Portugal D7 visa: is your passive income enough?

The figure above is what one person must show for the D7: twelve months of Portugal's minimum wage. A second adult adds half of it and each child three tenths, so decide who is coming with you before you count your income.

It is what Portugal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs asks a single D7 applicant to show: stable and regular means covering at least twelve months, measured against the national minimum monthly wage. It is your own income or money, shown to the consulate. Nothing is paid over.

Deciding who comes with you looks like a family decision, but it is also a money decision: every person you bring raises the amount you must show.

The yardstick is the minimum monthly wage, net of social security deductions, which Portugal sets by decree. When the minimum wage changes, the amount changes with it, so check the date above against the date of any calculation you are relying on.

Family members change the amount

That amount is for one person. Each person who comes with you adds to it, and the two add-on amounts shown above are those additions:

• A second adult, and each further adult, adds half of the single-person amount.
• Each child under 18, and each dependent child over 18, adds three tenths of it.

A couple therefore needs one and a half times the single-person amount, before any children are counted.

What counts as passive income

For the D7, the ministry's documentation list asks for proof of one of two things: a retirement pension, or income from property, intellectual property or financial assets. The test is that the means are stable and regular and cover at least twelve months; the consulate judges that from the documents you give it.

The ministry's pages set the amount and the twelve-month period. The consulate where you apply may ask for particular evidence, such as statements from a specific kind of account, so check its own list before you move money.

What to ask before you pay

Before comparing a quote against anything, sort which charges are the government's and which are the firm's own.

Charges that go to the government:

• The consular fee for the visa, paid when you apply.
• The fees for the residence permit you apply for after you arrive.

Charges that are the firm's own:

• A lawyer's or adviser's fee for preparing the application. It should sit on its own line, separate from the government fees.

A few questions are worth asking directly:

1. How many people are coming with you, and has the amount been scaled for each of them?
2. Which income is being counted (pension, rent, dividends, royalties), and do the documents show it arriving regularly?
3. Which year's minimum wage is the calculation based on?
4. What evidence does your consulate ask for, and from which account?
5. Is the quote itemised: the consular fee, the residence-permit fees, and the firm's own fee?

Check your own figure against the requirement using the box below. No account and no document are needed: just the income or savings you can show, and the period it covers. The check compares figures only. It does not look at your application or advise on it; for advice on your own case, speak to a qualified immigration lawyer.

General information, not legal advice.