Family reunification in Portugal: the rules since October 2025

Two different procedures, often confused

Accompanying family — if you are applying for your own residence visa (D7, D8, D2, D1, D3, D4), your spouse and dependent children can apply at the same time for a residence visa “to accompany” you. Evidence: the family tie and enough stable means for everyone for twelve months (50 % of the 920 € scale per adult, 30 % per child). No waiting period, no AIMA pre-approval. This is the route for a family that moves together.

Family reunification (reagrupamento familiar, consular code D6) — if you already live in Portugal with a residence permit, you ask AIMA to recognise your right to be joined by relatives who are abroad (or, in some cases, already in Portugal). Once AIMA approves, each relative applies to the consulate for a residence visa within 90 days, or the approval lapses. This page is about that second procedure.

• 2 years of residence permit required from the sponsor (art. 98.º n.º 1) — 15 months for a spouse who lived with the sponsor 18 months before the move
• No wait for minor children, the spouse who is co-parent of a minor, and families of golden-visa and Blue Card holders
• 9 months legal deadline for AIMA's decision, extendable once in complex cases
• 90 days to apply for the visa after AIMA's approval

Who can be reunified (art. 99.º and 100.º)

• the spouse — the marriage must be valid and recognised under Portuguese law and both spouses must be at least 18 at the date of the request (n.º 6, added in 2025); a de-facto partner proven under Portuguese law, in Portugal or abroad;
• minor or incapacitated children of the couple or of one spouse, including adopted children under a decision recognised by Portugal, and the partner’s children legally entrusted to them;
• adult children who are single, dependent and studying in Portugal (studying anywhere, for golden-visa sponsors);
• parents (first-degree ascendants) of the resident or of the spouse, when dependent on them;
• minor siblings under the resident’s guardianship by a decision recognised by Portugal.

The conditions the sponsor must meet (art. 101.º)

1. Accommodation — owned or rented, considered normal for a comparable family in the same region, meeting safety and health standards (a lease or deed, plus the property’s licence);
2. Means of subsistence for every member of the household without recourse to social benefits — the 920 € scale is the reference;
3. Since 2025, the arriving relatives must, after the permit is granted, attend Portuguese language training and training on constitutional principles and values, and minors must attend compulsory schooling. Renewal of their permit depends on proving it (n.º 3 and 4); humanitarian exemptions are possible.

The sponsor’s own permit must have been valid for two years — unless the relative is a minor or incapacitated dependent, the spouse is the sponsor’s co-parent of such a minor, or the sponsor holds a golden visa (art. 90.º-A), a highly-qualified permit under art. 90.º or an EU Blue Card (art. 121.º-A). A spouse who cohabited with the sponsor for at least 18 months immediately before the sponsor’s arrival qualifies after 15 months.

The procedure

Relatives who are already in Portugal can be included in the request if they entered legally and are still here at the date of the request (art. 103.º n.º 2, for the categories exempt from the two-year wait). A transitional window that allowed other in-country requests closed 180 days after 23 October 2025.

Refusals and what AIMA weighs (art. 106.º)

Public order, public security and public health are the grounds for refusal, weighed against the seriousness of the facts and the family’s ties. A marriage of convenience, false documents or a relative subject to an EU restrictive measure end the request.

Questions about family reunification