After you have been approved for your Portuguese D7 Visa AND gone to your first D7 Residency Visa extension appointment, you get a year to stay in Portugal. That means that you need to go to a second appointment before your residency card expires. You can do that directly on the SEF website. I recommend that you begin to check for dates about 4 months after you get your first renewal. We waited 6 months and did not get our appointment for 2 months after our título de residência – residency card had expired. It was not a huge deal, I will explain what you need to do later in this article, but let me get you familiarized with how your second D7 visa renewal appointment will go.
We came pretty well prepared…or so we thought. In Portugal (as you will soon learn), things depend on who you speak to, so while Antonio and I both brought in the exact same documentation, I had no issues, and he was asked to come back a second day with more documents. Here I will outline what we brought and the items he was asked to bring along with him:
What to Expect at Your Second Portuguese D7 Residency Visa Appointment
What to Bring to bring to your D7 Residency Visa Renewal Appointment
We came pretty well prepared…or so we thought. In Portugal (as you will soon learn), things depend on who you speak to, so while Antonio and I both brought in the exact same documentation, I had no issues, and he was asked to come back a second day with more documents. Here I will outline what we brought and the items he was asked to bring along with him:- Current US Passport
- Proof of Money – We brought stock statements & US bank accounts
- Proof of Housing – Current lease that has been registered at the AT
- AT Tax Statement for the previous year
- Proof of Insurance
- Proof that you are not using the Social Security System
- Proof that you do not owe money in taxes
- Proof that you have a Portuguese bank account
Hour By Hour Breakdown
The day before the appointment we both got an SMS from the SEF to remind us of the appointment date. We had our appointments at 9:15 am.- 8:00 am – Arrive at SEF offices. Get on line.
- 8:15 am – There is an announcement that the SEF is on strike but that some people are still working. We stay on the line.
- 8:30 am – Doors open. They slowly let people into the offices.
- 9:15 am – We’re inside and are told to go to the desk upfront.
- 9:16 am – We give our names and are each given a piece of paper to fill out (bring a pen)
- 9:45 am – I am called up. I hand in my documents, and I am good to go in about 10 minutes. They take a digital picture, fingerprints and a signature. My agent takes my residency card and punches a hole in it. Gives it back. I am told to take my number and wait to be called up to the payment window.
- 9:50 am – Antonio is called up. He hands in his documents and his person tells him they are not enough. He is told he can pay and that his transaction will be run though, but that he needs to return with proper proof. He takes his picture, fingerprints and signature. His agent takes his residency card, punches a hole in it and gives it back.
- 10:10 am – I am called up to pay. We both go up and explain we are together. If you are wondering how much it cost to get our second D7 Visa renewal, it was €324 for the both of us.
- Unlike last year, when we were given a choice to pick up or have it mailed, this year we could only have it mailed home. We are told it should take about 7 business days.
Hi again. Can you expand on the “AT Tax Statement”. Is that US or Portugal. We are not registered for taxation in our current country of residence (Philippines)and are no longer registered for taxation in Australia. We are a long way off for this part of the process but I want to be prepared. Thanks.
Hi David,
This is something you won’t need until your 2nd D7 visa renewal. Basically, when you go in for your visa renewal (not the first one), the SEF asks for AT statemement (also called financas – which is the tax authority) because they want to know that you are paying your taxes. You will not need this for your first D7 residency visa appointment. This was our experience at our first appointment: https://blancavalbuena.com/portuguese-d7-residency-visa-appointment/
Hope that helps,
Blanca
Thanks.
Hi Blanca,
Can you advice a law firm to assist us with D7 Visa. We are interested but want to use a good law firm to have the right advice. Thanks
Hi Assia,
We did all the paperwork ourselves, but if you are looking for a list of approved lawyers, check out our grow area. We’ve got lists of approved vendors that have been vetted either by Antonio and myself or friends who have used them.
Blanca
Hi Blanca,
You mentioned that you were advised to use your NIF for regular purchases throughout the year to prove your residency in Portugal. Were you actually asked for these receipts during your D7 renewal?
Thank you!
Hi Blanca,
Thanks for sharing extremely useful information.
We moved to Portugal by D7 Visa about one year ago. In June we have second appointment for renewal. Could you tell me please, did SEF ask you the certificate from Seguranca Social that you don’t use their system? I didn’t find this info anywhere on their website. Also did they ask you Registo Criminal or not?
Thank you.
Hi Suzzane,
Funny enough, I was not asked to present my NIF receipts at the SEF meeting. However, when you sign into the AT portal, you can see the stuff that was purchased. The AT categorizes it too.
Blanca
Hi Ivan,
Nope. The second meeting was very similar to the first. The SEF did not ask me for a certificate from Seguranca Social and they did not ask for a registro criminal. The big thing for them was that we show a Portuguese bank account with money in it 🙂
Good luck with your meeting.
Blanca
LOVE YOUR BLOG!!! >> Used its insights to successfully get the D7 Visa, so sincere thanks to you for putting out quality information
A few questions for you on Taxes
Know you talked about them in the article, but still unclear on some stuff and Google searches aren’t producing any leads either…
Questions are as follows – >>
For a person who has gotten the D7 Residency Visa and have been in Portugal for LESS THAN ONE YEAR —
1) What kind of taxes need to be paid? (types of taxes, and amounts/percentages)
2) When do those taxes have to be paid by? (any particular dates?)
3) How would you recommend finding more info on this? (beyond your blog, of course)
4) What else (if anything) do you think is important to know on Taxes – as U.S. citizen – in Portugal, and again – being a D7 resident for LESS THAN 1 year?
Thanks for the kind words, Alex!
Just to be clear, I am not a tax expert or professional, so I am sharing what I have learned during my time here, but I definitely recommend that you speak to an English speaking tax attorney here in Portugal about your particular situation.
First thing you need to look into is applying for the NHR status. If you are eligible, you will be taxed on fewer types of outside income. This is a biggie and I would suggest if you don’t already have this done, that you look into it.
If you get the NHR, you will still have to pay US taxes (we all do), but you won’t be double taxed here on certain kinds of income such as rental income or retirement money.
The tax scale varies here according to your income.
The tax year runs from Jan 1 to Dec.
This year (2018 taxes) had to be filed before July 1, 2019.
If you live in Portugal for 183 days or more during the year you have to file taxes in Portugal on both local and international income.
The taxes for you will vary if you are married, if you have investments, if you’re an independent contractor…there are many many factors…so this is why I definitely recommend that you speak with a tax attorney.
Hope this at least gets you on the right path.
Blanca 🙂
Hi Blanca,
Could you please explain what the stay requirements are for the D7 Visa. My understanding is you can’t be gone from Portugal for more than 6 consecutive months. Are you required to spend a minimum of 183 days in Portugal?
Thanks,
Steve
Hi Steve,
Thanks for checking out the post. I actually have a whole blog post dedicated to how to get the Portuguese D7 visa. Mind you I went through the process in 2017, but check the comments. People have been adding their experience on this Portuguese residency visa since things change so fast. Hope it helps,
Blanca
Hi Blanca:
Thanks for the wonderful article. I have a question about the NIF receipts. Surely they do not wish to see all of your expenses. No?
Could you give me an idea of what types of expenses and how many of them they expect to see?
Thanks Tom
You are correct. Adding the “contribuinte” to your receipts is totally voluntary. I use it when I go grocery shopping, buy clothes, or pay for services.