Portugal: the D7 visa still the favourite of retirees

The so-called D7 visa is not a recent scheme created for nomads or investors. It is the residence visa provided for the settlement of retirees, members of religious orders and people living on their own income.

Its financial requirement does not appear in the visa itself but in a cross-cutting text: portaria n.º 1563/2007 of 11 December, which sets the means of subsistence that third-country nationals must have in order to enter and stay in Portugal. It is this text, and not a scale specific to the D7, that determines the amount.

The reference value is the guaranteed minimum monthly remuneration — the Portuguese minimum wage. For the reference year indicated by the authorities on the page consulted, it stands at €870¹.

The amount required is not this figure applied uniformly: it depends on household composition, according to percentages of this reference.

• First adult: 100%² of the minimum wage;
• each additional adult: 50%³;
• each minor child or dependent adult child: 30%⁴.

The indexation has an often overlooked practical consequence: the threshold rises every time the Portuguese minimum wage is increased. An application calibrated as tightly as possible one year may fall below it the following year, at the time of renewal.

The authorities assess not only a level of income but its nature. The income must be a regular and stable flow and come from the applicant's own sources: movable or immovable property, intellectual property, financial investments, pensions.

Two documents are always required: a document establishing the existence and amount of this income, as well as its availability in Portugal; and a bank document certifying that the applicant holds an account with a Portuguese bank. The account is therefore opened before the application, not the other way round.

Proof of accommodation in Portugal is also required. This is the point that most often lengthens timelines, since it means signing a contract remotely before holding the permit.

The D7 concerns third-country nationals — outside the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland. For a French national, it is therefore irrelevant: freedom of movement exempts them from the residence visa.

The real audience lies elsewhere: British nationals since the withdrawal from the Union, Americans, Brazilians, Canadians, and dual nationals whose nationality being used is not European.

1. Calculate the threshold for your own household composition, rather than taking an amount read for a single person;
2. allow a margin above the threshold, since indexation to the minimum wage makes it change from one year to the next;
3. open the Portuguese bank account in advance, as the document is required in support of the application;
4. document the regularity of income over time, and not just its amount at a given moment.

The government page consulted on 26 September 2026 shows a reference value linked to the year 2025. As of that date, we did not find an updated amount for the current year on the same page: the threshold applicable to an application filed today must be confirmed before any calculation.

The duration of the initial residence permit and of its renewal, as well as the number of years giving entitlement to permanent residence or citizenship, do not appear on the pages we were able to consult. These durations are widely quoted, but we do not repeat them without an official source.

Finally, obtaining a residence visa and transferring one's tax residency are two separate operations, governed by different texts. The D7 says nothing about the tax regime applicable once in the country.