Portugal Retirement Visa 2026: The D7 for Retirees, and Why It Is Not Golden

What is the Portugal retirement visa?

Portugal's retirement visa is the D7 residence visa, granted to non-EU nationals who live from a pension or from passive income such as rent, dividends, interest or intellectual property. No investment is required: you qualify on means of at least the national minimum wage, EUR 920 a month in 2026, which must be available in Portugal.

D7 is the common name for the residence visa that Lei 23/2007, Portugal's foreigners law, grants to retirees and to people living from their own income. You do not need to have reached retirement age, because the same visa serves anyone who lives from passive income, which is why many people search for it as Portugal's passive income visa. Once in Portugal, you hold a temporary residence permit issued by AIMA, the Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo.

Who can apply for the D7, and who does not need it?

Non-EU nationals can apply for the D7, because Portugal's foreigners law grants residence visas only to third-country nationals. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens do not need it: free movement already lets them live in Portugal, so they rely on that instead, and nothing in this guide is a route for them.

The D7 suits a non-EU retiree who wants to make Portugal home and live there most of the year. It suits less well a retiree who wants a second residence for a few weeks a year; for that profile, the golden routes later in this guide fit better.

How much income do you need for the D7 in 2026?

The D7 asks for means of at least EUR 920 a month for the first adult in 2026, which is 100% of Portugal's national minimum wage under Decreto-Lei 139/2025. Each further adult adds 50%, or EUR 460 a month, and each child adds 30%, or EUR 276, with the means assured for at least 12 months and available in Portugal.

The scale comes from Portaria 1563/2007, which ties the means test to the minimum wage, and the 2026 minimum wage of EUR 920 is confirmed by DGERT, the labour ministry's directorate-general. Because the floor follows the minimum wage, it changes whenever the minimum wage changes.

Retirees prove a pension certified by the body that pays it; people living from passive income prove income from property, intellectual property or financial investments. The rules test income: Portugal names no savings-only or net-worth alternative, so capital counts through the income it produces. Our guide to retirement visas on savings covers routes that accept a balance or a deposit directly.

How do you apply for the D7 as a retiree?

You apply for the D7 in two stages: first the residence visa at a Portuguese consulate, then, once you are in Portugal, the residence permit with AIMA. You show a pension certificate or proof of passive income, with means assured for at least 12 months and available in Portugal, together with the documents the consulate lists.

1. Prove your means. Obtain a pension certificate from the paying body, or proof of passive income, and make the means available in Portugal.
2. Apply for the residence visa. File at a Portuguese consulate with the documents listed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for retirement or passive income.
3. Obtain the residence permit. Travel to Portugal on the visa and apply to AIMA for the temporary residence permit, valid for two years.
4. Renew, then settle. Renew for three-year periods, then apply for permanent residence after five years of legal residence, with A2 Portuguese.

We quote no processing time or fee for the D7, because neither is yet confirmed in our verified data; the consulate and AIMA confirm both when you apply.

Want your pension and family checked against the D7 means scale before you apply? Book a free consultation with a Mirabello specialist.

How long can you stay outside Portugal on a D7?

Portugal sets no minimum stay for the D7, but a temporary permit may be cancelled after an unjustified absence of six consecutive months, or eight months in total over its validity, under article 85 of Lei 23/2007. Over a two-year permit, eight months away averages four months a year, so the D7 assumes you live in Portugal.

The temporary permit is valid for two years and renews for three-year periods. After five years of legal residence you can apply for permanent residence, with A2 Portuguese, and a permanent permit is far more flexible: it may be cancelled only after 24 consecutive months, or 30 months in three years, of unjustified absence. The full rules are in the consolidated text of Lei 23/2007.

Presence also decides tax. Portugal treats you as tax-resident if you spend more than 183 days in any 12-month period there, or hold a home there in conditions that suggest you intend to keep it as your habitual residence, under article 16 of the Personal Income Tax Code. A D7 holder who lives in Portugal as the permit expects will usually meet that test. Our guide to retirement residency without relocating compares routes with lighter presence rules.

How is a foreign pension taxed for a D7 holder?

A D7 holder who becomes tax-resident in Portugal is taxed on worldwide income. A foreign pension falls under the progressive scale of 12.5% to 48% for 2026, plus a solidarity surcharge of 2.5% to 5% on high incomes, and dividends and gains on securities generally under a flat 28%. The former NHR regime is closed to newcomers.

IFICI, sometimes called NHR 2.0, offers a 20% rate on qualifying Portuguese professional income and an exemption for most foreign-source income, but the Portuguese Tax and Customs Authority excludes pensions from that exemption, and the regime is designed for people working in qualifying scientific, technological and other listed activities, not for retirees. Our guide to Portugal's IFICI regime explains who qualifies.

Portugal has no net wealth tax and no inheritance tax as such: stamp duty of 10% applies to gifts and inheritances, with spouses, descendants and ascendants exempt.

Portugal has tax treaties with more than 80 countries, and your home country may still tax your pension under its own law and its treaty with Portugal; the United States taxes its citizens on worldwide income wherever they live. Our guide to countries that don't tax foreign pensions compares the routes on this point. This is general information, not tax advice.

When can a D7 holder apply for Portuguese citizenship?

A D7 holder can apply for Portuguese citizenship by naturalisation after 10 years of legal residence, or after 7 years for nationals of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), under Lei 37/81 as amended by Lei Orgânica 1/2026. The D7 itself grants residence only; citizenship is a separate application with its own conditions.

Lei Orgânica 1/2026 entered into force on 19 May 2026, and only naturalisation applications already pending on that date continue under the previous rules. Applicants must also show sufficient knowledge of Portuguese language and culture, by test or certificate, a clean criminal and security record and the means to support themselves. The text of Lei Orgânica 1/2026 is in the Diário da República, and our article on the 2026 nationality law explains the change in detail.

Why is the D7 not a golden retirement visa?

The D7 is not a golden retirement visa because it falls short of the standard on tax and presence. The Mirabello Golden Retirement Index scores it 46.5 out of 100, with confidence grade A: a foreign pension is taxed once you are tax-resident, the absence limits amount to living in Portugal, and the income must be available in Portugal.

A golden retirement visa is a residence permit, not citizenship, with no investment required, that also leaves foreign income untaxed or lightly taxed and asks for little presence. A route is Golden only if it scores at least 70, earns grade A or B, and does not fail on tax of foreign income, presence or renewal. The D7's pillar scores show where the gaps lie:

• Tax on foreign income: 2.5 of 25. Worldwide taxation, with no regime for foreign pensions open to newcomers.
• Presence: 10 of 20. The absence limits mean living in the country.
• Financial test: 11 of 15. A modest floor and no investment, but the means must be available in Portugal.
• Durability: 4 of 12. A two-year permit, then three-year renewals.
• Processing: 8 of 8. Full marks.
• The rest: 11 of 20. Healthcare 3 of 5, family, work and travel 3 of 5, and permanent residence and citizenship 5 of 10.

Grade A means the sources are strong; the result reflects the route's design, not any doubt about it. Portugal built the D7 for people who move there, and judged on that purpose it works well.

What does the D7 offer a retiree who wants to live in Portugal?

The D7 offers a non-EU retiree residence in an EU and Schengen country with no investment, an income floor of EUR 920 a month tied to the minimum wage, a fixed scale for a spouse and children, and a defined path to permanent residence after five years and to naturalisation after ten years, or seven for CPLP nationals.

Passive income counts as well as a pension, so the route also fits someone who lives from rent, dividends or interest before retirement age. A Portuguese residence permit allows short visits within the Schengen area, up to 90 days in any 180, and Portugal levies no net wealth tax. For a retiree who wants to settle in Portugal and accepts Portuguese tax residence, those are real advantages; the D7 is simply not designed for a retiree who wants low presence and low tax on foreign income.

Which retirement visas meet the golden standard if the D7 does not fit?

If you want little presence and little tax on a foreign pension, several Golden routes are open to non-EU retirees. In Europe, Cyprus Category F scores 75.4 and is permanent from grant; outside Europe, Panama's Pensionado scores 90, Guatemala's pensionado and rentista route 82.5, and Mauritius's retired non-citizen permit 76.1.

Cyprus Category F is the closest European alternative for a non-EU national and, like the D7, is closed to EU, EEA and Swiss citizens. Panama's Pensionado and Guatemala's pensionado and rentista residence tax only local-source income, while Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean, taxes foreign income only when it is brought into the country, which includes the transfers its permit requires. Compare every Golden route on the Mirabello Golden Retirement Index, or see every route, golden or not, in our retirement residency directory. Unsure which suits your pension? Speak to a Mirabello specialist.

If you want residence in Portugal itself without living there, the Portugal Golden Visa is an investment route for non-EU nationals, with a stay of 7 days in the first year and 14 days in each later two-year period. It requires an investment, so it is a golden visa rather than a golden retirement visa; our golden visa directory compares it with other investment routes.

What do some guides get wrong about the D7?

Some guides repeat figures and promises that no longer hold in 2026. Five corrections matter most: the income floor is EUR 920 a month, not EUR 870; citizenship takes 10 years for most nationalities, not 5; the NHR regime is closed to newcomers; "no minimum stay" hides strict absence limits; and a savings balance alone is not the test.

• EUR 870. EUR 870 was the 2025 minimum wage. The 2026 floor is EUR 920 under Decreto-Lei 139/2025, and it moves with the minimum wage.
• Citizenship after 5 years. Lei Orgânica 1/2026 moved naturalisation to 10 years of legal residence for most nationalities, or 7 for CPLP nationals, for any application not already pending on 19 May 2026.
• NHR for pensions. NHR is closed to new entrants, and IFICI excludes foreign pensions.
• "No minimum stay". True on paper, but the absence limits above still apply.
• Savings in the bank. The rules test income; a balance on its own is not named as an alternative.