How does family reunification work in Portugal in 2026 — and how long does it take?

Portugal overhauled family reunification with Law 61/2025 (in force since 23 October 2025), and its 2-year waiting period has applied since that date. What ended in April 2026 was only a 180-day transitional window for relatives already living in Portugal. If you want to bring a spouse, partner or children, here is the current picture.

Who is exempt from the 2-year wait

• Holders of permits for highly qualified, teaching or cultural activity, for investment (Golden Visa) and of the EU Blue Card.
• A spouse or partner who is the other parent of a minor child in your care.
• Minors or incapacitated relatives in your care — for example your own or your spouse's minor children.

Couples who lived together for at least 18 months before arriving may qualify for a reduced 15-month wait, with solid proof of the relationship.

Holders of ordinary work, D7 or D8 permits are not on the exemption list. In duly justified exceptional cases the minister responsible for migration may waive or shorten the wait. Refugees have a separate right to family reunification (art. 98 n.º 5), and the housing and income conditions do not apply to them (art. 101 n.º 2).

What AIMA checks

• A genuine family tie — AIMA may interview you and your relatives and make other enquiries it considers necessary; for an unmarried partner it weighs a child in common, prior cohabitation, registration of the union or other reliable evidence. A permit obtained through a marriage, partnership or adoption of convenience is cancelled.
• Documents: birth/marriage certificates apostilled and, where needed, officially translated — time these early; apostilles and AIMA slots are the usual bottleneck.
• Integration: language training, civic-values training and school enrolment for minors matter at renewal.

The resident (sponsor) applies to AIMA first; once AIMA approves, the family members have 90 days to apply for the residence visa at the Portuguese consulate where they live, otherwise the approval lapses. Applications registered before the new law took effect are assessed under the older rules (transitional period).