Nearly every guide to Portugal’s D7 visa tells you the same number: you need €920 a month. The legislation that actually governs the decision does not say €920. It says the national minimum wage net of social security contributions, which for 2026 is €818.80.
That gap is not a technicality, and it is not a reason to apply with the lower figure. It is a useful window into how the D7 really works. The visa is not an income test with a pass mark. It is a document test, and the income figure is only one of the things you have to evidence. Understanding where the number comes from tells you what a consular officer is actually checking, and it explains two official reductions that almost nobody writes about.
Where the number comes from
The D7 sits on a piece of 2007 legislation, Portaria n.º 1563/2007. Article 2 defines “means of subsistence” as stable, regular resources sufficient for a person’s essential needs: food, accommodation, health and hygiene. Then it sets the measuring stick:
“O critério de determinação dos meios de subsistência é efectuado por referência à retribuição mínima mensal garantida […] líquida de quotizações para a segurança social.”
In plain terms: the threshold is the guaranteed minimum monthly wage, net of social security contributions.
Portugal’s minimum wage rose to €920 a month from 1 January 2026, up from €870. That €920 is the gross figure. Employees pay 11% into social security, which leaves €818.80 net. Read literally, that is the number the ordinance points at.
So why does the whole market quote €920? Partly because it is the figure in the headlines every January. Partly because no consulate checklist states a number at all, so the industry rounds to the one everybody recognises. And partly because it is the safer number to tell someone.
Here is the practical answer, and it is the one I give clients: plan and evidence against €920. It satisfies either reading of the ordinance, it matches what most consular posts are reported to apply, and the difference is about a hundred euros a month on a decision you cannot easily appeal. This is not a place to be clever. If your income sits between €818.80 and €920, you are relying on an interpretation, and you should talk to a lawyer licensed in Portugal before you file.
What a family needs
The ordinance sets a per-person valuation inside each household, and this part is unambiguous:
- First adult: 100% of the reference figure
- Each additional adult: 50%
- Each child under 18, and dependent adult children: 30%
On the €920 basis, a couple needs €1,380 a month. A couple with one child needs €1,656. A couple with two children needs €1,932.
Two things people get wrong here. The percentages apply to the household, not to each applicant separately, so a second adult does not need their own full income. And the income does not have to come from one source. Pensions, rental income, dividends, royalties and returns on investments all count, and most applications combine several.
If you already know roughly what you would be living on, it is worth getting a sense of the moving costs before you commit to a timeline. See what a move to Portugal would involve.
The twelve months of savings
Alongside the monthly income, the consular checklist asks for “proof of financial resources for a period of at least 12 months”. That is twelve times the monthly threshold: €11,040 for a single applicant on the €920 basis.
One correction worth making, because it is repeated constantly. A great many pages state that this money must sit in a Portuguese bank account. The official checklist does not say that. It asks for proof of financial resources, and separately, for pensioners and people living on their own income, for a document proving the income is available in Portuguese territory. Those are different requirements.
Most applicants do open a Portuguese account anyway, because it makes the “available in national territory” evidence straightforward and because you will need one eventually. But if you read somewhere that your savings are disqualified for sitting in your home bank, that is not what the checklist says.
The two reductions nobody mentions
This is the part of the checklist that gets skipped, and it is on the official document in plain sight:
“Means of support can be reduced by half when proved that the applicant has secured, in any way, accommodation or up to 90% of the amount when demonstrated that food is also secured.”
Read that again. If you can show accommodation is secured, the means-of-support requirement can be halved. If food is also secured, it can come down by as much as 90%.
Now the honest caveats, because this is exactly the kind of provision that gets oversold. “Secured, in any way” is not defined on the checklist. Nothing published explains what evidence a consular post accepts, or how consistently the reduction is applied across posts. It is a real provision in the governing ordinance, not an internet rumour, but it is not a discount you can bank on.
What it is good for: if you have bought property in Portugal, or a family member is providing accommodation, or you are moving into something already paid for, it is worth asking your consulate directly whether the reduction applies to your file. Ask before you assume your income is too low to qualify. Some people who believe they fall short do not.
The documents, which are the actual test
The income figure gets the attention, but D7 applications are refused over paperwork far more often than over money. This is the list from the official consular checklist for the residency visa for pensioners, religious purposes and people living on their own income:
- National visa application form, completed and signed
- Two recent passport-sized photographs
- Passport valid for at least three months beyond your intended stay, plus a photocopy of the biographical page
- Proof of regular status, if you are applying somewhere other than your country of nationality
- Valid travel insurance covering medical expenses, urgent medical assistance and repatriation
- Police clearance certificate from your country of nationality, or from any country you have lived in for over a year, carrying a Hague Apostille or consular legalisation
- Proof of financial resources for at least twelve months
Then, depending on where your money comes from:
- Pensioners: a document proving the amount of the pension, and a document proving that income can be received or accessed in Portugal
- People living on their own income: documents proving the existence and amount of income from property, intellectual property or financial investments, and proof that income is available in Portugal
Three things the internet gets wrong about that list
Passport validity is three months, not six. A lot of pages say six months. The checklist says “valid for at least 3 months beyond the intended period of stay”. Six months is a sensible margin and no consulate will object to it, but if you have been told your five-month passport disqualifies you, check the checklist your own consulate publishes.
It asks for travel insurance, not health insurance. The wording is “valid travel insurance, covering necessary medical expenses, including urgent medical assistance and possible repatriation”. Repatriation cover is the part people forget, and a standard domestic health policy will not include it.
The police certificate is not always from your home country. It is from your country of nationality or a country you have lived in for more than a year. If you have moved around, you may need more than one, and apostilles take longer than people plan for.
One more thing worth knowing, mostly because it tells you how to treat any checklist you find: the official document I worked from cites the governing ordinance as “of 11th of December” in one place and “of 6th of December” in its footnotes. The correct date is 11 December 2007. It is a trivial error, but it is a reminder that consular checklists are working documents, they differ between posts, and the one your consulate publishes is the one that governs your file. The version referenced here is dated 9 December 2024.
Citizens of CPLP countries have a different, lighter route: the checklist exempts them from travel insurance, return ticket and means of support, on presentation of a legalised sponsorship letter.
What the visa actually gets you
The D7 visa itself is not your residence permit, and this catches people out. It is valid for four months and allows two entries. It exists to get you into Portugal legally so you can attend an appointment with AIMA, the agency that took over immigration functions from SEF.
At that appointment the visa converts into a two-year residence permit, renewable for three years at a time. The renewal has to be filed at least thirty days before the current permit expires.
There is a presence requirement attached, and it is stricter than most people expect from a passive income visa. During the first two-year permit you must spend at least sixteen months in Portugal. On each three-year renewal you must not be absent for more than six consecutive months, or eight months in total. This is not a visa for keeping a European option open while living somewhere else.
After five years of legal residence you can apply for permanent residence. The route to citizenship changed during 2026 and the qualifying period lengthened. I am deliberately not putting a number on it here, because the change is recent and the detail is exactly the kind that gets reported inconsistently. If citizenship is your reason for doing this, that is the question to put to a Portuguese lawyer before you file anything, not after.
The number will move
Because the threshold tracks the minimum wage, it rises when the minimum wage rises, and the increases are already agreed. Under the tripartite incomes agreement the minimum wage is set to reach €970 in 2027 and €1,020 in 2028. On the same basis, a single applicant’s threshold rises with it, and a couple’s rises by half as much again.
If you are eighteen months away from applying, do not budget against today’s figure. Budget against the one that will be in force when you file, and leave margin above it.
One open question I cannot answer from the published sources: the Azores set a higher regional minimum wage, €966 for 2026. Whether a D7 assessed for someone settling in the Azores follows the regional figure or the national one is not addressed in any official document I have found. If that is your plan, ask the consulate directly rather than assuming.
One thing this article deliberately does not cover: whether the D7 is the right route for you at all. If you are weighing it against the golden visa, the 2026 nationality law changed that comparison materially, and I have set out which one you actually qualify for separately.
Everything above gets you the visa. What it leads to five years later, provided your residence stays continuous, is its own milestone with its own requirements, including a Portuguese language test most people do not expect this early. I have covered what permanent residence actually asks for separately.
Neither of those figures accounts for what you will actually pay in Portuguese tax once you are living there. Retirees frequently assume a special regime like the old NHR still applies. It does not, and what replaced it works very differently for pension income.
What I would actually do
Work out your household threshold on the €920 basis and add a margin. Get the police certificates started early, because apostilles are the step that slips. Read the checklist your own consulate publishes rather than a summary of someone else’s. And if accommodation in Portugal is already secured, ask about the reduction before you conclude you do not qualify.
The D7 is one of the more achievable residence routes in Europe, and most refusals come down to an incomplete file rather than an unconvincing one. Where the money is close to the line, or citizenship is the goal, that is the point to pay someone licensed in Portugal for an hour of their time. It is the cheapest part of the whole process.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum income for a Portugal D7 visa in 2026?
The governing ordinance references Portugal’s minimum wage net of social security contributions, which is €818.80 a month in 2026. The figure quoted across the market is the gross minimum wage of €920. Plan and evidence against €920, because it satisfies either reading.
How much does a couple need for a D7 visa?
The ordinance values a second adult at 50% of the first adult’s requirement, so a couple needs 150% of the threshold. On the €920 basis that is €1,380 a month. Each child under 18 adds 30%, or €276.
Do D7 savings have to be in a Portuguese bank account?
The official consular checklist does not say so. It asks for proof of financial resources covering at least twelve months, and separately for proof that your income is available in Portuguese territory. Many applicants open a Portuguese account to make that second point straightforward, but the checklist does not require your savings to sit there.
Can the D7 income requirement be reduced?
Yes. The official checklist states that means of support can be reduced by half where the applicant has secured accommodation, and by up to 90% where food is also secured. The checklist does not define what evidence a consular post accepts, so ask your consulate directly rather than assuming the reduction applies.
How long is the D7 visa valid?
The visa itself is valid for four months and allows two entries. It exists so you can enter Portugal and attend an AIMA appointment, where it converts into a two-year residence permit, renewable for three years at a time.
How much time do I have to spend in Portugal on a D7?
At least sixteen months during the first two-year permit. On each three-year renewal you must not be absent for more than six consecutive months or eight months in total.
Working out what the move itself costs?
The visa is one line in a much bigger budget. Tell us where you are moving from and we will come back with a realistic picture of what your household would cost to move.
Sources
- Consulate General of Portugal, official D7 residency visa checklist, dated 9 December 2024
- Portaria n.º 1563/2007, Artigo 2.º, the ordinance defining means of subsistence
- Government of Portugal, minimum wage increase to €920 for 2026
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs, national visa legislation portal
- DECO PROTESTE, 2026 minimum wage gross and net figures
- Caixa Geral de Depósitos, what changes with the 2026 minimum wage
All sources accessed 28 August 2026. Visa rules and thresholds change, and consular practice varies between posts. Check the current checklist published by the consulate handling your application, and take advice from a professional licensed in Portugal before you rely on anything here.
