Portugal’s family reunification regime changed structurally on 23 October 2025, when Law 61/2025 entered into force and amended the Foreigner Regime (Law 23/2007). Article 6(2) of Law 61/2025 opened a 180-day window during which the holder of the right to reunification could apply for residence on behalf of family members already lawfully present in national territory, subject in every case to the requirements of the amended Article 98. That window closed on 22 April 2026. Reunification applications initiated after that date proceed under the new regime in full; applications initiated before the law’s entry into force on 23 October 2025 continue, in principle, to be governed by the prior regime, under the transitional rule in Article 8 of Law 61/2025.
This note sets out what changed, who is exempt from the new rules, and how MCS reads the position for the categories of resident we most frequently assist: D7, D8, Golden Visa, EU Blue Card, and highly qualified worker permit holders. It is operational rather than commentary: the point is to allow a reader to identify which rule applies to their file and what the realistic next step is.
1. The two-year sponsor rule
Under the amended Foreigner Regime, the right to request family reunification is generally reserved to a sponsor who has held a valid Portuguese residence permit for at least two years. The rule applies whether the family relationship was constituted before or after the sponsor’s arrival in Portugal. The two-year clock runs from the issuance of the residence permit, not from earlier visa stages or from the date of physical entry.
A narrower variant of the rule applies to married or unmarried partners who can document at least eighteen months of cohabitation immediately prior to the sponsor’s arrival in Portugal: in that case, the waiting period is reduced from two years to fifteen months. The cohabitation evidence required by AIMA in practice is documentary and contemporaneous (joint utilities, joint tenancy, joint registration, employer records), not retrospective affidavits.
The standard evidentiary requirements that pre-dated Law 61/2025 remain in place and are now set out in Article 101(1) of Law 23/2007: proof of adequate accommodation meeting national safety and health standards, sufficient means of subsistence without recourse to social benefits, valid identification for all family members, and proof of the family relationship by civil registry or equivalent foreign documentation duly legalised or apostilled.
Article 105(1) of Law 23/2007 fixes a legal deadline of nine months for the decision on a reunification request from the date of a complete filing. Article 105(2) permits extension of that period only in exceptional circumstances tied to the complexity of the case, and explicitly excludes from that possibility the standard cases falling under Article 98(1) and (2), namely the two-year and fifteen-month sponsor categories. Extension is therefore available only in the exempt cases under Article 98(3): reunification of minors and dependent persons, and family of holders of permits under Articles 90, 90-A, and 121-A. In practice, document gaps in the filing will pause the running of the deadline.
2. Who is exempt from the two-year rule
The two-year sponsor requirement does not apply uniformly. Three categories of resident retain the prior, more favourable position:
- Minor children and dependent children of the sponsor. Reunification of minor children (whether of the sponsor, of the sponsor’s spouse, or under shared custody) is not subject to the two-year waiting period. The same exemption applies to single adult children who are in education and dependent on the sponsor, as defined in Article 99 of Law 23/2007. The statute does not set a specific age limit; the operative criteria are dependency and continued education.
- Holders of Golden Visa residence permits (the ARI regime). Golden Visa investors are excluded from the two-year waiting period in respect of the family categories covered by the ARI regime itself. This is a material exemption that is consistently misread in second-hand reporting and that materially distinguishes the Golden Visa from the D7 and D8 routes on this point.
- Holders of EU Blue Card permits and highly qualified worker permits. Both categories retain accelerated family reunification access. The EU Blue Card framework, in particular, is unaffected by the two-year rule and remains the cleanest single-step route for qualifying high-skill professionals whose families need to arrive without delay.
A D7 or D8 resident is, by contrast, subject to the two-year rule in full unless one of the above exemptions applies in respect of a specific family member.
3. Post-arrival integration obligations
Law 61/2025 also introduced integration obligations that attach to the family members themselves, after arrival. The principal elements are mandatory Portuguese-language instruction and, separately, instruction in civic values and constitutional principles. Both apply to arriving adult family members and are conditions of the residence permit’s continued validity rather than mere policy aspirations.
The operational detail (providers, hours, certification standards, geographic coverage) sits with implementing regulation, including, in Madeira, the regional operational layer. As of the date of this note, the regional administration of Madeira has not issued consolidated guidance on the implementation of these obligations within the Region. Where the file is Madeira-based, the position is that the obligations apply and the regional operational guidance is pending.
4. The position after 22 April 2026
Article 6(2) of Law 61/2025 opened a 180-day window in which the sponsor could apply for a residence permit on behalf of family members already lawfully present in Portuguese territory. The provision did not displace the new framework: it required, in every case, that the requirements of the amended Article 98 be met. Its function was procedural, permitting for a limited period the lodging of reunification applications in respect of family members already in the country, and not preserving the prior substantive regime.
That window closed on 22 April 2026 (180 days after the law’s entry into force on 23 October 2025). Applications initiated after that date are processed under the new Article 98 in full. Applications initiated before 23 October 2025, by contrast, continue to be governed by the prior regime under Article 8 of Law 61/2025, which expressly limits the application of the amendments to administrative procedures and judicial proceedings initiated after entry into force.
For sponsors whose family member did not file within the 180-day window and whose application now falls under the amended Article 98, the realistic options are three:
- Wait out the two-year clock. The sponsor’s permit-issuance date determines when reunification can first be requested. Where the gap is short (a few weeks or months), this is often the cleanest course.
- Switch the sponsor’s route. Where the sponsor qualifies, transitioning to an exempt category (Golden Visa, EU Blue Card, highly qualified worker permit) eliminates the two-year requirement. This is a substantive change of position rather than a procedural manoeuvre and is only available where the underlying eligibility holds.
- Pursue a non-reunification route for the family member. Where the family member is independently eligible for a Portuguese residence permit on their own facts (a D7 with their own means, a D8 with their own activity, a student visa for an adult child), the reunification track may be bypassed entirely.
Each route carries different evidentiary and timing implications, and the correct answer is fact-specific.
5. The Madeira reading
A meaningful share of Madeira’s foreign-resident population sits in the CPLP cohort: mainly Brazilians. Informal pre-2025 expectations within this cohort assumed a relatively quick reunification path; the two-year sponsor rule resets those expectations across the community. The integration obligations are linguistically less burdensome for CPLP arrivals than for non-Lusophone families, but the civic-instruction layer is administratively new for everyone.
A second Madeira-specific reader is the MIBC parallel-track resident. Foreign investors whose principal Portuguese footprint is corporate (an MIBC-licensed entity) and who hold a residence permit as a structural side-effect rather than as the primary plan should re-examine the timing of the personal-residency leg against the new two-year clock for any family member who may need to follow. Where the investor’s permit is in fact a Golden Visa (the ARI regime), the exemption applies and no two-year wait is engaged; where the permit is a D7 or a D8 obtained as a residence pillar for the MIBC structure, the two-year rule applies in full.
How MCS can assist
MCS can review a sponsor’s file against the post-22 April framework, assess which exemption (if any) applies, and identify the cleanest realistic route to bringing family members across, subject to review of permit dates, documentation, and the underlying eligibility of any alternative route. Where the file is Madeira-based, the assessment is conducted with the regional operational layer in mind.
Initial review is conducted on the basis of permit copies, civil documentation, accommodation and means evidence, and a short fact-pattern intake. Engagement scope, timeline, and fees are confirmed in writing before any substantive work is undertaken.
To request a review, please contact MCS. All correspondence is treated as confidential under MCS’s standard engagement terms.
This note is published by Madeira Corporate Services (MCS) for general information only. It is not legal, tax, immigration, or financial advice and must not be relied upon as a substitute for individual professional advice on the specific facts of any matter.
The Portuguese legal and regulatory framework summarised here is described as at the date of publication. Subsequent legislative, regulatory, or administrative developments, including implementing regulation, decisions of AIMA, and judgments of the Portuguese courts, may alter the position. MCS does not undertake to update this note.
References to specific provisions of Law 61/2025, the amended Law 23/2007, and related instruments are general descriptions intended to assist a reader in identifying which framework may apply to their situation. They are not a substitute for review of the operative statutory text and any applicable implementing regulation against the facts of an individual case.
Nothing in this note creates a client relationship between the reader and MCS, its consultants, or any lawyer with whom MCS coordinates. Substantive Portuguese legal advice, where required, is provided by qualified Portuguese lawyers (advogados) admitted to the Ordem dos Advogados, with whom MCS coordinates as part of its integrated service offering. Tax, immigration, accounting, and corporate services within MCS’s own scope are provided under MCS’s standard engagement terms.
Catarina graduated in Law in 2021 from the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra. She has been a member of the Bar since 2023.
