My partner is an EU citizen and I am not — how do I get residence in Portugal?

Short answer: you do not use the ordinary immigration routes at all. As the family member of an EU citizen you have your own right of residence under Lei 37/2006 — you apply for a residence card within 30 days after your first three months in Portugal, it must be issued within three months, it is valid for five years, and it lets you work from the first day.

Who counts as a family member

The law names the spouse; the partner with whom the EU citizen lives in a de facto union constituída nos termos da lei, or with whom they have a permanent relationship duly certified by the competent authority of the member state where the EU citizen resides; direct descendants under 21 or dependent; and dependent direct ascendants.

The partner clause is where most people stop. If you rely on Portuguese law, a união de facto means living together in conditions analogous to those of spouses for more than two years (Lei 7/2001), proved by a declaration from the junta de freguesia with sworn statements from both of you. Under two years together, and no certificate from the country where your partner lives, and this route is simply not open yet — the ordinary visa routes are what remains. Same-sex couples are covered on the same terms: the law says independentemente do sexo.

Getting in

EU citizens enter with an ID card or passport, no visa and no equivalent formality. A family member who is not an EU national enters on a valid passport and needs an entry visa only where EU rules require one — and that visa is issued free of charge and through an accelerated procedure (art. 4.º, n.º 2). If you already hold a valid residence card as the family member of an EU citizen in another member state, no visa is required at all and your passport is not stamped (art. 4.º, n.º 3).

The card: deadline, documents, timing

Once your stay passes three months you must apply, and the window is narrow: 30 days after those three months have elapsed. What the law asks for is a valid passport, proof of the family relationship or of partner status, the registration certificate of the EU citizen you are joining (the CRUE they obtain from their câmara municipal after three months), and documentary proof of dependency where your claim rests on it. AIMA additionally asks for a termo de responsabilidade signed by the EU citizen, and takes the application by appointment.

At the moment you file, a certificate that the application exists is issued to you. Keep it: that is what proves your position while the card is produced. The card itself must be issued within three months of the application (art. 15.º, n.º 5), and it is valid for five years — or for the EU citizen's planned period of residence, if that is shorter.

⚠️ The text of the law still names SEF. SEF was wound up in 2023 and AIMA took over its functions, so in practice everything above happens at an AIMA desk. Read the deadlines from the law and the procedure from AIMA's own page.

What the card gives you, and what comes after

Family members with a right of residence have, regardless of their nationality, the right to work as employees or on their own account (art. 19.º) — there is no separate work permit to chase, which is the single biggest practical difference from the ordinary routes. Equal treatment with Portuguese citizens follows from art. 20.º.

After five consecutive years of legal residence you acquire the right of permanent residence (art. 13.º). AIMA handles that through its renewals portal and states a three-month processing time; for de facto unions it asks for evidence that the relationship is still live — joint tax returns or joint bank accounts.

One thing worth being clear about: this is not family reunification under article 98.º of the Foreigners Act. That route is for people whose sponsor is a non-EU resident, and it carries its own income and housing conditions — see family reunification. If the person you are joining is an EU citizen, the route on this page is the one that applies, and it asks for neither a minimum income nor a housing contract. What your partner does need is their own CRUE: the paperwork EU citizens themselves have to do.