Portugal D7 visa: income, documents and where to apply
The Portugal D7 visa is the residence visa for people who live on a pension or on their own income, without working for a Portuguese employer. The foreign ministry’s visa website groups it with residence for religious purposes (source).
What a D7 application has to prove
For retirement, a document certifying the pension amount; for passive income, a document proving income from movable or real property, intellectual property or financial assets (source).
Means of subsistence are measured against the minimum wage, €920 a month in 2026: 100% for the first adult, 50% for each additional adult and 30% for each minor or dependent child (source).
| Household | Monthly minimum (2026) |
|---|---|
| One adult | €920 |
| Two adults | €1,380 |
| Two adults and one child | €1,656 |
The table applies the percentages on the means-of-subsistence page to the 2026 minimum wage; the office can ask for more documents (source).
Fee, processing time and where to apply
The visa website sets the national visa fee at €110 (source); the 2021 fee table still gave €90 for the residence visa (source). The decision period for a residence visa is 60 days (source).
| Office | How visas are filed |
|---|---|
| Washington (and Palm Coast) | VFS Global: Chicago, Houston, Miami or Washington DC (source) |
| New York | VFS Global, 128 East 32nd Street, New York (source) |
| San Francisco | VFS Global, booked on the VFS website (source) |
| Boston | Online booking with the consulate itself (source) |
| Newark | By prior appointment only (source) |
| New Bedford | Appointment requested by email, also for Rhode Island (source) |
| Providence | Does not process visas (source) |
- Proof of the pension or of passive income
- Means of subsistence for the household (based on €920 in 2026)
- The general visa application documents
- A €110 fee
- The visa form, filled out and signed
- Two recent passport-type photos
- A passport valid three months beyond the planned return, and a copy
- Travel insurance covering medical costs and repatriation
- A criminal record certificate from your country of nationality or of residence for over a year, apostilled
- Proof of means of subsistence
The general list comes from the foreign ministry’s visa website (source); applicants who are not nationals of the country where they apply also prove their legal residence.
Timing and warnings from the U.S. offices
New York gives a minimum processing time of 4 to 8 weeks for national visas (source). San Francisco advises applying three months ahead and warns that VFS appointments are only booked on VFS’s official website, because of fraud (source).
New Bedford takes visa applications from residents of its five Massachusetts counties and of Rhode Island, and the first step is an email asking for an appointment (source).
The D7 gives you four months to enter Portugal and ask AIMA for the residence permit.Questions people ask
The real questions people search about this procedure, with the short answer:
What is the D7 visa in Portugal?
It is the residence visa for people living on a pension or passive income (source).
How do I move to Portugal from the U.S.?
An American moving to Portugal gets a national visa before the trip (D7, digital nomad, work or study) and then the residence permit from AIMA in Portugal (source).