Portugal D7 Visa 2026: Complete Expat Guide

The D7 visa is Portugal's residency route for non-EU nationals who can support themselves on passive income, like pensions, rental income, dividends, or savings interest. As of January 2026, you need to prove €920 net per month plus a year of savings on top. Here is what to gather, in what order, and how long the wait actually is.

What is the D7 Passive Income Visa?

The D7 is a Portuguese national visa created for non-EU citizens who want to live in Portugal without working a Portuguese job. It is sometimes called the "retirement visa" or "passive income visa" because the eligibility test is whether your income from outside Portugal covers your living costs. Pensions, rental income, dividends, royalties, business profits, and structured investment payouts all count.

Once your D7 visa is stamped at a Portuguese consulate, you fly to Portugal and convert it into a 2-year residence permit at AIMA, the Agency for Integration, Migrations and Asylum (which replaced SEF in October 2023). Renew once for a further 3 years, and after 5 years of legal residency you can apply for permanent residence or Portuguese citizenship.

The D7 is not a digital nomad visa. If your main income is remote-work salary from a foreign employer, the D8 (Digital Nomad Visa) is the better fit. The D7 is built for people whose money already arrives without a desk attached to it.

Was the Golden Visa Portugal suspended? What changed in 2023, and why the D7 is your alternative

If you were planning to move to Portugal through the Golden Visa, you've probably already hit the news: the property investment route closed in October 2023. The Golden Visa program itself still exists, but buying real estate no longer qualifies you. The remaining paths start at €250,000 (cultural production support) or €500,000 (investment funds, scientific research donations), and the capital transfer route now sits at €1.5M.

For most people who were drawn to Portugal through the Golden Visa, the D7 is now the better fit. Here's the honest comparison:

• If your plan was to buy a Lisbon apartment and get residency: that route is closed. The D7 is your alternative if you can show €920/month in stable passive income (rental income, pensions, dividends, royalties).
• If you were going to invest €500K in a fund just for the visa: the investment route still works, and the Golden Visa lets you spend most of the year outside Portugal (only 7 days required in year 1, 14 days in each two-year renewal period). The D7 expects you to actually live here, which is what most expats already want.
• If you wanted Portuguese residency without moving: only the modified Golden Visa offers that. The D7 requires real presence (at most 6 consecutive months out of the country, or 8 non-consecutive months across 24).

The D7 takes longer and costs less. It also requires you to actually live in Portugal. For someone choosing between a property purchase and a real move, the D7 is usually the right call.

Who qualifies: 2026 income thresholds

The income threshold is tied to the Portuguese minimum wage, which rose to €920 in January 2026 (Decree-Law 139/2025, of 29 December). That is the bar for the main applicant. Family members are scaled additions, not replacements.

• Main applicant: €920/month, or €11,040/year
• Second adult (spouse, partner, dependent parent): +50%, or €460/month, €5,520/year
• Each child or dependent under 18: +30%, or €276/month, €3,312/year

A couple with two kids therefore needs €1,932/month (€23,184/year) in stable passive income, plus a savings buffer of roughly the same annual figure sitting in a Portuguese bank account.

Stability matters more than the exact number. AIMA looks for income that arrives every month, not a one-off windfall. A pension statement showing two years of consistent payments is stronger evidence than a single bank balance. If your income is variable (royalties, dividends), three years of tax returns showing a healthy average works better than one strong year.

If your AIMA appointment falls in 2026, the €920 baseline applies even when you started the application in 2025. The threshold is set by the rules in force on the day of assessment.

The document checklist for your AIMA application

You build the file in two passes: documents you submit at the consulate to get the visa stamp, and documents you bring to AIMA to convert it into a residence permit. The lists overlap but are not identical. Here is the consolidated checklist.

Identity and status

• Valid passport with at least 6 months remaining validity at submission
• Two recent passport photos, 35mm by 45mm, white background
• Criminal record certificate from your country of nationality and from any country you have lived in for the past year, apostilled (valid 90 days)
• Authorization to access Portuguese criminal records

Financial proof

• 12 months of bank statements showing the income source
• Most recent personal income tax return
• Pension award letter, rental contracts, dividend statements, or equivalent evidence of the passive income source
• Portuguese bank account statement showing the savings buffer (€11,040 for a single applicant in 2026)

Portuguese-side documents

• NIF (Portuguese tax number). Non-EU citizens need this before applying.
• Long-term rental agreement or property deed in Portugal, registered with the Portuguese tax authority (the AT registration is what AIMA actually checks).
• Travel insurance covering 30 days from entry; full health insurance from your AIMA appointment onward

Application paperwork

• VFS Global or consulate visa application form, signed
• Cover letter explaining your reason for moving and ties to Portugal

For the AIMA appointment after arrival, you bring originals of everything plus your visa-stamped passport and proof of address. Filing the application end-to-end is the kind of work where an immigration lawyer pays for itself. Locallista's Lisbon immigration lawyers list is filtered to firms that handle D7 cases routinely.

How to verify an immigration lawyer (and avoid scams)

The D7 process attracts a layer of "relocation consultants" and immigration agents who are not lawyers and not regulated. The OA (Ordem dos Advogados, Portugal's Bar Association) holds the only authoritative registry. Before signing anything, run these four checks.

• Look up the OA registration. Every Portuguese lawyer has a unique cédula number. Search by name on the OA public registry at oa.pt. If the person isn't there, they are not a lawyer.
• Confirm a physical office. Drop the address into Google Street View. A virtual office or coworking-only address is a flag, not a deal-breaker, but combined with other signals it adds up.
• Ask for two recent D7 client references. A firm that handles D7 cases routinely will produce these in a day. A firm that hesitates or refuses is showing you something.
• Reject demands for full payment upfront. Standard practice is a retainer plus milestone payments. "Pay everything now, guaranteed approval" is the single most common scam wording.

Same logic applies to "AIMA appointment fixers" who promise to skip the queue. There is no legal queue-jumping mechanism. Anyone selling one is selling a scam.

What this all actually costs

The visa fee is the smallest line on the bill. Here is the realistic budget for a single applicant going through the D7 process with professional help, ranges valid early 2026.

Cost item	Range (EUR)	Notes
D7 visa fee	110	Paid at the consulate / VFS at submission
VFS service fee	~40	Per applicant, varies by country
Apostille (per document)	25 to 50	Criminal record, marriage cert, birth certs
Certified PT translation (per page)	15 to 30	Required if the original is not in PT or EN
Immigration lawyer (full D7 representation)	1,500 to 4,000	One-time fee, includes consulate filing and AIMA appointment
Fiscal representative (if required)	100 to 300/year	Many banks bundle this; ask before signing
Registered rental contract	0	Landlord registers with AT; free for tenant
AIMA residence card fee	~170	Paid at the biometrics appointment
Health insurance (annual)	400 to 1,200	Required from your AIMA appointment onward

Plan on 3,000 to 6,000 euros total for a single applicant going the full lawyer-assisted route. A self-filed application without a lawyer can come in under 1,000 euros if your documents are clean and your Portuguese is good enough to read AT and AIMA forms.

What language do they speak at the consulate, AIMA, and the bank?

This is the question every D7 applicant asks privately and rarely sees answered.

Consulate interview. Most Portuguese consulates in English-speaking countries (US, UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland) conduct the interview in English. VFS staff also speak English. Forms are usually available in EN; submit your cover letter in EN.

Bank video-call (account opening). Activobank and Millennium BCP offer English-language video onboarding. Bison Bank and Atlantico Europa default to Portuguese; ask for an English appointment when you book. Have your passport, NIF, and proof of address on screen, the call typically runs 20 to 30 minutes.

AIMA biometrics appointment. No guaranteed English service. Lisbon and Porto offices have officers who speak English but you cannot request one in advance. You have the right to bring an interpreter, and no formal certification is required for routine appointments. Most immigration lawyers attend with their clients and translate as needed. If you arrive without one and the officer does not speak English, the appointment can be rescheduled, but that resets you to the back of the queue. Bring a lawyer or a Portuguese-speaking friend.

If you only learn one Portuguese phrase before the appointment, learn this one: "Posso ter um intérprete?" ("May I have an interpreter?")

Step-by-step: how to apply for the D7

There is a fixed order. Skip a step and the next one blocks you. Banks need a NIF. Rental contracts need a NIF. AIMA needs proof of address. The sequence below is the one you actually walk.

1. Assess income eligibility. Add up your net monthly passive income and check it clears the €920 threshold (plus 50% per extra adult, 30% per child). If you are close to the line, build a 6 to 12-month track record before applying.
2. Gather documentation. Pull the apostilled criminal record now. The certificate takes weeks in some countries (US: state-by-state, often 3 to 6 weeks). It expires in 90 days for visa purposes, so time it close to the consulate appointment.
3. Open a Portuguese bank account. You need a NIF first. Once you have the NIF, you can open the account remotely with several Portuguese banks, or in person on a scouting visit. Deposit the savings buffer at least 30 days before submission.
4. Secure a Portuguese address. A 12-month rental contract registered with the Portuguese tax authority, or a property deed. A friend's address or a hostel does not work for AIMA.
5. Submit your application at the Portuguese consulate. Through VFS Global in most countries, see our VFS Global Portugal booking guide for the appointment workflow. Pay the visa fee (€110, raised from €90 in early 2025) plus the VFS service fee of around €40, file the documents, and wait for the stamp. Travel insurance must be live on submission day.
6. Attend AIMA biometrics and collect the residence permit. After arriving in Portugal on the D7 visa (valid for 4 months, 2 entries), AIMA gives you a biometrics appointment. They take fingerprints, photo, and a copy of your Portuguese address. The residence card arrives by post within roughly 3 weeks (legal deadline 90 days), valid for 2 years.

How long does the process actually take

From first paperwork to residence card in your hand, plan on 4 to 6 months. The breakdown:

• Pre-application prep (NIF, bank account, rental, criminal record): 4 to 8 weeks. The criminal record certificate is the slowest moving piece for most applicants.
• Consulate processing: 30 to 60 days from submission. Some posts are faster (Brasília, London) and some slower (US East Coast).
• Travel and AIMA appointment: the D7 entry visa is valid for 4 months and gives you 2 entries to Portugal. You must attend an AIMA biometrics appointment before it expires. Lisbon and Porto have a 90 to 120-day appointment backlog. Smaller districts (Évora, Beja, Castelo Branco) sometimes book within 2 weeks.
• Residence card delivery: about 3 weeks from biometrics to the card arriving at your Portuguese address. Legal deadline is 90 days.

The single biggest variable is which AIMA office processes your case, which is determined by your registered Portuguese address. If you are flexible on where you live, registering an address outside the major metros can save months.

Bringing your family on a D7

Spouses, registered partners, minor children, dependent adult children studying in Portugal, and dependent first-degree ascendants (parents, in-laws) are all eligible to live with you on a D7-derived residence permit.

There are two paths: include them on your initial application, or bring them later through family reunification.

On the initial application. Add an apostilled marriage certificate, birth certificates for children, and proof of dependency where relevant. Each family member needs their own application file, but they piggyback on your income proof, scaled by the +50% / +30% rule. We recommend this path where it fits the family situation. It is faster and cheaper.

Family reunification after arrival. Under Law 61/2025, in force since October 2025, D7 holders must complete two full years of legal residence in Portugal before sponsoring most family members through the reunification process. There is one limited exception: couples who cohabited for at least 18 months before arrival can qualify after 15 months, with substantial proof of the relationship. Practical implication: if you plan to bring extended family who cannot join the initial application, plan on a longer timeline than the previous 1-year minimum.

Spouses and minor children are typically processed alongside the principal applicant under the same case number on the initial application, so the 2-year rule does not strand a partner or kids.

The D7 and Portugal's new IFICI tax regime

The Non-Habitual Resident (NHR) tax regime that drew so many retirees to Portugal between 2009 and 2024 is closed. New applicants could file under transitional rules until 31 March 2025, but that window is now shut. NHR has been replaced by IFICI (Tax Incentive for Scientific Research and Innovation), sometimes called NHR 2.0.

This is the part most D7 articles get wrong. IFICI is much narrower than NHR was, and most D7 applicants do not qualify.

IFICI offers a flat 20% rate on Portuguese-source employment or self-employment income, plus broad exemption on most foreign-source income, for 10 years. But it is restricted to qualifying activities: scientific research, higher education teaching, certain technology and engineering roles, and a list of approved sectors. To qualify you must:

• Become a Portuguese tax resident (183+ days in Portugal per year, or habitual residence on 31 December)
• Not have been a Portuguese tax resident in any of the previous 5 years
• Work in an IFICI-approved sector and register with the Portuguese tax authority

D7 retirees living on a foreign pension typically do not qualify for IFICI because pension income is not a qualifying activity. The pension is taxed under standard Portuguese progressive IRS rates, which range from 13.25% to 48% depending on income level. Double-tax treaties with the home country can reduce the effective rate, but it is not the headline 10%-on-pensions deal NHR offered.

D7 applicants who plan to do research, teach at a Portuguese university, or work in a qualifying tech or innovation role can apply for IFICI separately after becoming tax resident. We recommend modeling your post-move tax position with a qualified Portuguese accountant before you commit. Locallista's Lisbon accountants list is filtered to firms with international expat experience. For IFICI eligibility specifically (not just expat tax filing), Lisbon tax consultants are typically the better fit.

Why you need a Portuguese bank account first

You cannot file the D7 visa application without a Portuguese bank account. The application requires proof of the savings buffer (€11,040 for a single applicant in 2026, scaled for family) sitting in a Portuguese-domiciled account. Foreign account statements are not accepted as the primary savings proof.

The order is fixed. NIF first, bank account second, rental contract third, then visa application. Without the NIF, no Portuguese bank will open an account. Without the bank account, you cannot demonstrate the savings or fund the rental deposit.

Most D7 applicants open the account remotely. Several Portuguese banks (Activobank, Bison Bank, Atlantico Europa, Millennium BCP) offer non-resident D7-compatible accounts that you can set up by video call or through a fiscal representative. Expect documentation similar to opening any account: passport, NIF, proof of address from your home country, and a source-of-funds declaration. Fees range from €0 to €60 per year for basic checking; some banks waive the fee with a minimum balance.

Two practical notes. First, transfer the savings buffer in well before the consulate appointment, ideally 30+ days, so the bank statement shows the money settled. Second, banks freeze accounts when residence status is not finalized within 12 months of opening. Once your residence card arrives, update your status with the bank promptly.

Frequently asked questions

What passive income threshold qualifies for the D7 in 2026?

€920 net per month for the main applicant (Portugal's 2026 minimum wage), plus 50% (€460) for each additional adult and 30% (€276) for each dependent under 18. A couple with two kids needs €1,932/month, or €23,184/year.

What documents are required for the AIMA application?

Valid passport, photos, apostilled criminal record, 12 months of bank statements, recent tax return, NIF, Portuguese bank account statement, registered rental contract or property deed, travel and health insurance, and the signed consulate form.

How long does D7 processing take end-to-end?

Plan on 4 to 6 months total: 4-8 weeks pre-application prep, 30-60 days at the consulate, plus AIMA biometrics (Lisbon/Porto: 90-120 day backlog; smaller districts around 2 weeks) and roughly 3 more weeks for the residence card.

Can family members join on a D7?

Yes. Spouses, registered partners, minor children, dependent adult children studying in Portugal, and first-degree dependent parents qualify. Including them on the initial application is simpler; post-arrival reunification now requires 2 years of residency under Law 61/2025.

How does the D7 connect to NHR tax status?

NHR closed to new applicants on 31 March 2025, replaced by IFICI (NHR 2.0). IFICI is restricted to research, higher education, and approved tech roles. D7 retirees on a foreign pension typically pay standard Portuguese IRS (13.25% to 48%).