Family Reunification in Portugal: Who Can Apply and How It Works

Family reunification allows a legal resident of Portugal to bring close family members to live in the country. Since Law no. 61/2025 of 22 October, the general rule requires the applicant to have held a valid residence permit for at least two years. Applications are made to AIMA and must be decided within nine months.

What changed in 2025 (and why it matters)

Law no. 61/2025 of 22 October amended Law no. 23/2007 of 4 July — the Portuguese immigration act — and entered into force on the day after publication, 23 October 2025. The new rules apply to administrative procedures and court proceedings started after that date.

Much of what still circulates online describes the previous regime. The three changes with the greatest practical impact: a minimum period of prior residence is now required of the applicant; the accommodation and means-of-subsistence requirements were tightened; and the legal deadline for a decision became nine months, with the former paragraphs 3 and 4 of article 105 revoked. The transitional rule that, for 180 days, allowed residence applications for family members already in Portugal with legal entry (article 6(2)) has since expired.

Who can apply for family reunification?

Under the current wording of article 98(1), the right to family reunification belongs to the holder of a residence permit that has been valid for at least two years, in respect of family members who have lived with them or who depend on them — regardless of whether the family ties came before or after their entry into Portugal.

The law opens important exceptions to the two-year rule:

• 15 months, instead of two years, where the application concerns a spouse or equivalent partner who lived with the permit holder for at least 18 months in the period immediately before the holder entered Portugal (article 98(2)).
• No prior-residence period at all (article 98(3)) where the family members are: dependent minors or incapacitated persons; a spouse or equivalent partner who is, together with the holder, parent or adopter of a dependent minor or incapacitated person; or family members of holders of residence permits granted under articles 90, 90-A or 121-A.
• Waiver or reduction of the period in duly justified exceptional cases, by order of the member of Government responsible for migration, taking into account the nature and strength of the family ties and the person’s effective integration in Portugal, in light of the principles of human dignity and proportionality (article 98(4)).

There is also a new requirement concerning couples: the right to reunification of a spouse or equivalent partner depends on the marriage or de facto union being valid and recognised under Portuguese law, and on both the applicant and the spouse being at least 18 years old at the date of the application (article 99(6)).

Which family members are covered?

Article 99(1) treats as family members of the resident:

• the spouse;
• minor or incapacitated children who are dependants of the couple or of one of the spouses;
• minors adopted by the applicant or by the spouse, by decision of the competent authority of the country of origin, provided that country’s law gives adopted children rights and duties identical to natural filiation and the decision is recognised by Portugal;
• dependent adult children, unmarried, who are studying at an educational establishment in Portugal;
• dependent adult children, unmarried, who are studying, where the permit holder’s residence permit was granted under article 90-A;
• first-degree ascendants in the direct line (parents) of the resident or of the spouse, provided they are the resident’s dependants;
• minor siblings, provided they are under the resident’s guardianship by a decision of the competent authority of the country of origin recognised by Portugal.

Article 100 extends reunification to a de facto (unmarried) partner, inside or outside Portugal, where the union is duly proven under the law, and to that partner’s unmarried minor or incapacitated children who are legally in their care.

Two specific regimes: for holders of residence permits for study, unpaid professional internship or volunteering, only the spouse, dependent minor or incapacitated children and adopted minors count (article 99(3)); and where a minor child belongs to only one of the spouses, reunification requires the other parent’s authorisation or a decision entrusting the child to the applicant (article 99(4)).

What conditions must the applicant meet?

Article 101(1), as amended by Law no. 61/2025, requires the applicant to have:

• Accommodation, demonstrably owned or rented, considered normal for a comparable family in the same region of Portugal, and meeting general safety and health standards;
• Means of subsistence sufficient to support every member of the household, without recourse to social benefits.

The law refers the concrete definition of both to a ministerial order. The means-of-subsistence criterion published on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs visa portal takes as its reference the guaranteed minimum monthly wage — €920 in 2026, set by Decree-Law no. 139/2025 of 29 December — net of social security contributions, valued per person: 100% for the first adult, 50% for the second and subsequent adults, and 30% per child under 18 or dependent adult child.

There are also two new obligations after the permit is granted: family members become subject to integration measures — Portuguese language training and training on Portuguese constitutional principles and values, and compulsory schooling for minors (article 101(3)) — and renewal of the permit now depends on proof that these criteria continue to be met, social benefits not counting towards subsistence (article 101(4)). An exceptional waiver is possible on humanitarian grounds (article 101(5)).

Where to apply and which documents are needed

The application is submitted by the resident to AIMA — the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (article 103). It is made by appointment and delivered in person, with a signed official form, at any AIMA office (“Loja AIMA”).

According to AIMA, an application concerning a family member who is outside Portugal must be accompanied by:

• the residence permit of the person living in Portugal;
• a certified copy of the family member’s passport;
• certified proof of the family ties invoked;
• a sworn statement of the home address, together with a land-registry certificate (if owner or usufructuary) or a declaration from the landlord or hosting entity (if renting);
• proof of means of subsistence;
• a criminal record certificate from the family member’s country of nationality, or from the country where they lived for more than a year, duly authenticated.

Depending on the tie, you also attach a marriage certificate, birth certificate, adoption or guardianship decision, written authorisation from the non-resident parent, proof of economic dependence, or documents proving a de facto union of more than two years. Documents in a foreign language must be translated by an entity authorised under the Portuguese Notary Code.

Where the family member is already in Portugal, article 103(2) now restricts that possibility to the family members referred to in article 98(3) who entered and remain in the country legally at the date of the application; in that case they must always attend an AIMA office for biometric data collection.

Fees are set out in the table published by AIMA. As to the visa itself, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs portal indicates a fee exemption for descendants of residence-permit holders under family reunification.

How long does the decision take?

Article 105(1) sets a deadline: the application must be decided within nine months. Article 105(2) allows that deadline to be extended once, for an equal period, in exceptional circumstances linked to the complexity of the analysis and with notice to the applicant — but it expressly excludes from that extension the cases covered by article 98(1) and (2). The former paragraphs 3 and 4 of article 105 were revoked by Law no. 61/2025.

We could not find, on official sources, published data on how long AIMA actually takes to decide these applications in practice — the deadline above is the legal time limit, not a forecast.

Refusal and how to challenge it

The application may be refused where the conditions for the right are not met, where the family member is banned from entering Portugal, or on grounds of public policy, public security or public health (article 106). In the latter cases the law requires weighing the seriousness and type of offence and the dangers that the person’s presence may pose. The decision is notified with reasons and can be challenged in court.

Law no. 61/2025 added article 87-B on judicial protection: court actions concerning AIMA decisions or omissions take the form of an administrative action under article 37 of the Code of Procedure in the Administrative Courts, without prejudice to interim relief. A summons for the protection of rights, freedoms and guarantees is also available where an AIMA omission seriously and directly compromises the exercise of those rights in good time.

If the application is granted, the family member receives a residence permit with the same duration as the resident’s (article 107). In exceptional cases — judicial separation, divorce, widowhood, death of an ascendant or descendant, indictment by the Public Prosecutor for the crime of domestic violence, or reaching adulthood — an autonomous residence permit may be granted earlier, valid for two years and renewable for three-year periods. Article 108 provides for cancellation where it is concluded that the marriage, de facto union or adoption existed solely to enable entry into or residence in the country.

What we could not verify

We could not find, on official sources, the ministerial order provided for in article 101(1) defining in concrete terms the accommodation and means of subsistence required under the new regime, nor the implementing decree provided for in article 101(3) for the integration measures. Until they are published, the officially available subsistence criterion remains the one on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs visa portal, described above.

Official sources

• Law no. 61/2025 of 22 October — Diário da República · full text in PDF
• Law no. 23/2007 of 4 July, consolidated text — PGDL
• Family reunification with a family member outside Portugal — AIMA
• Family reunification with a family member in Portugal — AIMA
• Means of subsistence — MFA visa portal · fees
• Guaranteed minimum monthly wage for 2026 (€920) — DGERT

This guide is general information about Portuguese law and is not legal advice on a specific case. Rules, amounts and document lists change — check them against the sources above before acting.

Need legal guidance on Portuguese immigration? PH Advogados provides legal support in this area, in English. More information: https://phadvogados.pt/servico/english-speaking-lawyers-portugal/ · phone (+351) 253 824 687.

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