely, from outside Portugal: a salary from a foreign employer or fees from foreign clients. The main applicant must show at least four times the minimum wage, €3,680 a month in 2026 (Decreto Regulamentar 84/2007, art. 31.º-A, as amended by Decreto Regulamentar 4/2022). Many consulates also expect about 12 months of savings (€11,040 for one person), which is consular practice rather than a legal rule. Read the full Portugal D8 requirements checklist or see our D8 digital nomad visa service.

👉 The choice is not yours to make freely. A remote worker cannot opt for the lower D7 threshold, and a retiree has no reason to meet the heavier D8 requirements.
👉 Mixed situations need a decision early (see the pro tip under "Is this the right visa for you?").

Portugal D7 vs Spain's Non-Lucrative Visa. Spain's Non-Lucrative Visa is the closest equivalent, but the numbers are very different:

Income: Spain requires 400% of the IPREM, €2,400 a month or €28,800 for the first year, plus €600 a month for each family member (Real Decreto 1155/2024, art. 62). Portugal's D7 starts at €920 a month.
Work: the Spanish NLV does not allow you to work. The Portuguese D7 permit does, once it is issued.
Paperwork: the Spanish NLV requires a medical certificate; the D7 does not.
Family: Spain's NLV does not allow you to include your parents; the D7 does, if they depend on you.

If you would rather work remotely from Spain, compare the Spain digital nomad visa requirements, and if Italy is on your list, its digital nomad visa and Elective Residence Visa are the counterparts of the D8 and D7.

Most common reasons for refusal (and how to avoid them)

These are the seven mistakes that cost D7 applicants the most time in the files we see, plus the fix for each.

Presenting remote-work income as passive income. Consulates know the difference. Fix: if you work for foreign employers or clients, apply for the D8.
Building the file on savings alone, with no regular income behind it. Fix: show a recurring income stream for at least 3 months, and treat savings as the buffer, not the foundation.
Leaving the Portuguese bank account until last. Onboarding checks take weeks, and everything depends on the NIF coming first. Fix: NIF, then account, then lease, at the very start.
Savings sitting in Wise or Revolut when the consulate or AIMA asks to see them. Fix: move them to a traditional bank, ideally your Portuguese one, months ahead.
A lease that was never registered with Finanças. It may pass the consulate and then fail at AIMA. Fix: register it, and keep the proof in your file.
Counting the full rent of a jointly owned property towards your threshold, when only your share counts. Fix: calculate your share and show the ownership split.
Treating the visa as the finish line. Fix: plan your move around the residence card, and keep your means above the threshold in force on the day of your AIMA appointment.

Frequently asked questions

What are the Portugal D7 visa requirements in 2026?

The main requirements are passive income of at least €920 a month, savings of about €11,040 in a Portuguese bank account, a NIF, 12 months of accommodation in Portugal, travel and health insurance, a clean criminal record for everyone aged 16 or over, and a valid passport. Family members add to the income and savings thresholds.

How much money do I need for the Portugal D7 visa?

€920 a month of passive income and €11,040 of savings for a single applicant in 2026. A couple needs €1,380 a month and €16,560; a couple with one child €1,656 and €19,872. The figures follow the Portuguese minimum wage, which changes every January, and AIMA checks them again on the day of your appointment.

Is the D7 a retirement visa?

Yes, in practice it is Portugal's retirement visa, but not only that. It covers anyone living on regular passive income: state or private pensions, rents, dividends, interest and royalties, as well as ministers of religion. There is no minimum age. What matters is that the income arrives whether or not you work.

Can you work on a D7 visa in Portugal?

Yes, once AIMA issues your residence permit you can take up employed or self-employed work in Portugal. The visa itself is not a work authorisation. If work becomes your main income, your renewal basis changes, so talk to your adviser before you start and register with Social Security (NISS) first.

Do I need a Portuguese bank account for the D7?

Yes, in practice. Current VFS checklists for the USA and UK require a Portuguese bank account for pensioners and people living on their own income, and most consulates expect the savings to be shown there. Open it early: you need a NIF first, and bank checks on identity and source of funds can take weeks.

What is the difference between the D7 and the D8?

The D7 is for passive income (pensions, rents, dividends, royalties) and starts at €920 a month. The D8 is for remote work for foreign employers or clients and requires €3,680 a month for the main applicant. Both lead to a 2-year permit renewable for 3 years. Your income source decides which one applies.

Can I bring my parents on a D7 visa?

Yes, if they depend on you financially. Each parent adds €460 a month and €5,520 of savings to your thresholds in 2026. You must document the dependency, for example with regular transfers for at least six months, a shared home or payment of their medical costs. A bare statement of dependency is not enough.

How long does the Portugal D7 visa take?

Typically 6 to 9 months from starting your file to holding the residence card, sometimes more. Document collection takes 4 to 8 weeks, the consular decision typically up to 60 days, and the AIMA stage after arrival is the least predictable. No timeline is guaranteed, so plan your move around the residence card, not the visa.

How long can I stay outside Portugal on a D7?

No more than 6 consecutive months or 8 non-consecutive months within the validity of your temporary permit, unless the absence is justified to AIMA. Longer absences can lead to cancellation. Once you hold permanent residence, the limits rise to 24 consecutive or 30 non-consecutive months in any 3-year period.

How MoveWise can help

✅ A dedicated Portugal expert with you from the first call to the residence card
✅ Module 1, eligibility assessment: we confirm that your income is genuinely passive, identify your profile (A–F), calculate the exact 2026 thresholds for your household and tell you honestly if the D8, Spain's NLV or Italy's ERV fits better
✅ Module 2, full preparation and submission: we prepare and check every document, in the right order, for the consular and AIMA stages
✅ NIF and tax representation arranged through our Portuguese partners, and guidance on opening your Portuguese bank account
✅ Financial Resume reconciling every payment with its source document and the thresholds
✅ Residency Setup in Portugal: support from arrival through AIMA biometrics, NISS registration, residence card delivery and SNS enrolment
✅ Tax referrals to specialised Portuguese accountants: we do not sell tax advice we are not qualified to give

If you work with us on Module 2, you are covered by a full refund of our fee if your application is refused, under the conditions of our service agreement. Our clients have left more than 500 client reviews on Trustpilot.

👉 Book a free consultation with a MoveWise Client Manager — we will review your income, savings and family situation and tell you honestly whether the D7 is right for you, or whether the D8, Spain or Italy would suit you better.

Sources and legal references

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Immigration rules and consular practice change frequently; the information was verified on 27 October 2026. For advice on your situation, speak to a qualified professional.

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