The Portugeasy Immigration Guide

A complete overview of the Portuguese immigration journey — the main routes, the organisations you'll deal with, the documents you'll need, and which guide to read next.

A plain-language walkthrough to identify the immigration route that best matches your circumstances before you prepare any documents.

The documents most applicants eventually need — why they matter and when to start preparing them, so nothing expires or delays you at the counter.

How to work out whether your foreign document needs an apostille, consular legalisation, a translation, or none of them — including the case where the document is already Portuguese and there is nothing to apostille.

What AIMA is, what it does and — just as importantly — what it doesn't, so you contact the right organisation and avoid weeks of unnecessary frustration.

The two terms are constantly confused. Here's the plain difference — and why getting it straight makes the rest of your immigration journey much easier.

How long you now need to live in Portugal before applying for nationality — the new 7- or 10-year rule, when the clock starts, the transitional provisions, and how it differs from permanent residence.

The standard employment route: a non-EU national with a Portuguese job gets a residence visa for subordinate work, then a residence permit at AIMA under Article 88(1).

The job seeker visa was withdrawn on 23 October 2025 and its replacement is not yet available at consulates. What happened, what it means if you were counting on it, and the routes that actually work now.

The D8 route for non-EU nationals who work remotely and earn from outside Portugal — the temporary-stay version and the residence version that leads to a 2-year residence permit.

The D7 route for non-EU nationals living on recurring income they don't work for — pensions, rent, dividends — and the 2-year residence permit it leads to.

The D2 route for founders, investors and independent professionals — and the 2024-2025 rewrite of Article 89 that makes most published D2 advice wrong.

The D3 route: a residence visa under Article 61, an AIMA permit under Article 90, the EU Blue Card alternative, and the family exemption that no other route has.

The Article 91-B route for researchers admitted to an officially recognised research centre — the lightest document file of any residence route, with one hard catch on family.

The study route for non-EU nationals: a D4 residence visa, then an AIMA permit under Article 91 — valid three years, and it authorises work with no hours limit.

The Article 87-A residence permit for nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries — and the 23 October 2025 change that ended visa-free regularisation from inside Portugal.

Keeping your address and email current with AIMA is a legal duty under Article 86 of Lei n.º 23/2007 — 60 days, fine of €45–€90 — and it is what your residence card depends on.

There is no single AIMA booking system — there are nine different channels, and working out which one is yours is the hardest part. Includes what to do when there are no slots.

What to take to an AIMA residence-permit appointment, what happens at the counter, and the difference between losing your slot and losing your application — they are not the same thing.

What to do when an AIMA appointment does not happen — and the answer to the question that frightens people most: am I still legally resident? There is a six-month grace period, and one cohort's has expired.

Since January 2024 you no longer produce the documents that prove a renewal — AIMA queries the State's databases. Your job is to make those databases say the right thing about you.

Since January 2024 AIMA no longer asks you for renewal documents — it queries the state's databases itself. So the thing that blocks a renewal is a wrong record, and a wrong record fails silently.

Two different questions. You are very often still lawfully resident — the receipt has the same effects as the card. But no Portuguese pending-renewal document has been notified to the Commission, so it is worth nothing at a border.

Most people who think they have been refused have not been — they have an intention to refuse, and a short window to answer it. The deadlines, the remedies, and what happens to your status.

Bringing family to Portugal under Articles 98 to 107 of Lei n.º 23/2007 — rewritten by Lei n.º 61/2025, which added a two-year sponsor wait and abolished tacit approval.

The route under Lei n.º 37/2006 for a non-EU spouse, partner, child or dependent parent of a Portuguese or EU citizen — no waiting period, and a card that costs €18.