Bring your spouse, children or parents to Portugal in 7 steps: who qualifies, the 2-year rule, how much income you need, what it costs, and how we can help at each step.
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The Portugal D6 visa, the family reunification visa, lets the family of a foreign resident join them in Portugal: a spouse or partner, children, dependent parents. You ask AIMA first; once it says yes, your family applies for the visa at a Portuguese consulate.
Since October 2025, most family members can join only once you have held your residence permit for two years, with exceptions for minor children. This guide takes you through who qualifies, the money, the documents and the 7 steps, up to your family’s residence cards.
The D6 in 6 numbers (2026)
Yes to all five? Your family can join you.
Not in Portugal yet? Your family can apply with you, with no two-year wait: see moving together. A doubt on one point? Ask us in a free call.
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Family reunification is the right of a foreign resident of Portugal to bring their family to live with them. The D6 visa is the residence visa the family gets for it: you ask AIMA, Portugal’s immigration agency, and once AIMA says yes, your family collects the visa at a Portuguese consulate and flies over.
There are two ways to bring your family, depending on when they move:
| Route | When | Who files |
|---|---|---|
| Family reunification (D6) | You already live in Portugal | You, at AIMA |
| Accompanying visas | You all move together | Each, at the consulate |
You, the resident, are the one who applies. The law lets you bring:
They must live with you or depend on you, whether the family ties came before your move or after. Since October 2025, a marriage or union must be valid and recognized under Portuguese law, and both of you must be at least 18 on the day of the request. For a child of only one of you, the other parent must agree in writing, or a decision must have given you custody.
Married to a Portuguese or EU citizen? The D6 is not your route: the families of Portuguese, EU, EEA and Swiss citizens have their own visa at the consulates.
Since 23 October 2025, you can ask for most family members once you have held a valid residence permit for two years. Some can come sooner:
| Family member | Wait |
|---|---|
| Spouse or partner | 2 years |
| Spouse or partner you lived with for 18 months right before moving | 15 months |
| Minor or incapacitated children in your care | None |
| Spouse or partner who is the other parent of such a child | None |
| Family of a highly qualified (D3), EU Blue Card or golden visa holder | None |
| Parents and adult children | 2 years |
In exceptional cases, the minister in charge of migration can shorten or waive the wait, given the strength of your family ties and your integration in Portugal.
Only the family members with no wait, if they are in Portugal on the day you apply; AIMA asks for proof that they entered legally. A 180-day window that let the others apply from Portugal too closed in April 2026. Everyone else applies from abroad: you file the request at AIMA, they get the D6 visa at their consulate.
You must have enough income for the whole family, without social benefits. AIMA counts on the minimum wage, €920 a month in 2026: 100% for you, 50% for each other adult and 30% for each child (or dependent adult child), secured for 12 months.
| Household | A month | A year |
|---|---|---|
| You + spouse | €1,380 | €16,560 |
| You + spouse + 1 child | €1,656 | €19,872 |
| You + spouse + 2 children | €1,932 | €23,184 |
| You + 1 child | €1,196 | €14,352 |
| You + spouse + 1 parent | €1,840 | €22,080 |
When the minimum wage rises (usually in January), these amounts rise with it.
With what fits your situation: your work contract and last 3 months of payslips, a service contract with 6 months of receipts, a pension certificate, statements of investment income, or funds available in Portugal. If someone else vouches for your means, AIMA’s term of responsibility (Modelo 4) needs a signature certified by a notary, a lawyer or a solicitor.
A home you own or rent, normal for a family of that size in your region, and meeting the usual safety and health standards. At AIMA you sign a sworn declaration of your address, with the land registry certificate if you own the home, or your landlord’s declaration if you rent.
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From your request at AIMA to your family’s residence cards. Each step says what to do and what it costs. In a free AnchorLess account, you tick them off one by one and get expert help where you need it.
A residence permit held for two years (less, or none, in the cases above), family members the law covers, enough income for everyone, and a home that fits.
Take the 30-second checkMarriage or birth certificates, adoption or custody decisions, proof that your parents depend on you: each one authenticated, with a certified copy of every passport.
Notarize my documentAIMA asks for a Portuguese translation of every document written in another language: certificates, criminal records, proof of income.
Translate my documentA home that fits your family, owned or rented, and income for 12 months: €16,560 a year for you and a spouse in 2026, more with children.
Review my leaseOr find your home with usYou file it yourself, with AIMA’s form, by appointment at an AIMA office. AIMA has nine months to decide, and tells you within 8 days when it says yes.
Have your AIMA file checkedWithin 90 days of the approval, at the consulate where they live. It doesn’t ask again for what AIMA has, and issues the visa within 10 days.
Find their consulateWithin the visa’s 4 months, they go to AIMA. Each gets a permit of the same duration as yours, and then follows Portuguese and civic training.
Read our AIMA guide| Fee | Who pays | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Visa fee at the consulate | Spouse, partner or parent | €110 |
| Visa fee at the consulate | Children | Free |
| Residence permit at AIMA | Each family member | €185.60 |
| Visa center fee (VFS Global or other) | Where there is one | Varies |
The AIMA fee is €247.30 where the reduced rate does not apply: see the AIMA Portugal fee table in our guide. Add the apostilles, certified copies and translations of the documents.
AIMA can refuse a request when:
Before refusing, AIMA must weigh the family ties, your time in Portugal and the ties with the home country, and a refusal can be challenged in the administrative courts. A marriage or adoption made only to obtain residence leads to the permit’s cancellation. A doubt about your file? AnchorLess offers a free consultation to clear it up.
By law, AIMA has nine months to decide on your request. When it says yes, it tells you within 8 days, and your family has 90 days to apply for the visa at their consulate, or the approval lapses. The consulate then issues the visa within 10 days.
At the legal maximum, that is about a year from your request to their visa, after the two years of residence most family members wait for. In practice, AIMA’s times vary: our AIMA guide follows how its family reunification queue moves.
Two files: yours, for AIMA, then your family’s, for the consulate.
The consulate doesn’t ask again for documents AIMA already has: it checks who your family members are.
AIMA wants the certificates duly authenticated: with the Hague apostille where it applies, legalized by a consulate elsewhere. A document in another language needs a translation into Portuguese by one of the bodies of the notarial code, such as a Portuguese notary, the Portuguese consulate in the country that issued it, or that country’s consulate in Portugal.
Not living in Portugal yet? Then there is no two-year wait: your family can apply for residence visas to accompany you, at the same time as your own D7, D8 or other residence visa.
It is a different visa from the D6: the consulates keep it for families moving with a visa applicant, not for the families of people already living in Portugal, who go through AIMA first.
The D6 is a residence visa: valid for 4 months and two entries, the time to travel and ask AIMA for the residence permit. By law, it comes with your family’s tax (NIF), social security (NISS) and health service (SNS) numbers, assigned automatically.
Normally, the visa carries a link with the AIMA appointment. If it has none, they ask AIMA for one through its contact form, choosing “Residence Permit” and “Residence Permit with Consular Visa (Non-CPLP)” (“CPLP” for nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries), with their own email address. Our guide to the AIMA appointment explains the form.
Since Lei 61/2025, family members who get a reunification permit must follow Portuguese language training and training on Portugal’s constitutional principles and values, and children must attend compulsory school. Renewing their permit depends on it, and on their knowledge of the language and of these principles, unless a delay is not their fault.
How the training works is still to be set by regulation: none had been published when we checked. Exemptions are possible on humanitarian grounds.
| Permit | Valid for |
|---|---|
| First permit, family of a temporary resident | Same as yours |
| First permit, family of a permanent resident | 2 years |
| Renewal, family of a permanent resident | 3 years |
| Their own permit, after 2 years | Same as yours |
After two years, if the family ties still hold, each family member can get an autonomous permit, no longer tied to yours; at once if you have minor children living in Portugal. A spouse married to you, or in a union, for more than five years gets one from the start, and divorce, widowhood or domestic violence can open one sooner.
To renew, they go back to AIMA before the card expires, with updated documents and proof of the integration training. While a card is valid, they shouldn’t stay away from Portugal for more than 6 months in a row or 8 months in all without a good reason, or AIMA can cancel it.
After five years with a residence permit, each family member can apply for permanent residence: they need basic Portuguese (an A2 certificate, for example), means of subsistence and accommodation, and no prison sentence over one year in the last five years. It has no time limit, and its card is renewed every five years.
Ten years after their first residence permit is issued (seven for nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries and EU citizens), they can apply for Portuguese citizenship: an EU passport, to live and work anywhere in the EU, the EEA and Switzerland. Their time counts from their own first permit, not from yours.
They must also prove, by a test or a certificate, that they know Portuguese (level A2 under the current regulation) and, since the 2026 law, Portuguese culture, history and national symbols, citizens’ rights and duties and how the State is organized. They declare their adherence to the rule of law, show they can support themselves, and must have no conviction that bars it. The new test is still to be set by regulation.
If you already live in Portugal on a residence permit, the D6 is the way to bring your family: plan for two years of residence first (no wait for your minor children), enough income for everyone and a home that fits. If you haven’t moved yet, apply together: there is no two-year wait.
The rules, amounts and fees in this guide were checked on 22 October 2026 against the law and the official portals:
Written by Brenda L., relocation expert at AnchorLess.
You must have held a valid Portuguese residence permit for two years (15 months for a spouse you lived with for 18 months before moving; no wait for minor children, a spouse who is their other parent, or the families of D3, EU Blue Card and golden visa holders). You also need enough income for the whole family without social benefits (€16,560 a year for a couple in 2026), a home that fits the family, and proof of the family ties. Your family members must have no conviction for a crime punishable in Portugal by more than a year in prison.
By law, AIMA has nine months to decide on your request. After a yes, your family has 90 days to apply for the D6 visa at their consulate, which issues it within 10 days. They then have 4 months to enter Portugal and go to AIMA for their residence permits.
Yes, with no wait, for your minor or incapacitated children in your care, a spouse who is their other parent, and the families of D3, EU Blue Card and golden visa holders. A spouse you lived with for 18 months before moving can join after 15 months.
If you haven’t moved yet, your family can apply for their visas at the same time as yours, with no wait.
Only the family members with no wait (minor children, a spouse who is their other parent, the families of D3, Blue Card and golden visa holders), if they are in Portugal when you apply; AIMA asks for proof that they entered legally. The others apply from abroad, for the D6 visa: the 180-day window that let them apply from Portugal closed in April 2026.
The minimum wage, €920 a month in 2026, for you, plus 50% (€460) for each other adult and 30% (€276) for each child, secured for 12 months: €16,560 a year for a couple, €23,184 with two children. Social benefits don’t count.
€110 at the consulate for a spouse, partner or parent; children of residents don’t pay. In Portugal, each residence permit costs €185.60 in AIMA’s 2026 table (€247.30 where the reduced rate does not apply). Add the apostilles, translations and any visa center fee.
Not for the visa.
Since Lei 61/2025, once they hold their permit they must follow Portuguese and civic training (children go to school), and renewing the permit depends on it. Basic Portuguese is also needed for permanent residence after five years.
Yes.
With their residence permit, they can work, employed or self-employed, study and use the health service, with no special authorization.
Yes, your parents or your spouse’s, if they depend on you: AIMA asks for proof, such as the money you send them. The two-year wait applies.
No.
The D6 is for the families of foreign residents from outside the EU. The families of Portuguese, EU, EEA and Swiss citizens have their own visa at the consulates.
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