How to get a Portuguese D7 visa on passive income

Check that your income really qualifies for the D7

The D7 needs a stable passive income, not remote work. If the money comes from an employer, clients or freelancing, the consulate may point you towards the D8 / visto para nómadas digitais (the remote work visa) rather than the D7.

The benchmark for the amount is not an arbitrary figure but the salário mínimo nacional / RMMG (the Portuguese minimum wage). For 2026 it is €920 a month for the main applicant. For a family they usually add 50% of that amount for a second adult and 30% for each child. It is better to show a margin, because consulates look not only at the minimum but also at regularity, where the money comes from and whether you can actually live in Portugal.

Good grounds for a D7: a pension, long-term rental of property, dividends, interest, royalties. With royalties and similar income it is important to explain in detail why it is passive income and not ongoing work.

Choose a consulate and ask for an up-to-date document list

You apply through the Portuguese consulate or the BLS Portugal Visa Application Centre that serves your country of citizenship or legal residence. If you do not live in your country of citizenship, you will usually need proof of legal residence in the country where you apply.

Document lists differ from consulate to consulate. Madrid may call you for an interview, Warsaw may be strict about translations and certificates, and in Moscow applications go through BLS and the consulate. Before putting your file together, write to your consulate and ask for the current checklist specifically for the Visto D7.

Processing times also depend heavily on the consulate. In recent stories Warsaw approved a visa in under a month, Madrid took about three months from accepting the documents to issuing the visa, and for Moscow, Kyiv, Jakarta and Bangkok people described waiting for months.

Get a NIF and sort out your finances

The NIF is the Número de Identificação Fiscal (Portuguese tax number). You almost always need it to rent, for a bank, for Finanças (the tax office) and for life in Portugal afterwards. You can get it through a representative, or in person at a Serviço de Finanças (tax office) if you are already in Portugal.

Bank accounts have become even harder. Many people used to open a conta bancária portuguesa (Portuguese bank account) in advance and show it for the D7 without any trouble. In 2025–⁠2026 people increasingly run into banks refusing them without a cartão de residência (residence card), especially Russians. In summer 2026 there were reports of extra document requests on D7 applications: the consulate or AIMA may ask where your Portuguese account is, or may not accept an account in a third country as sufficient proof that the money is available in Portugal.

There is still no single rule. There are successful cases without a Portuguese account, including with an account in another country and a letter confirming that the funds are available in Portugal. But this is no longer just a convenient alternative; it is a risk you need to explain in advance.

In practice: if you can open a Portuguese account, open it and keep the documents showing where the money comes from. If your account has been closed or you cannot open one, prepare an alternative: a European or other foreign account, statements, proof of where the money comes from, a letter confirming the funds are available in Portugal and a written explanation. It is better not to rely on a Russian account alone because of sanctions and problems accessing the money.

Arrange your accommodation in Portugal

For the D7 you need to show accommodation in Portugal. These days D7 applications increasingly need not just a booking but a contrato de arrendamento (tenancy agreement), preferably registered with Finanças (the tax office). In older and more lenient cases bookings or short agreements were accepted, but recent stories show the requirements have become stricter.

The safest option is a one-year tenancy agreement with a landlord / senhorio who will actually register it with Finanças. If the accommodation looks like a formality, is too cheap or does not match your income and family, the consul may ask why. This does not always lead to a refusal, but your answer has to make sense.

Do not pay for a “paper” agreement unless you are sure the landlord has registered it and you can explain where you will live. A refusal because of a problematic tenancy agreement is one of the real risks.

Collect certificates, apostilles and translations

You usually need a certidão de registo criminal (criminal record certificate) from your country of citizenship and the countries where you have lived for a long time, plus a translation. You often need an apostila (apostille) or consular legalisation, depending on the country that issued the document and the consulate where you apply.

It is best to have the translations done by a translator whose format the specific consulate accepts: a notarised translation, a certified translation or a sworn translator. Do not guess: ask the consulate or BLS in advance. In a recent case in Warsaw the documents were not accepted because the criminal record certificate had been obtained online and had no stamps, and the applicant had to ask for a new slot.

If you have lived in several countries, allow time for the certificates in advance. Certificates are often valid only for a limited time, so the best order is: first get a slot or find out the timings, then get the documents that quickly “go stale”.

Prepare proof of your passive income

For a pension: a certificate from the pension authority, statements from the bank account the pension is paid into, tax documents. For rent: the tenancy agreement, property documents, payments into your account, a tax return or proof of tax paid. For dividends and investments: broker reports, dividend payment decisions, statements, tax documents. For royalties: contracts, platform reports, payment history, tax filings.

Do not mix passive and active income unless you need to. If you are applying on the basis of rent, an unnecessary salary certificate may muddle your case. If your income is unusual — royalties from digital files, for example — explain in simple words in your motivation letter where the money comes from, why it is regular and why it is not work for a Portuguese employer.

The consulate cares about three things: regularity, the legal origin of the money and being able to use it in Portugal.

Apply for the Visto D7

You fill in the national visa application form, book an appointment with BLS or the consulate and come with originals and copies. At the appointment they may accept your documents quickly, or turn you away because of a translation, a certificate, the accommodation or an incomplete file.

After you apply, you usually just have to wait. Some consulates advise writing after 30 days and then checking the status once a week. But in 2026 people also wrote that extra visits in person and frequent chasing sometimes quickly ended in a formal request for more documents: for example, about a Portuguese account or a recent recibo de renda (rent receipt). So check your status calmly and to the point, especially if the consulate itself told you to do it that way.

Do not expect a single tracking system: often the only answer is “under review” or “documents sent to AIMA”. You may be invited to an interview. They usually ask about your source of income, your accommodation, your plans in Portugal and why the D7 in particular.

If you are refused, check the deadline for an appeal

A D7 refusal is not always the end. You can file a recurso / reclamação (appeal or complaint) within the deadline stated in the refusal letter. The appeal has to answer the specific reason for the refusal: accommodation, insufficient proof of income, unclear origin of the money, funds not being available, the wrong type of income.

Do not leave it to the last minute. In one case people missed the appeal deadline because of a problem with their landlord, but still got their documents accepted and later received a positive answer. In another, the visa was approved after a detailed explanation of the income and extra bank and tax records.

This is no guarantee: an appeal only works if you can fix the weak spot in your case.

Get your visa and check your AIMA appointment

Once approved, the Visto D7 (residence visa) is put in your passport. It used to be common for the visa to include an agendamento AIMA (appointment with the migration agency) straight away. Now it varies: the appointment may be there at once, may be for a very distant date, may be missing altogether, and sometimes the slot is moved or “disappears” from the system.

If there is no appointment or the date does not suit you, you need to submit a pedido de agendamento (appointment request) through the new AIMA portal or write to AIMA. In 2026 people had both quick cases, where after the request they got an email asking for payment and an invitation, and stuck cases, where they waited months for a slot. AIMA usually assigns the office itself; you can rarely choose it in advance.

Keep everything: the visa letter, the appointment confirmation, receipts, portal screenshots, AIMA’s replies. If your slot is moved on the spot or your appointment cannot be found, ask for written confirmation.

Enter Portugal and get ready for AIMA

After entering on a D7 you need to attend an appointment at AIMA. By then you will usually again need proof of accommodation, funds and income, your NIF, insurance or an SNS number (the national health service), your passport with the visa and your family’s documents.

If you did not open a Portuguese bank account before the visa, try opening one once you are here. But do not count on any bank accepting you on a D7 visa alone: people went round several branches of Caixa Geral de Depósitos (a bank), Millennium bcp (a bank) and CTT (the post office bank) and got different answers. Sometimes your AIMA appointment, a letter from AIMA and a full set of documents on where the money comes from help. Sometimes the banks still say: come back only once you have your residence card.

If AIMA asks for a Portuguese account and the bank refuses you without a residence card, ask the bank for a written answer, or at least keep the correspondence and proof of the refusals. At the branch it sometimes helps to ask for a senior member of staff or for the livro de reclamações (complaints book), but there is no guarantee.

The day of your AIMA appointment is unpredictable too: you may wait several hours, and the slot may be moved even on the day of your visit.

After applying at AIMA, wait for your residence card

At the appointment AIMA accepts your documents, takes your biometrics and starts processing your cartão de residência (residence card). Sometimes the decision is visible quickly and the card arrives by post a couple of weeks later. Sometimes it takes months.

Recent and older cases vary widely: one applicant on Madeira applied on 10 March, was approved on 14 March and got the card on 25 March. Others, after entering on a D7 in 2023, had their appointment in May and the cards came in July. With renewals in 2025–⁠2026 there were stories of people waiting more than a year for the card.

Until you have the card, keep your comprovativo (proof of application) and keep an eye on the deadlines for your visa, renewals and trips.

Deal with taxes and renewal in advance

After moving on a D7 you may become a Portuguese tax resident if you live here for more than 183 days a year or have a home here as your usual residence. This is a matter of tax rules, not the visa. You need to update the address on your NIF through Finanças and then file IRS / Modelo 3 (the annual tax return), including foreign income, if you have become a tax resident.

To renew a D7 residence permit, AIMA may again check whether you have accommodation, funds and income. If your income has fallen below the minimum wage, that is a risk: it is better to prepare an explanation, recent statements, your tax return and proof of savings in advance.

Do not confuse the deadline for changing your address with Finanças with the start of tax residence. Conversations show that accountants sometimes interpret this differently, but it is safer to talk to a tax specialist before your first tax return.