Domestic violence in Portugal: where to go and what happens to your residence permit

If you are in danger right now

Call 112. This is the general emergency number; it is free and works from any phone, even with no credit; the operator usually speaks English too.

What to say so that officers are sent: ‘violência doméstica’, the address, the floor, whether there are children in the home and whether there is a weapon. You don't have to explain everything — what matters is the word, the address and the fact that it is happening right now.

If you cannot speak, there is SMS to 3060 — a free state line for text messages. It was set up for exactly this situation: when a phone call would be overheard.

The police are obliged to come and write a report, even if it was a neighbour who called rather than the victim. The police have separate victim support rooms — the law requires that you are spoken to not in the main hall but in a room where no one can hear you.

Bombeiros and emergency medical help. If there are injuries, the same 112 will send an ambulance. The hospital certificate later becomes evidence: it will show the date, what exactly was recorded and who examined you.

“Actually, if I remember the wording right, kids don't count as noise They were most likely called out not over noise but over domestic violence. They wouldn't have come out over noise. And also you don't have to open the door to them. They need a court order, as far as I remember Well, that's if you want a fight. If you don't, then these things usually get sorted out with them just fine.”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

schoolinportugal17.09.2023

Where to call and write while you decide what to do

It is worth talking to someone who knows the procedure before you make a complaint. It is free and commits you to nothing.

800 202 148 — the state line for victims of domestic violence, run by CIG (the Commission for Citizenship and Equality). It works round the clock, all 365 days a year; the call is free and the conversation anonymous. They explain your rights, tell you which services are near you and, if needed, put you in touch with a psychologist and legal advice. In 2025 the line received 964 calls, 392 emails and 449 text messages.

SMS 3060 — the same, but by text, also free. violencia@cig.gov.pt — email, if writing is easier for you.

116 006 — the line of APAV, the Portuguese association for victim support. An important caveat: it is not round the clock, but weekdays from 08:00 to 23:00. APAV has offices in towns and cities (called GAV); you go there in person and they take you through the next steps: a psychologist, a lawyer, help with paperwork.

In Russian and Ukrainian. APAV has a separate portal on domestic violence in fifteen languages, including Russian and Ukrainian: what the law says, what rights a victim has, how to keep yourself safe, where to ask for help. It was translated by the European Commission's machine translation without being checked by a person — the portal itself warns about this at the top of the page, so check important sentences against the Portuguese original. On every page there is a red EXIT button on the right: pressing it takes you off the site immediately.

Who is near you. CIG has the ‘Guia de Recursos’ — a directory of services across the country: support centres, shelters, emergency accommodation. Search it by your municipality.

“As far as I know you have to go to APAV in person. Sending you my support🙏🙏🙏”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

RussosEmPortugal11.03.2025

“Just adult and kids' clothes to APAV. They sometimes collect them as part of helping domestic violence victims they help hide from their tyrant spouses”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

schoolinportugal22.04.2024

What counts as domestic violence here

Article 152 of the Criminal Code is worded more broadly than people tend to think. It is a crime even if it happened once (‘de modo reiterado ou não’), and even if it left no marks.

What is punishable is physical and psychological ill-treatment: beatings and physical punishment, deprivation of liberty (not letting someone out of the house, locking them in), sexual offences — and, named separately, something people rarely think of as a crime: not letting someone use their own or shared money and property.

Whom the law counts as close: a spouse or former spouse; a person of any sex with whom there is or was a relationship ‘like that of spouses’ or a ‘dating relationship’, even if you never lived together; the other parent of a shared child; a person living in the home who is defenceless because of age, disability, illness, pregnancy or financial dependence; a minor child — your own or that of someone higher up this list.

What the sentence is. One to five years in prison. Two to five if it is done in front of a child, against a child, or in the shared home or the victim's home, and also if intimate photos and recordings were posted online. If it ended in serious injury — two to eight years; if in death — three to ten.

Separately, the court can ban the person from approaching the victim and their workplace for six months to five years — and this ban is monitored with an electronic tag — ban them from carrying weapons, require them to attend a programme for those who have committed this, and strip them of parental rights for one to ten years.

Reporting to the police: a public crime and victim status

Domestic violence is a crime público. This means a case is opened without a complaint from the victim: it is enough for the police or the public prosecutor's office to learn what happened — from a neighbour, a doctor, a school. And there is no way back: the complaint cannot be withdrawn, and reconciliation does not end the case. It is worth knowing this before you go, not after.

Where to go. Any PSP station (in towns) or GNR station (outside towns), at any time of day or night. A complaint can also be made to the public prosecutor's office. There is also the Ministry of Internal Administration's online complaints portal with a separate form for domestic violence — the CIG page links to it. There is no fee.

What you must be given on the spot. Unless there are clear signs that the complaint is false, the police or the prosecutor's office grants victim status (estatuto de vítima) and immediately issues a document confirming it, together with a copy of the report or complaint. You will be asked for this document everywhere afterwards: at work, at Segurança Social, at AIMA, by your lawyer.

Language. The law requires information to be given in a language the person understands and an interpreter to be called for procedural steps. If you find it hard to make yourself understood in Portuguese, say so straight away.

What happens next. The police make an initial risk assessment and pass it to the prosecutor's office along with the complaint. Within no more than 72 hours the prosecutor's office must arrange urgent steps to gather evidence — so that protective measures can be applied for you and coercive measures against the abuser. You are also referred to a local support service, where a safety plan is drawn up.

The case counts as urgent by law, even if no one has been arrested.

“This crime is a crime público (article 152 of the Criminal Code). If the husband lives with them — call the police so they record the fact. If he lives separately — go to the police and report this crime (queixa crime). They'll explain everything about what to do next. Separately, contact APAV — it's a support centre for victims of domestic violence, you need to look for one where you live. Remember you'll need evidence and that both sides' statements are taken into account. You won't be able to withdraw it.”

Translated from Ukrainian; the original is at the link

ukrporto27.07.2024

What the court can ban the abuser from doing — and how soon

Once the person has been made a formal suspect (constituição de arguido), the judge must consider measures within 48 hours. The law lists them directly:

— hand over immediately any weapons and anything else that could be used again; — stay away from the home where the crime took place, where you live or which was the family home, and move out of it; — no contact with you, no approaching you, no going to certain places; the ban also covers the family's pets; — restrictions on parental rights, custody and the management of property; — with their consent, attending a programme for those who have committed such acts.

Important about the home. The ban on approaching the shared home applies even if you have already left it — the law says so separately. In other words, leaving home does not take away your right to go back.

The ‘panic button’. A judge or prosecutor can order teleassistance — a device that keeps a round-the-clock link to a centre and calls the police. It is granted for up to six months with extensions, free of charge and only with your consent. The police, a shelter, a support service or CIG itself can put you forward for it — once a complaint has been made.

So that you don't have to meet the abuser. The law requires that the victim and the accused do not meet in court; you can give evidence by video link, and there are also ‘statements for future use’ (declarações para memória futura) — you are questioned once during the investigation, before a judge, and you won't have to go through it all again in the courtroom. You ask for this through the prosecutor or your lawyer.

Address. You have the right to demand that your address is not given in the summonses the accused receives.

What happens to your residence permit if you got it through your spouse

This is the main fear that keeps people silent for years. Let's go through it point by point, because everyone's situation is different.

First check whether your card is already autonomous. The foreigners law (Lei n.º 23/2007, article 107) says that two years after the first family reunification card, a family member is entitled to an autonomous residence permit — that is, their own, not dependent on the spouse. And if minor children live in Portugal, this right exists regardless of how long you have been here. Separately: a spouse's very first card is autonomous if the marriage or union has lasted more than five years.

If two years have not yet passed. Paragraph 4 of the same article lists exceptional cases in which an autonomous residence permit is granted early, and among them it expressly names ‘a charge by the public prosecutor's office for the crime of domestic violence’. The same list includes legal separation, divorce and widowhood. Such a card is valid for two years and renewed for three years at a time. The law adds that this applies even if everything happened while the family reunification application was still being considered.

What this means in practice. The law names as the grounds not a complaint or a report, but a charge brought by the prosecutor's office — so the case has to get that far. The order is therefore: police complaint, victim status, lawyer, and once charges are brought, an application to AIMA with copies of documents from the case. All this time your current card remains valid, and you have to renew it as usual, without putting anything off.

Whether the card can be taken away because of a divorce. The law knows only one ground for cancelling a residence permit issued for family reunification: if the marriage, union or adoption was only for the papers. Before deciding, they must take into account how strong the family ties are, how long the person has lived in Portugal and what they still have in their country of origin — and they must hear from the person themselves. The decision can be appealed in the administrative court, and in this case the appeal suspends enforcement.

In practice. There is no separate ‘change grounds’ option in AIMA appointment booking; in the chats this is described as a separate procedure through a lawyer, without going to court. This is exactly the case where a free lawyer (step below) is needed from the very start.

“‘You don't have a change of article, you have a renewal based on the IRS returns filed for 2025 with a minimum income level - from 12k a year. How it's made up (job, sole trader, passive income) - nobody cares. The Covid law doesn't apply to you, after the expiry date the residence card is valid in Pt for another 6 months. Changing the article as a procedure is NOT provided for online or in the booking forms, but if someone really needs to change it (for example, after a divorce to detach from the spouse's residence permit) - there's a lawyer's procedure, without court, through a request.”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

HigherEducationPortugal27.09.2025

Where to live: a shelter, emergency accommodation and housing afterwards

Casa de abrigo — a shelter for victims, with or without children. Its address is not published: the law expressly obliges the state to keep such houses anonymous.

How people get there. On referral from a technical service that is part of the national support network (a support centre, the helpline, APAV, social services), and in an emergency on police instructions, at the person's own request and taking the risk assessment into account. Besides shelters there is emergency accommodation — a place for those few days while the person's situation is still being assessed.

How long it lasts. A shelter is a short-term measure: up to six months, longer only on a reasoned opinion from a team of specialists. Throughout this time a lawyer, a psychologist and a social worker work with the person — the aim is not to wait it out but to get back on your feet.

What you are entitled to there. Housing and meals, your own personal space. Medical care — with a certificate from the shelter, at the local SNS service, in confidence. Children are moved to the school nearest the shelter without waiting and outside the numerus clausus, with a certificate from the same centre, and the school must keep the reason for the transfer to itself.

Address for paperwork. While the person lives in the shelter, their address is taken to be that of the centre that referred them — this solves the problem of post from courts and public bodies.

Housing afterwards. The law gives the victim the right to help with rent or to social housing. In practice this works through two CIG agreements: with the housing institute IHRU (a stock of flats let at low rents) and with the association of municipalities — 172 municipalities have joined that one. You don't apply yourself but through the service supporting you: it submits the application.

Separate money for urgent relocation. In July 2026 the government approved the Fundo de Emergência para a Habitação — a fund for people losing their home, including because of domestic violence: direct help with moving and rent. What it promises and under what rules, we covered in the article ‘Emergency housing fund to be launched’.

What to live on: leave, allowance, RSI and an advance on compensation

Everything in this step is unlocked by a single document — the victim status one.

Family restructuring leave (licença de reestruturação familiar) — up to 10 consecutive days for someone forced to leave home. You lose no rights because of it, except your pay for those days.

The allowance for those days is paid by Segurança Social. Employees get 1/30 of their net base salary for the previous month per day; the self-employed, 1/30 of the income in their latest quarterly return; those with no work and no contributions at all, 1/30 of the IAS. Nobody is paid less than 1/30 of the IAS: in 2026 that is €17.90 a day, about €179 for ten days. A copy of the victim status document is attached to the application. By law the procedure is urgent.

Work. Your employer must transfer you to another part of the company — temporarily or permanently — if a complaint has been made and you are leaving the family home. The employer can delay the transfer only for a serious business reason or while there is no suitable post, and then you are entitled to suspend your contract immediately. Confidentiality is guaranteed if you ask for it. Absences from work because of what happened count as justified.

RSI (the poverty benefit) is arranged urgently for a victim, and — an important detail — during the ‘process of becoming independent’ the income of other family members is not counted. Child benefit (abono de família) is transferred on request to the parent the children live with.

Work and training. A victim is entitled to priority access to vacancies, training programmes and employment measures in general, and to be seen at IEFP centres separately and in private.

Advance on compensation from the state. If after what happened the person is in serious financial difficulty, the state pays an advance — without waiting for the abuser to be ordered to pay. This is decided by a separate commission, the CPVC at the Ministry of Justice. The amount is set ‘on an equitable basis’, but no more than the minimum wage per month (€920 on the mainland in 2026) and for no longer than six months, extendable by another six; in especially serious cases it can be paid in one go. You must apply within a year of the incident, and if there are criminal proceedings the deadline is extended; the service supporting you can also apply on your behalf.

Single social payment. From 31 December 2026, RSI and several other benefits are being merged into one payment — the PSU. It has a clause for exactly this situation: someone who left their job of their own accord without good reason can only claim the payment after a year, but an exception is made for recognised victims of domestic violence. The rules are covered in detail in the article ‘Thirteen social benefits to become one payment from 31 December’.

Health. In the SNS a victim is exempt from appointment fees (taxas moderadoras).

Children: custody, the court and travel abroad

The authorities learn about the children at once. If there are minors in the family, the police or the prosecutor's office immediately notify the child protection commission (CPCJ) and the family court that victim status has been granted, attaching a copy of the report. This is not a punishment for you but the procedure: next they look at what the child needs.

Contact visits. The law requires the abuser's contact with the children to be reviewed: it may be suspended or made subject to conditions. And if the court has banned contact between the parents or between a parent and the children, it immediately informs the prosecutor's office so that it can urgently open a case to set or change parental responsibilities.

Whether the children will be taken away. Taking a child away is a last resort; it requires a court decision and serious grounds; a row and shouting are not such grounds.

School. Children of people living in a shelter are guaranteed a transfer to the nearest school without waiting, and the school must keep it confidential.

Taking a child out of the country. This is a separate and common fear — ‘they'll take the child back to their home country’. The foreigners law expressly forbids letting a minor leave Portugal if they are travelling without the person with parental responsibilities and the adult accompanying them has no certified consent. This works both ways: the child cannot be taken out without your consent, but you cannot take them out without the other parent's consent either.

If the threat is urgent. When you cannot get a court decision in time, the law allows an exceptional procedure: lodging an objection to the child leaving the country directly with the police — as an alert. It lasts up to 90 days and only on condition that within the first 30 days you bring them a copy of the court application to confirm this objection (a parental responsibilities case or a child protection case). A travel ban imposed by a court in such a case remains in force until it is changed or until the child comes of age.

“Searching for the word ‘guardianship’ took me to a neighbouring chat. In short: they can call the police on you for noise, social services too, but if there's no domestic violence - it's all fine. I came across a story somewhere about someone in Lisbon being put on the social services register because of overly grumpy neighbours, but social services dropped by a couple of times, saw the kids were fine, in one piece, fed and dressed, and took them off the register. Couldn't find the proof, unfortunately. So yes, here they need a serious reason to take kids away, yelling alone isn't enough. Otherwise they'd be taking everyone's.”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

pequenos_PT13.10.2025

A free lawyer: who gets one and how to ask

The law promises a victim legal advice ‘without delay’ and free legal aid on an urgent basis. If several cases arise from the same incident, they try to appoint the same lawyer.

What it is called. The overall system is proteção jurídica; the part that pays for the lawyer and the proceedings is apoio judiciário. It is granted not by a court but by Segurança Social.

Who is eligible. Portuguese and EU citizens, and foreigners with a valid residence permit in any EU country. A foreigner without such a document only if their country gives Portuguese citizens the same right. Separately, the domestic violence law says that where lack of means is proven, legal aid for the victim is free.

What income is used to decide. Household income, calculated under the annex to Lei n.º 34/2004: up to ¾ of the IAS — €402.85 in 2026 — full exemption and free legal advice; from ¾ to 2.5 IAS (€1,342.83), payment in instalments.

Where to apply. To Segurança Social; the application is called Requerimento de proteção jurídica; you can use your Segurança Social Direta online account. A decision must be made within 30 days, and if they say nothing, aid is deemed granted: it is enough to point this out in court.

What a private lawyer costs. In the chats people mention about €1,500 for a couple of consultations and a lawyer accompanying you once, plus up to €400 in court fees. This is a ballpark figure, not a set fee.

“To take you to court he needs charges/grounds. He can only sue through a lawyer ( he's not entitled to a social lawyer, a free one ) , and that costs money, and not a little. If he tries to scare you, don't listen. I went to court here against my husband, there were a couple of consultations and 1 time a lawyer went with me=about 1500 euros + I also paid court fees of up to 400 euros. And everything is v.slow here , by then your new life will already be starting. If it's domestic violence- go to the police, but be ready to be called in for questioning etc, unpleasant processes. The case may not make it to court / depending on how things stand it may.”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

RussosEmPortugal11.03.2025

What to gather in advance and how to keep yourself safe

This is advice from CIG itself, from its leaflet for victims — not something we made up.

— Stay in touch with people you trust: friends, relatives, neighbours. Decide in advance who could put you up if you have to leave home. — Agree on a signal — a word, a gesture or an object in the window — at which these people will call for help. If there are children in the home, come up with a signal for them too and explain what to do. — Work out the safest room in the flat: the one with a way out. — Photograph or copy documents — yours and your children's — and give the copies to someone you trust. — Pack a bag: spare keys, clothes for you and the children, medicines, copies of documents. — Delete sent messages and emails, and use a phone or computer the abuser has no access to.

Evidence. Screenshots of threatening messages, photos, hospital certificates, police documents, names of witnesses. Gather all this in advance: messages get deleted, bruises fade.

Money and access. A separate account in your own name, your own password for Segurança Social Direta and the tax portal, your own phone number registered to you. This is not paranoia: in the chats there are cases of a blocked SIM card and a joint account emptied down to the last cent.

Your belongings. Regardless of how the case is going, you have the right to take all your personal belongings, your furniture and the children's things from the home; the list goes into the case file, and the police can be present if necessary.

“You can also keep all the receipts, proof of how much money you spend on the child, take more photos of the child. If there are messages with threats, better screenshot them straight away, otherwise the guy will delete them and you won't be able to prove anything!”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

beremennost_portugal13.07.2026

If you can hear it through the wall at your neighbours'

You can and should report it: it is a public crime, and the person reporting does not have to be the victim. Call 112 and say plainly that it looks like domestic violence is going on — officers may not come out for noise, but for a call like this they do. Nothing will happen to you for it, even if you were wrong.

What CIG advises neighbours. Make your presence felt; put up a notice in the stairwell saying there are people in the building ready to help; leave your phone number somewhere visible; agree a signal with the person in case of trouble; call 800 202 148 or text 3060.

If you are a doctor, a teacher or a nursery teacher. You see what no one else sees. A report to the prosecutor's office or to the CPCJ is not informing on someone but where protecting a child begins.

“I had a situation like that with the neighbours about a week and a half ago, I called the police, they came, not straight away though. There was a whole story there. But they don't fine you, go ahead and call. My neighbour thanked me for saving her.”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

chatporto10.05.2024

“Well, you can call them - you won't know until you do. Say that it SEEMS there's domestic violence going on”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

chatporto26.04.2024