Author
Refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection have the same right to family reunification under the law.[1] While the right to family reunification encompasses the family members listed in the Asylum Act, its exercise is mostly governed by the provisions of the Immigration Act.[2]
In July 2025, Parliament approved an amendment to the Immigration Act introducing a more restrictive family reunification regime, including a two-year waiting period before a family reunification application could be lodged in respect of family members residing outside Portuguese territory. It was reported that CNMA was not consulted on these legislative changes.[3]
Following a request for preventive constitutional review, the Constitutional Court declared several provisions unconstitutional due to, inter alia, violations of the right to family life, the constitutional protection of the family, of motherhood and fatherhood, and of the protection of children; as well as the principles of equality, proportionality, and the right of access to justice and to the courts.[4] For instance, according to the Court, the cumulative effect of the proposed two-year waiting period and a decision-making deadline of nine months, extendable to eighteen months, risked imposing a forced separation of nearly four years.
Beneficiaries of international protection are exempt from the two-year waiting period for lodging a family reunification application,[5][6] as confirmed by the Constitutional Court in its judgment.
In October 2025, Parliament approved a second version of the amendment to the Immigration Act, which addressed the unconstitutionalities identified by the Court, and the legislation was promulgated.
The amendments to the Immigration Act entered into force on 23 October 2025. A transitional period was provided until April 2026 for family members already present in Portuguese territory, provided they had entered legally and met the requirements of Article 98.[7]
Eligible family members
A person granted international protection in Portugal can reunite with the following family members:[8]
- A spouse or unmarried partner,[9] including same-sex partners, if the relationship is regarded as a sustainable relationship i.e., at least 2 years of living together in conditions analogous to marriage;[10]
- Children under 18 years old if they are dependent on the sponsor and/or on their spouse or unmarried partner and regardless of their marital status. The right to family reunification also includes adopted children under 18 years old of the sponsor or of their spouse or unmarried partner. Adult children who lack legal capacity (e.g., for reasons of mental health) and are dependent on the sponsor and/or on their spouse or unmarried partner are also included; and
- Parents, if the sponsor is under 18 years old.
Unaccompanied children can apply for family reunification with their parent(s). In the absence of biological parents, the child can apply for family reunification with an adult responsible for them (e.g., grandparents, legal guardians, or other family members).
It is not required that family formation pre-dates entry into Portugal.
The list of eligible family members in the case of beneficiaries of international protection is more restrictive than that enshrined in the Immigration Act for migrants. The latter also includes: (i) dependent children over 18 years old who are unmarried and studying in Portugal; (ii) dependent first-degree ascendants in the direct line; (iii) siblings under 18 years old, as long as the resident is their guardian, according to a decision issued by the competent authority of the country of origin, duly recognised in Portugal.[11]
Family reunification procedure
The request for family reunification can be made immediately following the granting of international protection and there is no time limit for applying for family reunification upon arrival in Portugal.
According to the information provided by AIMA, applications for family reunification with family members living abroad or for the extension of international protection to family members already present in Portugal must be submitted by the sponsor at an AIMA office.[12] Applications are not accepted at Portuguese embassies.[13]
In recent years, CPR has observed significant challenges in obtaining appointments for family reunification, with extremely long waiting times that worsened from 2024 onwards. This has affected even unaccompanied children seeking reunification with a parent, and in 2025 CPR is aware of cases where beneficiaries were unable to secure an appointment at all.
According to media reports, AIMA conceded there are no vacancies for submitting family reunification applications apart from families with children already resident in Portugal.[14] The number of applications for family reunification halved between 2023 and 2024.[15]
The following official documents must be presented with the application:[16]
- Copy of the travel document of the family member;
- Criminal record of the family member, including country of nationality and any country of residence where the family member has lived for over 1 year;
- Where applicable, statement of parental authorisation from the other parent (if not travelling with the child);
- Death certificate of the child’s other parent or evidence of sole legal guardianship if original death certificate is not obtainable, where applicable.
The following official documents are required to prove family relations:
- Spouses: marriage certificate;
- Children: birth certificate, decision of adoption duly recognised by a national authority (if applicable); proof of legal incapacity of adult child (if applicable);
- Other adults in charge of an unaccompanied child: decision of guardianship duly recognised by a national authority.
In accordance with the law, all official documents need to be translated and duly legalised by the Portuguese embassy with territorial competence prior to their submission to AIMA.[17]
Regarding refugees, the law explicitly lays down that in the absence of official documents to demonstrate family relations, other types of proof should be taken into consideration. The application for family reunification cannot be refused on the sole basis of lack of documentary evidence.[18] Other types of proof can consist of interviews of the sponsor and family members; copies of original documents; witness testimonies; or common children in the case of unmarried partnerships. Portuguese authorities do not conduct DNA tests in the framework of family reunification applications. Even though not formally required, the law does not exclude DNA testing as means of proof of family relations.
In practice, this more favourable regime is generally extended to beneficiaries of subsidiary protection.
Furthermore, refugees are exempted from the general obligation to present proof of accommodation and income in family reunification procedures.[19] This legal provision has also been applied to beneficiaries of subsidiary protection.
The application may be refused on the following grounds:
- Misrepresentation or omission of facts;
- Non-fulfilment of legal requirements;
- Where the potential beneficiary family member would be excluded from refugee status or subsidiary protection;[20]
- Where the potential beneficiary is barred from entering Portugal; and/or
- Where the potential beneficiary poses a risk to public order, public security or public health.
Non-fulfilment of legal requirements may involve: (a) lack of adequate travel documents; (b) lack of criminal records of the potential beneficiary family member; (c) situations where a parent other than the sponsor has not authorised the family reunification of their child with the sponsor; or (d) non-eligibility of the family member.[21]
Until October 2025, the application had to be decided within 3 months, with a possible extension for an additional 3 months if the delay was duly justified by the complexity of the case. In case of extension, the applicant was to be informed of the reasons thereof.[22] In the absence of a decision within 6 months of the date of the application, and unless the applicant bore responsibility for the delay (e.g., by failing to respond to a request for additional information or documents), the application was deemed automatically accepted.
Following the 2025 amendment, the decision-making deadline is nine months, with a possible further extension of nine months where the delay is duly justified by the complexity of the case. In the event of such an extension, the applicant is to be informed accordingly. Unlike the previous framework, the amended regime no longer provides for tacit acceptance in the absence of a decision within the maximum statutory deadline.
A decision refusing an application for family reunification may be appealed in the administrative courts. In the absence of specific deadlines and procedures, the general rules on administrative appeals apply.[23] CPR does not have experience with appeals in this domain.
Within the context of resettlement, CPR has observed that, until the termination of its activity in October 2023, ACM developed efforts to identify family members of resettled refugees present in Türkiye and Egypt in order to assess the possibility of including such persons in resettlement quotas. For information on other forms of admission to the territory, see Access to the Territory and Push-backs.
According to AIMA, data on the number of family reunification applications submitted by beneficiaries of international protection in 2025 is not available. 8 decisions were issued in 2025; however, no data is available on the outcome of those decisions and the average duration of the procedure.
[1] Article 68(1) Asylum Act.
[2] Ibid. Articles 98 et seq Immigration Act.
[3] Público, Conselho Nacional para as Migrações não foi ouvido para mudanças de leis, 26 June 2025, available here.
[4] Judgment of the Constitutional Court 785/2025, 8 August 2025, available here.
[5] Article 98(5) Immigration Act.
[6] In a meeting with the Office of the President of the Republic held in connection with the approval of the legislation, CPR argued that such an exemption should be set out in the legislation in a more explicit and specific manner, so as to avoid legal uncertainty. See CPR, Posição do CPR sobre as alterações propostas à Lei de Estrangeiros e o seu impacto na Lei de Asilo e na situação dos Beneficiários de Protecção Internacional, July 2025, available here (in Portuguese).
[7] Articles 7 and 9, Act 61/2025 of 22 October 2025.
[8] Articles 68 and 2(1)(k) Asylum Act.
[9] Both the sponsor and the spouse/unmarried partner must be at least 18 years old.
[10] Unmarried partner unions may be attested by any means of proof provided in the law (testimony, documentary proof, affidavit, common children, etc.) In accordance with the law, when a refugee is unable to present official documents to prove his or her family relations, other means of proof will be taken into consideration.
[11] Article 99 Immigration Act.
[12] Information provided by AIMA, 25 June 2024.
[13] In very limited cases, the application for family reunification may be filled online here.
[14] See Expresso, Reagrupamento familiar caiu para metade entre 2023 e 2024: só famílias com crianças já residentes em Portugal são aceites, 12 June 2025, available here.
[15] Idem.
[16] Article 103 Immigration Act; Article 67 Governmental Decree n. 84/2007 of 5 November 2007.
[17] According to CPR’s experience, documents in English, French and Spanish were usually accepted without translation by SEF. AIMA’s practice in this regard is not yet clear.
[18] Article 106(4) Immigration Act.
[19] Article 101(2) Immigration Act.
[20] Article 68(3) Asylum Act.
[21] Article 106 Immigration Act.
[22] Article 105 Immigration Act.
[23] General rules provided in the Administrative Procedure Code – CPA – (available here), and in the Code of Procedure in Administrative Courts – CPTA – (available here). Notably, article 58(1)(b) CPTA provides for a general deadline for appeal of 3 months.