Stopped at Schengen airport with valid residency card

Residencies & citizenships Portugal Golden Visa
21

Eh, the German officials are annoying. I entered in Portugal but left through Germany, and they asked me for military ID.

22

Unless you’re trying to aviod a 2 hour wait in Portugal, versus 15 mins in Frankfurt or Munich

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23

Just flew into Lisbon (from the US - direct). No kids so we all got to use the electronic gates. We were through the gates, picked up our checked luggage and were at the rental car counter in 30 mins. Was pleasantly surprised, was expecting way worse.

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24

Those overnight US flights often arrive early enough to avoid the airport crowds.

25

Arrived around 12:30pm. Was certainly crowded but I don’t have a good frame of reference for whether it gets much worse. Someone told me the line for non-e-gates was 2+ hours when we were there.

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26

Lunch time & early afternoon is the best time to
pass through Lisbon ( for speed of transit through immigration)
Worst, early morning ( except the first one or maybe two flights).
IMHO

27

Or get the last flight out of London on BA that arrives near midnight into Lisbon.

28

Well, I must share our experience of getting in through Lisbon Airport yesterday. This is crucial for all of us as it could happen to any GVR cardholders.

We almost got stopped at Lisbon Airport on 20th June 2025 and the problem was that we travelled more than 6 months after the issuance of our first GVR cards. The Immigration Officer who looked at our passports and cards at the Humberto Delgado Airport said that family members of the main applicant cannot stay out of Portugal for more than 6 months.

I told him that we are in the Golden Visa investment category so the rules would likely be different compared to other categories of temporary residence cards. He said that was not the case. He was not rude or anything. In fact, quite nice and genuinely wanted to help, but it seemed to me he thought he was constrained by rules and regulations.

Eventually, he relented and let us through, but this can be quite a problem. I mean we thought we only need to do 14 days every 2 years, right? So what is this about family members not being allowed to remain outside of Portugal for than 6 months??

This goes against the very reason many applicants chose the Portuguese GVR programme as opposed to the other ones on offer. Portugal was the country with minimal physical residency requirements. Most of us have lives in other countries with jobs outside portugal and children going to school or Uni that make frequet travel to Portugal logistically and even financially difficult if not impossible.

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29

Just curious why you used your residency cards? Is this because you are from a country that otherwise requires a travel visa?

30

I guess Portuguese legislation is full of more holes than Swiss cheese? Here is the article regulating stay: ::: Dec. Reglm. n.Âș 84/2007, de 05 de Novembro

Artigo 65.Âș-C
Prazos mĂ­nimos de permanĂȘncia

Para efeitos de renovação de autorização de residĂȘncia, os cidadĂŁos requerentes referidos no artigo 90.Âș-A da Lei n.Âș 23/2007, de 4 de julho, na sua redação atual, devem cumprir os seguintes prazos mĂ­nimos de permanĂȘncia:
a) 7 dias, seguidos ou interpolados, no 1.Âș ano;
b) 14 dias, seguidos ou interpolados, nos subsequentes perĂ­odos de dois anos.

It seems the 7 day stay only explicitly mentions applicants of 90-A which if interpreted tightly maybe only refers to the main applicants: ::: Lei n.Âș 23/2007, de 04 de Julho

But the Mais Habitação law which converted GV to D2 for real estate investors, says that for the cancelled categories of real estate, the reduced stay for D2 is applicable to both investors and dependents: https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/detalhe/lei/56-2023-222477692

Artigo 42.Âș

AutorizaçÔes de residĂȘncia para atividade de investimento

1 - NĂŁo sĂŁo admitidos novos pedidos de autorização de residĂȘncia para atividade de investimento, concedidos ao abrigo do disposto nas subalĂ­neas i), iii) e iv) da alĂ­nea d) do n.Âș 1 do artigo 3.Âș da Lei n.Âș 23/2007, de 4 de julho, na redação anterior Ă  entrada em vigor da presente lei, nos termos previstos no seu artigo 90.Âș-A, a partir da data da entrada em vigor da presente lei.

2 - O disposto no nĂșmero anterior nĂŁo prejudica a possibilidade de renovação das autorizaçÔes de residĂȘncia para atividade de investimento quando essas autorizaçÔes tenham sido concedidas ao abrigo do regime legal aplicĂĄvel atĂ© Ă  data da entrada em vigor da presente lei.

3 - O disposto no nĂșmero anterior Ă© igualmente aplicĂĄvel Ă  concessĂŁo ou renovação de autorizaçÔes de residĂȘncia para reagrupamento familiar previstas no artigo 98.Âș da Lei n.Âș 23/2007, de 4 de julho.

4 - O disposto no n.Âș 2 Ă© ainda aplicĂĄvel aos cidadĂŁos titulares de autorização de residĂȘncia para atividade de investimento e seus familiares que cumpram os requisitos previstos no artigo 80.Âș da Lei n.Âș 23/2007, de 4 de julho, e pretendam requerer a concessĂŁo de uma autorização de residĂȘncia para atividade de investimento permanente, excecionando a este regime o previsto na alĂ­nea b) do n.Âș 2 e nos n.os 3 e 4 do artigo 85.Âș do mesmo diploma.

5 - Nos casos previstos nos nĂșmeros anteriores, a renovação determina a conversĂŁo da autorização de residĂȘncia numa autorização de residĂȘncia para imigrantes empreendedores, nos termos do n.Âș 4 do artigo 89.Âș da Lei n.Âș 23/2007, de 4 de julho, devendo os seus titulares cumprir o prazo mĂ­nimo de permanĂȘncia de sete dias, seguidos ou interpolados, no primeiro ano e de 14 dias, seguidos ou interpolados, nos subsequentes perĂ­odos de dois anos.

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31

I would recommend entering on the US passport and if you stay more than 90 days show your residency card. You still have to show passport at customs anyways .

32

When I entered, the officer scanned the residence card on a machine. I think maybe in their internal system there’s a special mark or so to record different categories of entry (e.g. visitor, resident, etc)? Just a guess.

33

I landed in Lisbon last Month (in May), which was 10.5 months after the issuance of my family members’ dependent GV cards. No issue at all.

34

I didn’t even show my residence cards. Just used passport (US).

35

If you are from a country that doesnt require a visa to enter Portugal, you can show your passports offcourse,not everyone is from US, but there are people in this forum who needs a visa to enter Portugal. Showing their country passports is not enough hence we need to show our resident cards.
Yet, it is a valid concern for my dependants and I will ask my lawyer for their advise.

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36

Oh so probably that was what the immigration officer tried to explain me when we landed in Lisbon a week ago (Stopped at Schengen airport with valid residency card - #19 by w00zle)
 But he did not say “dependants”, he said “minors”, that is why I did not really understand the issue (particularly as my daughter turned 18 last year, so she is not a minor anymore).

Good to know. I wonder if something similar may happen with dependants while entering other Schengen countries?..

37

Yes, I need a Schengen Visa which I have obtained several times, but the latest one has expired. Any way, he finally let us through. Frankly, he was doing his best to be helpful but was not clear on the requirements.

38

If dependents are really only allowed 6 months outside Portugal during duration of the card, the real issue is not just the entry, but that card renewal will be refused for those who don’t meet the requirements.

This would be yet another big slap in the face to GV holders.

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39

I believe this was just a case of a mistaken agent. We have plenty of examples on the forums of both primary applicants and their dependents coming in and out for brief periods only.

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40

The agent is mistaken. Holding dependents to a stricter regime than the primary holder makes no sense. Though this is a warning that we should carry a copy of the regulations when we travel.

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