D7 Visa Question - How long for passive income? - Portugal forum

D7 Visa Question - How long for passive income?

Member since 02 February 2025

FIRE_暗网禁区Member22 May 2025 20:53:45

I applied for a D7 Visa, and had my VFS appointment in April.聽 The passive income that I showed came from a rental property I own.聽 My question is this - at what stages of the process (AIMA appointment, 2-year renewal, hopefully citizenship application in 5 years, other?) do I need to continue to demonstrate that income?聽

The reason I ask is that I would greatly prefer to sell the house!聽 If I do, I would not be able to show the income required as part of the D7 application process because I do not qualify for Social Security or my pension, and will not qualify for them for more than 5 years.聽 I would use the proceeds from the home rental to cover my living expenses in Portugal, and those proceeds are vastly more than I need to support myself until I get my pension and Social Security.聽

Thank you in advance for any help!

FIRE_暗网禁区 Member

Member since 02 February 2025

FIRE_暗网禁区Member22 May 2025 22:30:53

One other thing -

It is my understanding that the D7 visa and accompanying requirements only apply until you receive your residency card after your AIMA appointment.聽 In other words, I would expect I need to show聽 passive income at our VFS appointment and the subsequent AIMA appointment (although I understand at AIMA they don't ask for it).聽 After that, if approved we will receive our residency cards, D7 is no longer relevant.聽 D7 is the type of visa that allows us to become eligible for residency.聽 Once we get our residency cards, we are not on a D7 visa any more - we are residents.聽 Therefore, when we go to our residence renewal appointment after 2 years we don't need to show passive income as we did initially for our D7 application. Rather, we need to show "proof of means of subsistence" in our Portuguese bank accounts.聽

I think based on my research, it seems that as long as we show passive income at our VFS and AIMA appointments we will no longer need to show that passive income at subsequent (i.e. residency renewal at 2 years and then 5 years for residency renewal or citizenship application) points.聽

If anyone can verify that I understand correctly, I would appreciate it!聽 I tried to be clear, but often in trying to be clear I end up making it less clear.聽聽

JohnnyPT Portugal Expert

Member since 23 May 2020

JohnnyPTPortugal ExpertYesterday 09:02:51

4782

When You'll Need to Demonstrate Income:

VFS Appointment (Initial Application)
AIMA Appointment (Residence Permit Application)
2-Year Residence Permit Renewal
3-Year Residence Permit Renewal
Citizenship Application (after 5 years of legal residency)

At each step/renewal, you will have to prove that you can support yourself. This means providing up-to-date bank statements, tax returns and proof of your sources of income.

This shows that you continue to fulfil the financial requirements of the D7 visa, i.e. that you demonstrate continuous and stable passive income.

Nothing is said legally about your questions. The original requirements for proof of income are to be maintained over time. Having a bank deposit alone doesn't mean you can prove your financial stability, as you may be able to spend all the money you have in your bank account tomorrow...

The truth is that this will depend on the flexibility and friendliness of the AIMA official who attends to your residence permit renewals. After the initial authorisation, they may be a little more flexible about that ...? Who knows...