Portugal D7 visa in 2026: income needed, documents, fees and the path to residence

The D7 at a glance (2026)

	Rule in 2026	Source
Who it is for	Retirees, and people living on passive income (rent, dividends, interest, royalties)	Consular visa portal
Minimum income, main applicant	€920 a month (the national minimum wage)	Consular portal; Decreto-Lei 139/2025
Spouse or other adult	+50% (€460 a month)	Portaria 1563/2007
Each child	+30% (€276 a month)	Portaria 1563/2007
Accommodation	Required: a home you own, a lease, or a host’s signed statement	Foreigners Law, art. 77; consulate checklists
Consular visa fee	€110 per application (children under 6 exempt)	Consular portal
Decision time (by law)	60 days	Foreigners Law, art. 58(4)
Visa validity	4 months, two entries	Foreigners Law, art. 58(2)
First residence permit	2 years from issue	Foreigners Law, art. 75(1)
Renewals	3 years each	Foreigners Law, art. 75(1)
Permanent residence	After 5 years, with basic Portuguese (A2)	Foreigners Law, art. 80
Citizenship	10 years’ legal residence for UK, US and other non-EU, non-CPLP nationals	Lei Orgânica 1/2026

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens do not need a D7. They register with the local council (câmara municipal) after three months. The D7 is for everyone else, including British and American buyers. For the wider move, see moving to Portugal and retiring to Portugal.

Who qualifies for a D7?

The consular rules list three groups: retirees, people on religious missions, and people “living from passive income”. For most readers, that means one of two things.

• Retirees. You show a document certifying your pension: a state pension letter, private pension statements, or a tax return showing pension income.
• Passive income. You show regular income from property, shares, savings, or intellectual property. Rent from a home you let out, dividends and royalties all count. A salary from a job does not. Remote workers use the D8 instead.

The consulate decides whether the income is “stable and regular”. A large lump sum with no income usually fits the rules badly. The London and Manchester checklists both ask for the last three months of bank statements, and Manchester also asks for your latest tax return.

How much income do you need in 2026?

The test uses Portugal’s guaranteed minimum monthly wage. Decreto-Lei 139/2025 set it at €920 from 1 January 2026, up from €870 in 2025. The consular portal applies it per person under Portaria 1563/2007: 100% for the first adult, 50% for each further adult and 30% for each child.

Household	Monthly income needed	Yearly	Arithmetic
Single applicant	€920	€11,040	920 × 100%
Couple	€1,380	€16,560	920 + (920 × 50%)
Single parent, 1 child	€1,196	€14,352	920 + (920 × 30%)
Couple, 1 child	€1,656	€19,872	920 + 460 + 276
Couple, 2 children	€1,932	€23,184	920 + 460 + 276 + 276

These are minimums, not targets. Consulates can ask for more evidence. The figure rises each year with the minimum wage, so check the portal in the year you apply.

Savings in a Portuguese bank. Both UK consulates’ 2025 checklists also asked for a Portuguese bank statement showing funds equal to twelve months of the minimum wage (€9,840 in London’s version, €10,440 in Manchester’s). At the 2026 wage, the same rule gives €11,040 for a single applicant. That is our calculation. We found no 2026 checklist to confirm it. A Portuguese bank account needs a NIF first, so get one early. See how to get a NIF.

Do you need to rent or buy a home first?

Yes. You need an address in Portugal before you apply. The law makes accommodation a condition of the residence permit (Foreigners Law, article 77(1)(e)), and consulates check it at the visa stage. The UK checklists accept:

• deeds to a property in Portugal in your name;
• a rental agreement covering at least 12 months; or
• a “term of responsibility” signed by a host in Portugal, with the signature certified by a notary (Manchester also accepts a lawyer or solicitor).

At the AIMA stage you sign a declaration of your address. If you own the home, AIMA asks for the land registry certificate (certidão permanente) or its access code. If you rent, it asks for a declaration from the landlord.

Should you buy before you apply? Owning is not required, and it costs more if you buy first. Since 25 May 2026, non-residents pay a flat 7.5% IMT on a home (Decree-Law 97/2026). On €400,000 that is €30,000. A resident buying a main home pays €18,236.65 (8% minus €13,763.35), so the gap is €11,763.35. If you become tax resident within two years you can reclaim the difference, but only by applying within six months. Our guide to buying before or after residency runs the numbers. You can check your own figures with the IMT calculator and the buying cost calculator.

Many applicants sign a 12-month lease, get the visa, and buy once they know the area. For where people settle, see the best places to buy property in Portugal, and for the purchase itself, how to buy property in Portugal. A buyer’s agent can search for you. If you’d like help, tell us what you’re looking for.

What documents do you need?

From the consular portal and the two UK checklists:

Document	Notes
National visa application form	Signed; parents sign for minors
Two passport photos	Recent
Passport	Valid 3 months beyond your stay (Manchester: 6 months from the appointment)
Proof of legal residence	If you apply outside your country of nationality
Travel or health insurance	Medical, urgent care and repatriation; UK pensioners can use an S1 form
Criminal record certificate	Ages 16+. UK: ACRO certificate issued in the last 4 months, with a Hague apostille
Proof of income	Pension letters or statements, or evidence of passive income; latest tax return
Bank statements	Last 3 months from your home bank; up-to-date Portuguese bank statement
NIF	Needed for the Portuguese bank account; Manchester asks for it outright
Proof of accommodation	Deeds, 12-month lease, or notarised term of responsibility
Personal statement	Why you are moving, your address in Portugal, your income

Documents not in English or Portuguese need certified translations. Each consulate can ask for more, so use your consulate’s own checklist. A lawyer can check your file before you submit it. See choosing a property lawyer in Portugal.

How does the process work, step by step?

Step	What happens	Timing
1. NIF and bank account	Get a tax number, open a Portuguese account, deposit funds	Weeks before applying
2. Accommodation	Sign a lease or buy	Before applying
3. Consular application	At the consulate or its visa centre (VFS Global in the UK) for where you legally live	Decision due within 60 days
4. Residence visa	Two entries, valid 4 months. Comes with a pre-authorisation and provisional NIF, social security and health service numbers (art. 58(6))	Travel within the 4 months
5. AIMA appointment	Apply for the residence permit in Portugal	Within the visa’s 4 months
6. First permit	Temporary residence permit	Valid 2 years from the card’s issue
7. Renewal	Apply up to 30 days before expiry; show income, housing, tax and social security in order	Renewed for 3 years
8. Permanent residence	After 5 years on temporary permits, with basic Portuguese	Card renewed every 5 years

Family members can apply alongside you at the consulate (article 58(5)). Apply together if you can. Since Lei 61/2025 (October 2025), family members who join later through family reunification generally have to wait until you have held residence for two years. Minor children are an exception.

Absences. A temporary permit can be cancelled if you are away for more than six months in a row, or eight months in total, during the permit’s validity, without good reason (article 85(2)). Tell AIMA before a long absence. For permanent residents the limits are 24 months in a row, or 30 months in any three years.

What does it cost?

Fee	Amount (2026)	Source
Consular visa, per application	€110	Consular portal
AIMA: receiving and analysing the permit application	€133.00 in person (€99.80 online)	AIMA fee table, Portaria 307/2023
AIMA: grant or renewal of a temporary permit	€114.30 in person (€85.80 online)	Same
AIMA: grant of permanent residence	€351.10 in person (€263.40 online)	Same

A first temporary permit therefore costs €247.30 per person in person, or €185.60 through a digital channel (a 25% discount). For a couple with one child aged 6 or over, the government fees for the visa and first permit come to 3 × €110 + 3 × €247.30 = €1,071.90. AIMA confirms the exact amount on your payment reference, so check it there.

Not included: the visa centre’s service fee, apostilles, translations, insurance and any lawyer. We could not verify the VFS service fee from an official page, so we don’t quote one. Relocation firms charge separately for help with the paperwork; for the Silver Coast, see relocation agents on the Silver Coast.

When can you get citizenship?

The rules changed on 19 May 2026. Lei Orgânica 1/2026 raised the residence requirement for naturalisation:

Nationality	Legal residence needed	Before 19 May 2026
EU and Portuguese-speaking (CPLP) countries	7 years	5 years
Everyone else, including UK and US	10 years	5 years

You must also pass a test or hold a certificate in Portuguese language, culture, history and national symbols. The years can be broken up, but they must fall within 12 years for non-EU, non-CPLP nationals (article 15(3)). The 2024 rule counting time from the date you applied for your permit has been repealed. Only applications already pending on 19 May 2026 keep the old five-year rule.

Exactly when your clock starts can depend on your visa and permit dates, so ask a lawyer about your own file.

D7, D8 or Golden Visa?

	D7	D8 (remote work)	Golden Visa
For	Pensions and passive income	Employees or freelancers working for clients abroad	Investors
Income or investment test	€920/month (2026)	4 × minimum wage = €3,680/month, average of last 3 months	€500,000 in qualifying funds, research or a company with 5 jobs; €250,000 for arts or heritage
Does buying a home qualify?	No, but it can be your accommodation	No	No. The property route closed on 7 October 2023 (Lei 56/2023)
Presence	Absences capped (6 months in a row, 8 in total, per permit)	Same permit rules if on a residence visa	7 days in year one, 14 days in later years
Leads to	Temporary permit, then permanent residence and citizenship	Same	Same

Myth: you can still get a Golden Visa by buying property. That ended in October 2023. Buying a home in 2026 gives you no residence right. For most retirees, the D7 is the route.

What happens to your tax once you move?

A D7 makes you a legal resident. Tax residence is a separate test, but most D7 holders meet it. Under article 16 of the IRS Code you are tax resident if you spend more than 183 days in Portugal in any 12-month period, or have a home here that you appear to intend to keep as your habitual residence.

• Worldwide income. Residents are taxed on all their income, including income from abroad (IRS Code, article 15).
• NHR has closed. The old 10-year regime with its 10% pension rate is not open to new arrivals. See NHR ending.
• IFICI (sometimes called “NHR 2.0”) covers qualifying research, academic and innovation jobs. It does not cover pensions, so it is no use to most D7 retirees.
• UK pensions. Under the UK–Portugal tax treaty in force since 29 December 2025, Portugal taxes UK private and state pensions paid to its residents. UK government-service pensions are still taxed in the UK.
• IMT refund. If you bought as a non-resident, becoming resident within two years lets you reclaim the extra IMT. You must apply within six months of becoming resident.

Tell the tax office when you become resident. Update your NIF address within 60 days. See NIF in Portugal.

Frequently asked questions

Does buying property in Portugal give me a visa? No. Since October 2023 a home purchase does not qualify for any residence permit. A home you own can count as your accommodation for a D7.

Can I apply for a D7 from inside Portugal? Normally no. You apply at the consulate (or its visa centre) for the country where you legally live, then enter on the residence visa. The law lets AIMA waive the consular visa only for certain other permit types and in exceptional cases, and retirement or passive income is not among them.

Is €920 a month enough? It is the legal minimum for one person in 2026. Consulates look for stable, regular income, and many also ask for twelve months’ worth of funds in a Portuguese account. More income makes for a stronger file.

Do I have to live in Portugal 183 days a year? The D7 rules don’t set a 183-day minimum. They cap absences: six months in a row or eight months in total during a temporary permit. Spending more than 183 days usually makes you tax resident.

Can my spouse and children come with me? Yes. Apply together at the consulate: +50% income for a spouse, +30% per child. Family who join later through reunification usually wait until you have held residence for two years, under the 2025 changes.

Do I need a lawyer? Not by law, but a lawyer can check your documents before you submit them, and should check any lease or purchase contract. See property lawyers in Portugal.

Key points

• The D7 is for pensions and passive income. In 2026 you need at least €920 a month for the main applicant, plus €460 for a spouse and €276 per child.
• You need an address in Portugal before you apply: a 12-month lease, a home you own, or a host’s notarised statement.
• Fees: €110 for the consular visa, then about €247 per person for the first AIMA permit (less online).
• Timeline: 4-month visa, then a 2-year permit, 3-year renewals, permanent residence after 5 years, and citizenship after 10 years for UK and US nationals since 19 May 2026.
• Buying before you are resident costs 7.5% IMT. The extra is refundable only if you become resident within two years and apply within six months.
• NHR has closed. Once resident, you pay Portuguese tax on worldwide income, including UK pensions under the new treaty.