Checklist | How I Applied for Family Reunification Visa (Spouse Visa) in Portugal
Why are people moving to Portugal?
Portugal has become one of the most popular destinations for immigration in recent years.
There are many good reasons for people to consider moving here: English is widely spoken, the weather is warm and sunny, beautiful beaches, affordable living cost, easy to get work visa or residence visa with flexible immigration policy, a new tech hub, very friendly country for digital nomads, and a comfortable pace of life.
Fortunately, Portugal immigration office (SEF) makes it flexible for non-EU citizens to apply for residence card of family reunification to join their family members in Portugal. However, figuring out how to apply, and what exact documents to prepare, is pretty frustrating due to the low efficiency and inconsistent data or information in public offices.
At least, back in last year, the SEF website was not displaying information clearly in an organized way, now it is much better. However, even in the SEF website, it lists out all the documents required, but it still doesn’t mention many tricky requirements for your documents such as validation period, notarization, translation, etc.
I always see people asking questions about the process or document required for family reunification application in different places. For the people who needs to apply for this to come to join their family members in Portugal, I truly understand your confusion from the inconsistent and incomplete information online and offline.
My husband and I went through this whole process by ourselves last year, and I hope the sharing of our experience will help you.
Here is the background of my case:
Husband: Danish, EU citizen, employed in Lisbon, moved to Lisbon already;
Me: Chinese, non-EU citizen, no employment in Lisbon, worked in Hong Kong.
I would like to apply for family reunification residence card to join my husband in Portugal.
Process & Documents Required
Step 1: Before going to Portugal, get an entry visa.
Apply for any kind of visa that will allow you to enter Portugal legally: tourism visa, visit of family visa, etc. I applied for family visit visa with total 90 days stay cumulatively valid within 180 days.
The documents required may vary from country to country, I suggest you to find this via the embassy or visa centre in your original country. And normally this part is easy. For Chinese, please refer to the visa application center of Portugal in China here.
Step 2: After you arrive in Portugal, go to the National Immigrant Support Centre (CNAI) for help.
So the first thing to do is to go to CNAI (the one near Anjos metro) with your documents as soon as possible to consult about any additional documents required in your case and ask them to help make an appointment with SEF.
This is a super helpful support centre and helped us clarify our confusion from searching online.
Tips for you to get a ticket in CNAI:
The office opens from 8 a.m. to 5 p,m. on Mondays to Fridays.
However, from our 3 times of experience there, in order to get your ticket, please go to queue at 6 a.m. The tickets they offered every day for SEF consulting is very limited. Normally at 9 – 9:30 a.m. they already run out of the tickets. In this case, just skip it and come back earlier the next day.
After getting your ticket, you might need to wait anywhere from 3 to 6 hours to get to see someone. Better to sit there for an hour to see how fast the number goes, then come back in 3 hours.
Well, sometimes, because somebody gave up waiting, then it might speed up to be your turns. Don’t miss out more than 3 numbers after you. Otherwise you have to come back another day to get another ticket.
For my case, unfortunately, I missed 4 numbers and the reception refused me rudely. I was very frustrated. I didn’t want to waste 7 hours of waiting and got nothing, then I went to talk to the security guy and he kindly let me in and helped me talk with the officer. So my suggestion is to try harder to communicate with them even if they said no. Of course, don’t miss more numbers!
Step 3: Make an appointment with SEF.
Without an appointment, you won’t be accepted by the reception of any SEF office.
We stupidly went to one of the SEF office to queue for 1.5 hours from 7 a.m., then was told to schedule an appointment first by calling SEF or going to CNAI office near Anjos metro station in person.
You can try to call SEF for a hundred times and may not be able to reach anyone. And before going there, you should be clear that you have prepared all the documents required. Otherwise, this will bring you a lot of problems.
SEF Call Center:
PHONE | 217 115 000
MOBILE | 965 903 700
WORKING DAYS: from 08:00 a.m. to 08:00 p.m.
Email: [email protected]
Please try to call or email SEF first. Otherwise my best advice is to go to CNAI in the first place and you get an appointment through them. The appointment available is normally 2 – 6 months later. It is good that you can choose any SEF offices in Portugal to submit your application. If you want an appointment quicker, then you may need to travel to another small city.
I went to CNAI in middle August 2018, and got an appointment with SEF (in Leiria office, 2 hours driving from Lisbon) in October 2018. I still remember that the earliest appointment in Lisbon offices was February 2019, which was 6 months later.
Good news is that once you have made the appointment with SEF, even if your original visa expires you are still allowed to stay in Portugal (but not allowed to travel out legally).
SEF and CNAI will send you a notification of your appointment by Email. The email may take 1-2 weeks to arrive. Be sure to call or email CNAI if you haven’t received the appointment notification after 1 week from your visit in CNAI.
Step 4: Start to prepare the missing documents.
Okay, here is the most important thing. I am going to share the document required list from CNAI to you. Once you know clearly the process and documents needed, it becomes pretty simple.
So in my case, I was applying for Residence Card for family member of third country of EU citizen.
**Checklist for application of Residence Card of Family Reunification**
*For Me: Non-EU citizen who wants to join my spouse for family reunification in Portugal.
Documents prepared from my original country (Documents need to be legalised by Portuguese Consulates or through apostille in the original document and with certified translation into Portuguese):
- Certificate of criminal record for person over 16 years old (Valid for 3 months), for all the countries you have stayed more than a year.
- Marriage certificate (Valid for 6 months).
(Tips: Don’t start the legalization process until you have made the SEF appointment since the documents above have a valid period. Make sure that your documents are still valid at the moment when you submit the application in SEF.)
Other documents prepared in Portugal:
- Two recent identical photos with blank background. (Actually they will take photo of you and collect signature in SEF)
- Declaration of legal entry in Portugal.
- If you didn’t enter Portugal directly by border control, you need to submit this to SEF; Unfortunately, there is no direct flight to Lisbon from my departure city. In this case, I chose direct flight to go to Morocco and came back to Lisbon to avoid another appointment with SEF to submit the declaration.
- Passport (valid for at least 3 months).
- Application Form Mod. DR0011.
*For Husband: EU citizen who is employed in Portugal.
- Terms of responsibility (Mod. DR0009).
- Last year I was guided to use this form, but it seems that now it is another form (Mod. DCF/0012) showed in SEF website. The content seems to be same but in different format.
- Residency identification document:
- Certificate of Registration issued in city council, also called EU Certificate.
- (You can also use citizen card, or residence permit if applicable.)
- Passport (valid for at least 3 months)
- Proof of the means of subsistence of applicants:
- IRS Last Year (if applicable)
- Employment contract (Original in Portuguese)
- Statement of employment (Valid for 1 month, in Portuguese)
- Last 3 months salary receipts (In Portuguese)
- Proof of accommodation:
- House rental contract (Original in Portuguese).
- (or “Atestado de Residência” issued by a “Junta de Freguesia” (Portuguese local authority)).
Step 5: Go to submit your application and all documents to SEF office.
Bravo! With all the documents prepared above, we went to SEF office in Leiria in October 2018. We ended up waiting only for 1 hours from our original appointment time. They made sure to check all our documents and asked us to pay the 15 euro fee. After that it was just matter of waiting.
It took 3 weeks from submitting the application to SEF to getting the residence card by mail. The process was pretty fast once you have prepared all the documents and submitted.
Step 6: Celebration!
After getting my residence card, I can start to get some basic things settled in Portugal.
The residence card I got is the residence card of family members of Union citizens who are nationals of third States (refer to Art. 15 in Act 37/2006 Portugal law).
It is also known as “Article 20 Residence Card” which allows me to travel to all EU countries without visa if I go with my husband.
The card is valid for 5 years. The right of residence shall not be affected by temporary absences not exceeding a total of six consecutive months a year or longer duration for special reasons like childbirth, health problems, etc.
All right, so that’s it. Hope this blog can help some of you who are looking for information of family reunification in Portugal. And good luck for the documents preparation and application process. I know it is not easy, but you will get through it.
Useful links:
- Portuguese Immigration and Borders Service (SEF)
- APPLYING FOR RESIDENCE IN PORTUGAL FOR LIVING IN PORTUGAL AND FAMILY REUNIFICATION- SEF
- Online Form from SEF
- National Immigrant Support Centre (CNAI) Lisbon
Other useful articles of life in Lisbon:
- Getting a driver’s license in Portugal in English
- How to See doctors in Lisbon as an expat?
- Top 5 Most Authentic Chinese Restaurants in Lisbon
Love from Richole.
58 Comments
Emily
Hello! Thanks your blog was really helpful. I am moving to Portugal shortly on a 12 month visa for study. I had a couple of questions I was hoping you could help me with!
Did you get your documents translated first and THEN certified? Or certified first and then translated?
Also, you mentioned that you can overstay your visa as long as you have an appointment with SEF. Is this for all visa types? My daughter is travelling over on a tourist visa (90 days) and I’ll apply for her family reunification in country… but I think the whole process will take longer than that for various reasons! We are from Australia. Would really appreciate your help as I find the whole process very overwhelming!!!
Thank you!!!
M&R
Hello Emily, sorry for the late reply, we are travelling in Italy these days so didn’t see your questions until now. I am very glad that you find this post helpful. Welcome to moving to Portugal. I can understand how frustrating it is to look for information regarding SEF process.
1. Based on my experience, I first got the apostille on my original documents (such as marriage paper) in my own country. Afterwards I took the documents to get translated and then get certified on the translation. I did the translation & certification part in Portugal. There are many certified translation service here in Portugal as well. For certificate of criminal records, you could request from police office online from your own country, then repeat the process of apostille, translation and translation certified. For your daughter, birth certificate (no valid date) can be the proof of your relationship. Just be aware that the validity of documents mentioned in my posts starts from the date of apostille. Very tricky though.
2. Yes, as told by the officer, it was for all visa types. As long as having appointment with SEF, your daughter can stay in Portugal even if her tourist visa will expire.
There is an organisation that help with visa issues called CNAI, I suggest you to go to their office as soon as possible once you arrive Portugal (make sure you go very early in the morning!). They are super helpful. And good luck for the application!!
Love from Richole.
Ashwani verma
Hello M&R, I JUST WANT TO ASK YOU SOMETHING THAT MY WIFE IS WORKING IN PORTUGAL AND HAVING 2 YEARS RESIDENCE CARD, NOW THE SCENE IS ME AND MY DAUGHTER IS HAVING A SCHENGEN VISA AND WE ARE PLANING TO GO PORTUGAL , SO PLS TELL IF WE LEGALLY ENTERED PORTUGAL CAN WE APPLY FOR THE SAME RESIDENCE CARD WHICH MY WIFE IS HAVING ?
M&R
Hello,
As long as your schengen visa hasn’t expired, you are legally entering Portugal. However, when you go to apply for the residence card you need official proof of the entry. Be sure that you make the appointment with SEF before your visa expires. Your residence card condition should be same as your wife’s.
Thanks.
Richole
Anjana
Hello Richole, thanks for the blog.
I am facing some problems. My husband got job and next month he will be traveling to Portugal. I had applied for tourist visa for 90 days but they rejected my application saying I didn’t give valid proof that i will be coming back to country before visa expires. Can you give me some ideas of what i can do next?
Will be waiting for your reply. Thank you
Rodolfo Gabriel
I’m not gonna lie I was starting to lose some hopes about getting the right information as SEF doesn’t answer my calls and the Portuguese embassy from which my spouse is located in didn’t reply to her emails. My Turkish wife is currently arranging things to move to Portugal to live with me. I’m a Portuguese citizen.
Thank you for all this information and help provided. Do you have any idea if this procedure still applies to me giving the fact I’m a Portuguese citizen?
The information online is very confusing from the different entities I have searched for from SEF, to Portuguese consulate in Turkey, EU, etc.
Let me know if you can help me about any extra bit of information from your personal experience or friends perhaps
Thank you and wishing you a happy life in Portugal 🙂
Anjana
Hello,
Me and my husband will be moving to Portugal soon. But problem is i cannot come with him through tourist visa.instead i need to come by reunification visa. When my husband goes to SEF to apply TRP, he will be applying for reunification visa for me. So can you tell me how much days it will take for SEF to notify embassy and when can i appky for visa. Hoping to get a reply soon. Thank you
M&R
Hello Anjana,
I am very sorry to hear that Portuguese embassy rejected your application. From my experience, it will take quite a few months to get to see SEF.
If you are hurry to join your husband. My suggestion is that you should try one more time to resubmit tourist/family visit visa application. Maybe ask what embassy needs from you to prove that. Normally they just need a return flight ticket, an invitation letter and financial statements.
When I was researching for this reunification visa last year, I figured that the most convenient way is to come to Portugal first and then you apply for residence card directly. Because once you arrive this country, it becomes easier.
Good luck for your application!
Richole
M&R
If it is really a hard case, then your husband might have to come to Portugal first. After he settles down things here such as getting NIF, renting apartment, then he can invite you to visit him. That was how I did. My husband landed in Portugal one month before I joined him.
Temmy
Good day
Thank you so much, your blog has been helpful
So my situation is, my spouse has been in Portugal for seven month studying and he has is TR card already. I came to visit on tourist visa and he made an appointment for me with SEF but we found out that the appointment was in his name and not mine which kind of disqualify my waiting period, what do you advise and my visiting Visa expires in a week time.
M&R
Hi, sorry for the late reply. Hope you are doing well during the quarantine period in Portugal. I think the best way is to make a new appointment after the SEF opens again. Please refer to SEF latest news about related matter in this particular moment. (https://www.sef.pt/pt/pages/noticia-sef.aspx?nID=785) Stay well and safe. I think your visa kinda extends until June accordingly.
Thanks,
Richole
Amandeep Ghatora
Dear Richole ,
I hope you happily settle down in Portugal.I and wife are from India. We have been married now for almost 7 years,
My wife, she is in living in Portugal and having a temporary resident permit (work permit) valid up to 02/04/2020. She is working in agriculture and started working since November 2018.
I am living in Germany and having the work permit valid June 2020.
I would like to join her under family visa is that possible? I am worrying as she works very less and her income is very low so is there any other way if we can show more finance in the bank account?
I been to Portugal before as well.
which one is the best and quickest way to apply from India OR from Germany or from inside Portgual?
I asked some lawyers they are very expensive and we can not afford that much money.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind Regards,
Amandeep Ghatora
M&R
Hi, as we communicated in email, I suggest you to go to CNAI for a consultation and book an appointment.
Abu
Hi Thanks for your helpful blog, I really do appreciate.
I just recently moved to Portugal and got 5 years resident permit as EU citizen , I would like invite my parents and siblings aged over 30 years. As you write
“”” Proof of the means of subsistence of applicants:
IRS Last Year (if applicable)
Employment contract (Original in Portuguese)
Statement of employment (Valid for 1 month, in Portuguese)
Last 3 months salary receipts (In Portuguese)“”””
I don’t have above. as I moved in Portugal last month But do have money in my account, would you please advice me is there any law that if I have to show sufficient fund to bring family, instead of job agreement or paying slip. if i have enough funds in my account and show them I am solvent . how much do I need show in Bank account?
Regards
Abu
M&R
Hi Abu,
Referring to the requirements on SEF,
“Documentary evidence of adequate subsistence means for the applicant and for the family, as per the provisions of Order number 1563/2007, of 11/12 (not applicable to refugees)”, you can search for this law 1563/2007, of 11/12. (https://dre.pt/pesquisa/-/search/628798/details/maximized).
To be clear, I suggest you to take a visit in CNAI office to get their professional advice. If you found out in the future, please share with us as well.
Best regards,
Richole
Larry
Hi Richole
I’m so glad I found your blog because it is by far the most informative and detailed guide I can find on applying for the family reunification visa for Portugal. Thank you so much for putting it up!
My wife would be moving to Portugal for a one yr study course in October and I would like to travel to Portugal together with her. You mentioned that I should only get my documents like the police criminal record legalised after I get an appointment with SEF. May I know where in Portugal can I get the documents legalised? Also you mentioned the term ‘apostille’ in one of the replies to a comment. I came across this term in my research but didn’t understand what it was. Would you be able to let me know what this is for? Thank you very much in advance for your reply!
衷心祝福你和你的家人
Larry
M&R
Hi Larry,
“The Apostille means certification in French, which is attached to your original document to verify it is legitimate and authentic so it will be accepted in one of the other countries who are members of the Hague Apostille Convention.” It can be used directly or with certified translation where it depends on the languages. FYI.
So first of all, you have to check whether your original country is the member of the Hague Apostille Convention. Portugal is one. Since Singapore is not a member of the Hague Apostille Convention, so the Singapore Notary Public might not be able to issue it.
As I have known, the criminal record and marriage paper have to be legalised in your original country. So you might need to first get these documents notarised, translated, and certificated by both your country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Embassy of Portugal. However they have valid dates to SEF. I think there must be some companies or agencies in your country helping people to get documents legalised like this. Normally you can request this when you are abroad.
Just for your clarification of my case,
I only noticed there was such short validity period for the documents and such long waiting time for SEF appointment. And i was trying to avoid going home to do all these.
– for my marriage paper, since we were married in Hong Kong, which is the member of the Hague Apostille Convention. So after making an appointment with SEF, my marriage paper with apostille would expire on the date of application submission. So I authorised my friend to get a new certificated copy and then apostille for our marriage paper in Hong Kong. Then I got it certified translated into Portuguese in Portugal.
– for proof of the absence of a criminal record in China, I authorised an agency in China to help me out then mailed to me.
It is not easy but you can do it.
Good luck and welcome to Portugal!
Richole
Larry
Hi Richole
Thank you very much for your extremely detailed answer! I missed the email that was sent when you replied on 1st Oct and only saw the email sent when you replied to another post, that was when I realised that you had answered my queries much earlier. Thank you once again!
larry
M&R
You are welcome Larry!
Swatiii
I want to ask something ..that my frndz problm…his husband in protugal appled 4 tempor.visa….he is w8ing his card….now his wife is staying in germny…ilegal… after haveing card…he wants that his wife will come to portugal..so what is the process….
Need ur help…
Thankss
Potato
Hi there!
I’m from Macau and my wife is Portuguese, but we both reside in Macau at the moment. We plan to move to Portugal within the next year. Since my Macau passport can travel to Portugal without the need of a visa, would it be possible to enter Portugal as a tourist (90d visa), then head to the said offices (CNAI, SEF) to apply for a family reunification visa immediately?
Thanks for your help,
Potato
M&R
Hello Potato,
You should be able to apply in Portugal while you travel here even without visa. As long as you can provide “Proof of legal entrance in national territory” such as border control stamp in Portugal airport.
https://imigrante.sef.pt/en/solicitar/residir/art98-2/
Thanks!
Richole
Gianni
Hello.Thank you for your detailed report of your experience.
About the documents you should prepare for SEF:
now when you open the website https://imigrante.sef.pt there is a banner saying the crimanl record is not necessary;
I think you need to translate your marriage certificate because you didn’t register your marriage in Denmark. Now the EU countries the marriage release a multilingual marriage certificate. Didn’t the SEF accepts them?
the “Declaration of Entry Portugal” should be done if you enter to the country by another Schengen country and if when you arrive you don’t stay in hotel. It needs to fill the declaration within 3 days. This is the same in all the Schengen countries even if you stay in the country less then 3 months.
do you know what kind of “proof of the means of subsistence of applicants” is required if you are unemploy?
Thank you
Gianni
M&R
Hi Gianni,
1. I just checked the banner on SEF website, it is a bit confusing though. I am not sure if it only refers to renewing residence permit when granting access to SEF for Portuguese criminal record. I don’t think SEF would have access to criminal record out of EU or even Portugal, unless there is an international system to link up all the records worldwide. From the documents required page, it doesn’t emit that. (https://imigrante.sef.pt/en/solicitar/residir/art98-1/). However, the regulations and documents required may change time by time. It is best to contact SEF or CNAI for clarification.
2. You are right. We didn’t register our marriage in Denmark since we don’t live there. And we did try to contact Danish relevant offices. The reply was that we can register our marriage in Denmark civil system, however they cannot provide marriage certificate to prove anything because we have never resided there. Thus we didn’t do that. But if you registered your marriage and also live in another EU country, then SEF should accept it without notarisation if it can be in Portuguese.
3. “Declaration of Entry” is needed according to regulation. But in fact not everyone does that if they don’t live in hotels and travel for less than 3 months. So if you have done that, then great. The thing is that SEF kinda need to see the declaration either by the stamp issued by border control or the record from your hotels.
4. For “proof of the means of subsistence of applicants”, if you are unemployed, what about your spouse or family? You can use theirs as a mean of support of yours. Or do you have proof of other incomes or enough savings? I think this varies from case to case. If you really don’t have any, then it might be difficult. Seek for help from CNAI office, perhaps they have some good advices.
Good luck!
Richole
YA
Thanks for the post. I plan to join my husband (a non-EU resident and working in Portugal) in Portugal and we have started the process/application with SEF. Currently waiting for SEF to send us a document for me to take to embassy here in the US. My question is, does getting the residence permit on a family reunification visa allow you to work with no restrictions in Portugal? I can’t seem to find any information on that from my search.
M&R
Hi,
As I have known so far, there should not have any restriction for all kinds of jobs with this residence permit.
However the duration of your permit will depend on your husband’s work permit.
Good luck for your application and settling down in Portugal.
Thanks.
Mumir
Hello
Thanks for this blog it’s really helpful after reading all question answers i have a question.
I’m Spanish national planing to move to Purtogal. I want my family to join me through family reunion they are in Pakistan and Pakistani nationals. After getting my tax number and contract of work after how long i can apply for family reunion visa. Di you mean after three months with 3 pay slips?
M&R
Hi,
You can start to schedule the appointment with SEF already since it takes a long time. Until then, you will have worked more than 3 months most likely. And for the 3 pay slips, it is just what they expect you to have, if you really don’t have yet, I am sure there will be other documents they might want you to show as supplements.
Good luck!
Richole
Bilawal
Yes you could work on family reunification visa
Sam
Hi Richole
Thanks for detail procedure. I am a Danish citizen, living in Denmark with wife and a 3 months old daughter in Denmark. As the danish government made changes on family reunification law. We are looking to get visa in Portugal and after 4 months get back to Denmark.
But i can see that one has to submit 3 months salary pay slip to apply for spouse visa. As far as i can see you have applied family reunification visa after EU rule. Is there any possibility that i apply residency visa to my wife after EU rule just after a month of arrival.
Thanks.
M&R
Hi Sam,
The 3 months salary pay slip document is preferred if only applicable to you. This is just one means to prove your financial subsistence when you work here. If you only can provide one month i think it is fine. And meanwhile, you can show bank statements and other income to prove that you can support life of your family.
And you can apply residency visa to your wife or your wife can apply in Portugal after you have gotten the EU certificate from Câmara Municipal and NIF from Finance Office in Portugal.
And I understand the restriction of family reunification visa in Denmark.
Good luck!
Richole
Bilawal
You can apply Visa for your wife in Germany . If you want information you can contact me under my email [email protected]
Li
Hi Richole,
Your blog entry is extremely helpful. I’m sorry you struggled and had to do this on your own, but I thank you for sharing it with the rest of us to ease our process.
I do have a question regarding your timeline of application for residency;
based on this link (https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/residence/documents-formalities/non-eu-family-members-residence-card/portugal/index_en.htm), it states that:
“After spending 3 months in Portugal, non-EU family members of EU nationals (This also applies to Icelandic, Liechtenstein, Norwegian and Swiss nationals.) have 30 days in which to apply for the residence card (Cartão de Residência) certifying their right to live in Portugal.”
Were you / are we able to apply before the 3 months, or are we only allowed to apply after the 3 months?
M&R
Hi Li,
The information on the link was updated in 2017. So it might not be 100% correct now. I think it means that you need to apply for residence card before your visa expires (which is normally 3 months), and it would give you 30 days extension to apply.
If you make the appointment for your application after 3 months, then it is normally too late.
For me, I made the appointment as soon as I arrived in Portugal and got the residence card before 3 months since my arrival.
Good luck,
Richole
Chris
Hi M&R, thank you for this informative post. I have one question though. The card by mail arrives with a normal letter, or a registered one that need’s to be picked up at the post office in person? Chris
M&R
Hi Chris,
The card arrived in a normal letter directly to our home address within 2-4 weeks after submitting application. However, I remember that I needed to sign to receive from the post office man.
Best regards,
Richole
Michele
Thanks for writing this! I’m only confused because the SEF website doesn’t list the criminal background check as a required document for third party nationals getting a resident card to stay with their EU spouse. The Europa site also says all they can ask for is valid passport, passport photos, spouse’s EU identity document, and marriage certificate.
I didn’t realize our marriage certificate needs to be apostilized within 6 months. So if I order another that is apostilized in the U.S, it is legalized enough as long as I get a certified translation also?
Thank you!!
M&R
Hi Michele,
The documents listed in Europa site are the essential ones only. I also didn’t know all those unlisted documents were required until I went to CNAI office to ask for help. As I remember, the CNAI officer told me the marriage certificate apostillized needs to be within 6 months because they just want a updated one to avoid the case that some people already got divorced.
For the criminal background check, it used to be required. But now it might change.
Just try to prepare as much as you can.
Good luck,
Richole
Michele
Thank you so, so much! This has been extremely helpful!
One last question :). Do you need to renew your spouse residency card within the first five years?
Thank you!!
M&R
Hi,
No need to renew within first 5 years unless you are out of the country for too long in a year.
Thanks!
Pamela Chen
Hey! I know this was a post from a while ago, but was wondering if I could get your advice on something. I’m an US/Taiwan national, so I don’t need a visa to enter Portugal. My boyfriend is an EU citizen in Portugal, we want to get a residence card for me as his family member. I will be applying for residency while I’m in Portugal already. The SEF is pretty confusing, there’s two websites that offer information about this. https://www.sef.pt/en/Pages/conteudo-detalhe.aspx?nID=22#div3 (This one shows a much simpler process, without the need for tons of documents) while https://imigrante.sef.pt/en/solicitar/residir/art98-2/ (This one is much more complex, I think it’s the one you did…)
Please let me know if you know anything about these and what the difference is! Thanks 🙂
M&R
Hey Pamela,
Really sorry for late reply. I hope you might figure what to prepare of your residence card application. Honestly, the SEF website is always very confusing. The documents listed on the pages are not very consistent, and it is almost impossible to contact them by phone or email for clarification. I think the documentation pages are only listing the general documents required, however, all cases vary a lot. I would suggest to follow the second page which look more detailed. As you know, the more you prepare the easier to get it done, because you might not want to go there and be asked for supplemental documents after trying so hard to make the appointment.
As for your cases, since you are not married yet, it might need documents to prove that you were together or living together for some period of time.
That’s why i always suggest you to go to CNAI office to ask for the full list of documents in your case in person if possible. So that you will have a much clearer head and go to prepare the right documents, and get it done straight away.
Good luck and welcome to Portugal.
Richole
Larissa
Hi, i love your blog and the insights of your process. Super healthful.
I wanted to ask you, after you got your residency card, did you apoly for the social numer and fiscal number or they send that automatically to you?
Cheers from Lisbon! ?
M&R
Hello,
After getting our residency card, you need to apply for fiscal number by yourself, and the social number is normally applied by your company!
Actually you can start to apply for fiscal number anytime!
Good luck!
Richole
Valerie
Hi Richole,
Not sure if this thread is still active in 2021:p First I have to give a big thanks to you as the information that you have listed is extremely useful! Just have a couple more questions about the Residence Card you have got. Are you entitled to work in other EU countries during its 5 years validity? As mentioned in your post, the right of residence shall not be affected by temporary absences, not exceeding a total of six consecutive months a year or longer duration for special reasons. I am in the progress of applying for the same residence card and just wanted to know a bit further on the rights.
Stay safe and healthy! Cheers from Lisbon 🙂
M&R
Hello,
Thanks for the sweet comments.
I don’t think you are allowed to work legally in other EU country with a Portuguese residence card. But of course you can always travel to other EU country and stay less than 3 months.
Cheers!
Rodolfo Gabriel
I’m not gonna lie I was starting to lose some hopes about getting the right information as SEF doesn’t answer my calls and the Portuguese embassy from which my spouse is located in didn’t reply to her emails. My Turkish wife is currently arranging things to move to Portugal to live with me. I’m a Portuguese citizen.
Thank you for all this information and help provided. Do you have any idea if this procedure still applies to me giving the fact I’m a Portuguese citizen?
The information online is very confusing from the different entities I have searched for from SEF, to Portuguese consulate in Turkey, EU, etc.
Let me know if you can help me about any extra bit of information from your personal experience or friends perhaps
Thank you and wishing you a happy life in Portugal 🙂
M&R
Hello,
Sorry to reply late.
I hope you have successfully contacted the SEF now.
Good LUCK!
Richole
Shree
Hey Richole!
Thank you for this great piece of information. I’m from India, and my husband, from India is working in Portugal. We applied for Family visa, but the process is taking much longer. Hence we are thinking, If I apply for a schengen visa and enter Portugal, and follow the same process as you did. Do you think it’s right? Will I face any problem if I enter through visit visa and then request appointment at SEF for family reunification?
Regards,
Shree
M&R
Hello Shree,
I think it is no problem to enter Portugal with your schengen visa but make sure you request the appointment with SEF asap before your visa expires.
Best of luck!
Richole
Monki
Hi
thank you so much or the information.
i live in Portugal for more than 2 years. but I could not get an appointment for family reunification. each time I tried to call SEF, neither it was busy nor the vacancies have been already occupied. do you have any ideas in this regard? how can I get an appo for family reui?
Thanks
Monika
M&R
Hi, sorry for late reply. As far as I know, I have written all in my article. You might call or email them. For current situation, you might do more research.
Hope you had already made the appointment.
Larissa
I can recommend you when you call ask for appointments in any city. I live in lisbon but i asked my appointments in smaller cities and never in lisbon, it was faster as i did appointments where least foreigners live, or even you can ask which any other city has the next upcoming appointment.
Hamid
Hey Richole!
Thank you for writing such a great post sharing your experience.
I was wondering if you can point me to some more information on the possibility of legally staying in Portugal even when ones visitors visa has expired but provided they applied for family reunification before the expiry date.
Do you have a link of this from SEF’s website or maybe some other official resource?
Thank you beforehand for your help!
Larissa
Hi Hamid,
That was my case. Basically, SEF told me that i needed to wait until getting my papers after applying, they didn’t gave me any extensions of the visa and they told me that i could not leave the country, not even cross the border outside any EU country. If i did, i could be deported and there is nothing i could do.
I would recommend you to call directly to SEF , the agents in the callcenter speak english and they are really helpful.
Hamid
Thank you Larissa, I will definitley try to contact SEF to be even more sure.
M&R
Hi,
Thanks for compliments.
Back then, I was told about this information by the officer in the CNAI office. However, you might refer to this page about extending stay visa: 1. https://imigrante.sef.pt/en/prorrogar-permanencia/#:~:text=Extending%20Stay%20in%20Portugal&text=According%20to%20Decree%2DLaw%20n,until%20march%2031st%202021.
2. https://imigrante.sef.pt/en/covid-19/faqs/#1538043570153-e2e88a2a-13a0
Good Luck!
Richole
Hamid
Thank you Richole! I think that I will either call SEF or go to the CNAI office and explain my case to them to see what is their advice.
Thanks again and good luck!