Portugal’s D7 Visa Requirements for 2026 EXPLAINED

Getting a clear, up-to-date list of Portugal’s D7 visa requirements is harder than it should be.

On paper, the D7 visa looks simple: show enough passive income, prove you have savings, get a Portuguese tax number and bank account, find accommodation, gather your documents, and apply. In practice, it is rarely that straightforward.

Requirements change over time, they can vary from country to country, and different consulates or VFS offices may ask for slightly different things. Even when the broad rules are the same, there is often room for interpretation depending on your circumstances and the person reviewing your application.

Unfortunately, there isn’t one up-to-date official site where you can see exactly what’s required.

That is why so much advice online feels inconsistent. Some of it is outdated, some only applies in certain countries (or even parts of that country), and some reflects practical expectations rather than strict legal requirements. This guide is designed to make sense of that: first with a simple list of the core requirements, then with a detailed breakdown of what each one really means in practice.

The D7 Requirements at a Glance

Before we look at the details, here is the short version of what most D7 applicants need.

Core Requirements

Be 18 or older
Be a non-EU/EEA/Swiss citizen applying from your country of legal residence
Have sufficient qualifying passive income
Have sufficient savings / means of support
Have a Portuguese NIF (tax number)
Have a Portuguese bank account
Have proof of accommodation in Portugal
Have a valid passport
Complete the national visa application form
Provide passport photos
Obtain a criminal record certificate
Sign the authorization for the Portuguese criminal record check
Have valid insurance for the visa stage
Provide supporting financial documents
Include a personal statement

If Applying With Family

Marriage certificate, if applying with a spouse
Birth certificates, if applying with children
Higher income and savings to cover each additional family member

Sometimes Requested Depending on the Consulate or VFS Office

Flight itinerary or ticket
Extra accommodation documents, such as lease registration, rent receipts, or landlord ID
Notarized or certified versions of certain documents
Certified translations, where required

Next, let’s go through each requirement one by one and look at what it means in practice.

The D7 Requirements in Depth

The following is a breakdown of the D7 requirements in more depth. However, even though this list goes into detail, it should never be considered exhaustive (and neither should any other article online).

Note: these requirements apply to the consular (or VFS) stage, which takes place in your country of residence (e.g. the US, Canada, etc.). There is a separate appointment with AIMA, which takes place on your move to Portugal on your 120-day visa, and this has slightly different requirements.

Be 18 or older

This one is straightforward. The main applicant needs to be an adult.

Be a non-EU/EEA/Swiss citizen applying from your country of legal residence

The D7 is aimed at people who need a visa to move to Portugal.

If you are an EU/EEA/Swiss citizen, you can move to Portugal under EU free-movement rules instead. Non-EU/EEA/Swiss family members of an EU/EEA/Swiss citizen may also move without a visa using “Article 15,” but some choose to apply for a visa like the D7 due to the historical challenges of getting an appointment at AIMA for Article 15.

It is also important to understand that the D7 is a consular process.

In other words, you normally apply from your country of legal residence, not from inside Portugal. This catches a lot of people out, especially those who assume they can arrive as a tourist and then switch over once they are here. That is not how the D7 is designed to work. The whole structure assumes you apply abroad first, receive the visa, and only then travel to Portugal to complete the residence-permit stage.

One additional challenge is finding out which consulate you should apply through (e.g. Washington or San Francisco, London or Manchester) and whether you should apply through the consulate or through the associated VFS Office (a third-party company designated to handle applications for the Portuguese government).

Have sufficient qualifying passive income

This is one of the most important requirements, and one of the most misunderstood.

For 2026, the widely used baseline for a single applicant is €920 per month, because the D7 threshold is typically interpreted by reference to the Portuguese minimum wage, which is €920 in 2026.

The usual rule of thumb is 50% extra for a spouse or other adult dependent (i.e. dependent parents) and 30% extra for each dependent child. That gives you €460 for an additional adult and €276 for each child.

“The law doesn’t specify in specifically the the minimum amount for this visa against others that I will clarify afterwards. So we need to consider the amount that is this the minimum salary in Portugal” — Marta

Ignore articles and blogs which list €870 (2025 figures), €820 (2024 figures), and other amounts as the required income. They are at least one year out of date on the income requirements and so may be out-of-date for other things as well.

The other key word here is passive.

In general, the D7 is meant for income such as:

Pensions
US Social Security
Rental income
Annuities
Dividends
Royalties (e.g. from books or music)
Interest
Other recurring income that does not depend on you actively working every month

What it is not really designed for is normal employment income, freelance income, or active remote work. Before the Digital Nomad Visa (D8) existed, people were able to apply for the D7 with remote work or freelancing income. Now the D8 exists, this is rarely accepted.

Savings are also not considered passive income (unless those savings generate passive income such as interest or are invested in something like an annuity or rental property).

We have clients who invested in an annuity showing as little as 15 months of income, and this was considered enough. This worked out far cheaper than the Golden Visa, and had the added benefit that they could withdraw the money in full at a later date if their application was rejected or if they needed to for any other reason. Although, we don’t recommend clients do this if they move to Portugal as they need to show consistent passive income for their renewal.

Scott Kirk

In practice, consulates also tend to be more comfortable when the passive income is clear, recurring, and easy to document over time. For example, a pension is usually easier to explain than irregular investment withdrawals.

If you cannot show passive income but have significant savings, you may want to consider the Golden Visa, which requires an investment of €500k (or donation of €200/250k). (A comparison of the D7 and Golden Visa can be found here).

Finally, the entire income typically needs to come from the main applicant’s income (not a combination of a husband and wife’s income, for example). If the main applicant doesn’t have enough for both people, they should consider submitting two separate D7 applications.

Provide supporting financial documents

It is not enough to simply say you meet the income and savings thresholds. You need documents that prove it.

In practice, this usually means things like bank statements, pension letters, dividend statements, rental contracts, proof of investment income, and other evidence showing both the source of your income and the funds you have available.

This is also why timing matters. Recent statements are usually expected, and for income-based documents, it helps if they show a clear history of deposits rather than a one-off balance that appeared shortly before the application. In practice, it helps to have at least three months of documentation (e.g. Social Security payments) to paint a consistent picture.

Have sufficient savings / means of support

Closely connected to the income requirement is the requirement to show that you have enough savings or financial means to support yourself.

For a single applicant in 2026, the usual benchmark is €11,040, which is 12 months of the 2026 minimum wage. For an additional adult, add 50%. For each dependent child, add 30%. So even though people often talk about the D7 as an “income visa,” in practice it is usually both an income test and a savings test.

“…even the amounts are not black and white in the law. So what the law says is that you have to prove that you have financial means and the consular entities have interpreted that in the sense that for passive income you have to show at least the one year minimum wage monthly…” — Sandra Gomes Pinto

That quote gets to the heart of it. The law is not always written in the same neat checklist language people want, so a lot of this comes down to administrative interpretation. That is why you will see people talk about “the requirement” and “the safe amount” as if they are two different things.

And, in practice, they often are.

A file that shows only the bare minimum may still be legally arguable, but a file with a more comfortable buffer is often easier to approve.

Have a Portuguese NIF (tax number)

The Portuguese NIF number is one of the first practical steps in the whole process, because you usually need it before you can do other important things such as open a Portuguese bank account or sign a lease.

The good news is that getting a NIF is usually one of the easier parts of the process.

There are three main ways to get a NIF:

Your lawyer or relocation specialist will get you one as part of your visa package
You can obtain one separately through a third-party service like Anchorless, Bordr, etc
You can come to Portugal and get one in person at Finanças (however, this often requires you to have a “fiscal representative” with you, making this much more complicated than options one or two).

Have a Portuguese bank account

You will usually need it a Portuguese bank account to show your means of sustenance (savings), and in many cases it also helps support the credibility of your wider relocation plan. In practice, this is one of the first things applicants try to sort out after getting a NIF.

Opening an account from abroad has become harder. Banks have become more cautious because of anti-money-laundering checks, and it’s very common for people to be rejected if they try to open an account face-to-face. That said, this is one of several ways you can do this.

As part of your overall visa package from your lawyer (like the NIF)
Through a third-party service like Anchorless, E-Residence, or Visas.pt (compare costs here)
By coming to Portugal and opening one in person

Thankfully, you don’t need a “fiscal representative” to open an account in-person in Portugal like you do with a NIF. However, because many banks are very wary of opening accounts for non-residents, you will likely need to visit multiple banks (and even different branches of the same bank) before you get a positive answer.

Even opening an account online through a third-party service like Anchorless has become more challenging, to the point where some services have stopped offering Portuguese bank accounts as a service. Increasingly, these services ask for proof you’re moving to Portugal (or buying a property here), which typically means a VFS or consular appointment. Unfortunately, getting a VFS appointment has become extremely difficult so it’s very easy for your to hit a wall here.

Lawyers have an advantage here in that they can provide proof you’re moving to Portugal (because you’ve engaged their services). It is worth weighing up the cost of getting the NIF, bank account, and everything else, versus hiring a lawyer.

Another important point is that this typically needs to be a Portuguese bank (e.g. Novobanco, Millennium bcp, Abanca, etc.) rather than an online bank that offers a Euro account (e.g. Wise or N26).

Have proof of accommodation in Portugal

The accommodation requirement is probably the most challenging part of the D7 application.

At a basic level, you need to show where you plan to live in Portugal. That can be done through:

A rental contract
Proof of property ownership in Portugal
A hosting arrangement

Rental contracts usually need to be for 12 months, although some consulates may accept six months. A few may even accept Airbnb or Booking.com bookings, but for most applicants, a 12-month lease is the safest option, and it should be registered with Finanças. Increasingly, some consulates also want proof that the lease is genuine, such as rent receipts, landlord ID, or other supporting documents, either at the consulate stage or later at the AIMA stage.

The difficult part is timing. If you plan to move in six months, you are unlikely to find a rental that starts exactly when you want to arrive. In practice, many applicants end up paying rent for several months before they can move in, and delays in getting appointments can make this even longer.

If you use a lawyer, they can review the lease, check that the terms are fair, and help add protections in case your D7 is refused. They may also help negotiate clauses around extra months of rent upfront, which is common in Portugal if you do not have a guarantor, and make sure there is a clear option to end the contract partway through if needed. Again, it’s worth factoring in this cost to determine whether you’re better trying to pay for this on top of the NIF and bank account or get a lawyer to handle everything in one visa package.

While most people come to Portugal if they plan to buy a property, not everyone does if they plan to rent.

There are three main ways to approach the rental:

Come to Portugal on a scouting trip, figure out where you want to live, and find somewhere to rent
Use a lawyer or third-party service to find you a rental in Portugal
Contact landlords yourself through sites like Idealista or Facebook groups

Each has pros and cons. A scouting trip can be expensive and still may not result in a rental. Using a third-party service is easier, but often costs the equivalent of one to two months’ rent.

Have a valid passport

This sounds obvious, but it is still worth getting right because small passport issues can derail an otherwise strong application.

The exact wording varies across checklists, but Portuguese visa instructions commonly require a passport or that will remain valid for at least three months after the end of the visa period or expected return, and many D7-focused checklists and advisory materials recommend having at least six months of validity from travel and at least two blank visa pages to avoid problems.

Complete the national visa application form

Portuguese residence-visa applications require the national visa application form to be completed and signed by the applicant. This appears consistently across official consular and VFS materials.

Provide passport photos

This is another simple requirement, but it is still one worth getting right the first time.

Official Portuguese visa checklists generally ask for two recent passport-style photos in good condition and suitable to identify the applicant. Some VFS checklists describe them as ID-size or passport-type photos.

In practice, the safest approach is to use recent photos on a plain background that meet standard visa-photo specifications and to assume they should look current and professional.

Obtain a criminal record certificate

For most applicants, this means getting a criminal record certificate from your country of nationality or residence. If you’ve legally lived in other countries for more than one year, you may also need a criminal records check from that country as well.

If you are applying from the US, this usually means an FBI background check, and this is often one of the trickiest documents to time correctly. Many applicants run into two separate problems: the certificate has a limited practical validity window, and getting it apostilled can take time. Recent guidance commonly treats the FBI check as needing to be issued quite recently — often within 90 days of the appointment or submission review.

The apostille is where many US applicants get stuck. In practice, many Portuguese offices now expect the FBI check to be apostilled, and for US federal documents that usually means a federal apostille from the U.S. Department of State, not a state apostille. That can add weeks unless you plan carefully. To make things even more complicated, your documentation shouldn’t be too close to its expiry date.

“They are being more demanding in terms of the validity of the FBI background check. They do not want to see an FBI background check that has only give days of validity left. It’s better to have an FBI background check that has 15-20 days of validity.”

Sandra Gomes Pinto

That said, this is one of those areas where local practice can still vary, so it is worth checking exactly what your consulate or VFS office currently wants rather than assuming every office wants it apostilled. Some might want it notarized. Some may reject it if it’s apostilled. And as always, these requirements change without warning and often without any clear communication.

Sign the authorization for the Portuguese criminal record check

This is a separate document from your foreign criminal record certificate. It is the form that allows the Portuguese authorities to consult your criminal record in Portugal as part of the residence-visa process. It appears regularly on D7-style residence visa checklists and is a standard part of many application files. Minors under 16 are often exempt.

This is not usually a difficult requirement, but it is easy to overlook because people focus on the FBI or local police certificate and forget that Portugal may also want permission to run its own check.

Have valid insurance for the visa stage

At the visa stage, the key point is that your policy should cover medical expenses of at least €30,000, and repatriation, and be valid across the whole Schengen Area. Typically, that means travel insurance but you may have a health insurance policy that meets these requirements.

That is the baseline most people know about. The nuance is that some consulates now want more than a short Schengen-style policy, and some are asking for 12 months of cover rather than just enough to get through the initial 120-day visa period (which is the more common request). Because of that, you need to check the current requirements for your specific consulate or VFS office.

You also need to think ahead and decide if you plan to take out health insurance in Portugal. Why? Because a travel insurance policy can meet the requirements for the consular stage and even the AIMA appointment stage, but won’t cover you for reduced hospital visits in the same way as a health insurance policy will.

Most people planning to take out health insurance get travel insurance for the 120-day period and then get health insurance as soon as they arrive in Portugal. But what happens if you need 12 months? Thankfully, some policies can be cancelled so some people get a 12-month cancellable policy and then, once they have health insurance, cancel it.

Another question to consider is when should you start your health insurance policy. Most people start it from when they arrive in Portugal. After all, you can’t really use it before and since it typically doesn’t offer repatriation, it can’t be used as the consular stage.

But some Portuguese health policies have waiting periods for things like pregnancy, cancer treatment, or other major conditions. So if you know you will want private health insurance anyway, there can be a case for starting earlier to begin running down those waiting periods. That is not a visa requirement, but it is a useful practical consideration.

Include a personal statement

The personal statement is your chance to tie the whole application together.

This is where you explain who you are, why you want to move to Portugal, how you will support yourself, and how the documents in your file fit together. A good personal statement is usually clear and practical rather than overly emotional. It helps the person reviewing the application understand the logic of your move.

This is especially useful if any part of your file needs context — for example, if your income comes from more than one source, if you have an old issue on your criminal record that needs explaining, or if your accommodation situation is slightly unusual. In those cases, the personal statement can stop a case from looking confusing or incomplete.

Other Requirements

While this article covers the main requirements and gives you some idea of what you will need to gather, these requirements are not written in stone, interpreted differently by different consulates and even the individuals working in the same consulate.

“Just recently we had some clients where they asked for a copy of the the driver’s license. Very recently we had some clients where they asked for a tax return and where they asked for the mobile number of the landlord.”

Sandra Gomes Pinto

In a separate interview, Sandra also notes that they’ve also been asked for four months’ worth of bank statements, a copy of the official list of requirements, and an additional copy of the criminal record report.

Manchester operates in a different way from London. London operates in a different way from the US. The UK doesn’t like a notorized application form whereas the consular authorities in the Portuguese consular authorities in US want a notorized application form. We try to tie together all the information to find standards where it’s possible to find standards.

Sandra Gomes Pinto

Essentially, these requirements are subject to constant change and interpretation. If you are planning on submitting an application without a lawyer, it’s very important that you have the most up-to-date information possible. Otherwise, it’s very easy to be rejected for incorrect documentation.

The AIMA Appointment

The second appointment (with AIMA) takes place in Portugal. In theory, this should take place during your first 120 days in Portugal (as this is how long your visa is valid for. In practice, it can take place after your visa expires, requiring you to stay in Portugal in legal limbo until you receive your residency permit.

The AIMA appointment is mainly a document review and biometrics appointment where you finalize your residency.

In most cases, you should bring:

the full file you submitted to the consulate
updated versions of the most important documents

If you have a lawyer handling your application, they should attend with you as it isn’t unusual for applicants to be asked for additional documents.

Updated Financial Documents

AIMA may want to see that your financial situation still matches what you showed at the visa stage, for example:

Recent Portuguese bank statements
Proof that your account is still properly funded

Updated Accommodation Documents

Accommodation is one of the most heavily checked parts of the process.

Common requirements

your rental lease or proof of ownership
proof that the lease has been registered with the tax authority
recent rent receipts

Additional proof they may ask for

utility bills in your name
an Atestado De Residência from your local Junta de Freguesia

In stricter cases, they may also request

a declaration from the landlord
land registry documents
a copy of the landlord’s ID

The goal is to confirm that the lease is genuine and that you are actually living there.

NISS (Social Security Number)

The NISS is one of the murkier areas because practice can vary.

For the D8 (Digital Nomad Visa) and other work-related visas

a NISS is generally expected

For D7 holders living on passive income

it is not always formally required
however, some officers still ask for one
in some cases, they may accept proof that you are exempt instead

Because of this, many lawyers recommend applying for a NISS early if possible or getting your lawyer to request an exemption certificate or letter.

Children and Dependents

If you are applying with children or other dependents, AIMA may ask for extra documentation.

Possible requirements

Additional terms of responsibility
Proof that both parents consent to the application
Extra supporting documents for minors

In some cases

A parent may be asked to sign in person at the appointment
A notarized document may not always be enough on its own

Final Thoughts

The D7 visa can look simple on paper, but as this article hopefully shows, the reality is far more nuanced.

Requirements change. Consulates and VFS offices do not always apply them in exactly the same way. Different consulates in the same country have differing requirements. And a document that works perfectly in one case may raise questions in another.

That is why, even after a long article like this, you should not assume you now have everything you need.

In most cases, it is worth working with a lawyer — ideally one with extensive, recent experience with your specific consulate or VFS office. At the very least, speak to someone who has gone through that office very recently, because local practice can matter just as much as the written rules.

The good news is that Portuguese administrative law does protect applicants. If something is missing or the authorities are leaning toward a “proposal for denial,” there is a process they must follow. You should be given 10 days to respond with a missing document. If they intend to reject the application, they should issue that decision in writing and give you the chance to respond, provide more evidence, or appeal. Rejections can be overturned when applicants explain misunderstandings or supply the right supporting documents.

Still, the best outcome is to avoid that process entirely. It is stressful, time-consuming, and can delay your move significantly, particularly as it takes time to request new documents.

The strongest D7 applications are usually the ones that are complete, well-organized, and tailored to the expectations of the specific office handling them. If you’d like to make sure your D7 application has the highest chances of success, be sure to get in touch.