Portuguese residency: permits for non-EU citizens, EU registration, renewals

Non-EU citizens: the residence permit

The temporary residence permit (autorização de residência temporária) is issued by AIMA to the holder of a residence visa — D7, D8, D2, D1, D3, D4, family reunification, CPLP — or, in the cases of art. 122.º, without a visa. It is valid two years from the date of the card and renewed for successive three-year periods (art. 75.º). Fees in 2026: 133 € for the analysis and 114,30 € for the card, 99,80 € and 85,80 € when filed online.

The permit brings the rights of art. 83.º: work as an employee or independently, education and training, health care, access to the courts, equal treatment in social security and tax. It is cancelled (art. 85.º) for expulsion, fraud, serious crime, security reasons — or for absence of six consecutive months or eight months in total during its validity, without valid reasons.

After five years of temporary permits, the permanent residence permit (art. 80.º): no sentence over one year in the last five years, means, housing and basic Portuguese; 133 € + 351,10 € (263,40 € online); card renewed every five years for 61,90 €. Absence limits widen to 24 consecutive months or 30 months in three years. The golden visa follows its own rhythm — see the ARI page.

• 2 + 3 years temporary permit and renewals; 5 years to permanent residence
• 133 € + 114,30 € AIMA fees, 25 % less online
• 6 / 8 months of absence cancel a temporary permit; 24 / 30 months a permanent one
• 3 months + 30 days: the EU citizen's deadline to register at the town hall

Renewing on time

Renewal is requested before the card expires, on AIMA’s renewals portal for most permit types, with proof that the basis of the permit continues — income for a D7, activity and social security for a D2, employment for a D1, enrolment for a student — plus tax and social-security compliance, health cover and the criminal record consultation AIMA runs itself. A permit whose renewal was requested in time remains valid until the decision, and the request receipt proves it. Late renewals expose you to a fine and, past the deadline, to the loss of the years already accrued for permanent residence and citizenship.

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens: registration, not a permit

Citizens of the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Andorra and Switzerland may enter and stay three months with an identity document. To stay longer they must, within 30 days after the first three months, obtain the certificado de registo de cidadão da União Europeia at the town hall (Câmara Municipal) of their residence, on presentation of the identity document and a declaration on honour that they work in Portugal (employed or self-employed), or have sufficient resources and health insurance, or are enrolled in a school with resources and insurance. The certificate takes at least a month to issue; the fee is the small amount of the AIMA table. It is valid five years, after which the permanent residence document for EU citizens can be requested.

Their family members from third countries — spouse, partner, children under 21 or dependent, dependent parents — receive a residence card of family member of an EU citizen, requested at AIMA within the same deadlines, with proof of the family tie and of the EU citizen’s registration. This is the EU regime of Lei n.º 37/2006, not the family-reunification procedure of the Foreigners Act: no two-year wait, no integration duties.

The registration certificate is the document that, for an EU citizen, proves legal residence for permanent residence (five years) and naturalisation (seven years under the 2026 Nationality Act).

The address behind the document

Every residence document is tied to an address, and the Portuguese administration cross-checks it: the fiscal address at Finanças, the address on the permit, the health centre’s catchment, the school’s area. Moving house means updating AIMA (change of details, 53,30 €), Finanças (free, on the portal) and the health centre — in that week, not next year.

Questions