Law 61/2025 restructured Portugal's family reunification regime with effect from 23 October 2025. The headline change for Madeira relocations: D8 (digital nomad) visa holders must now reside in Portugal for a period before applying to bring family members, where previously family could in many cases apply alongside the main applicant. If your move depends on bringing a spouse or children, your visa route now carries a family-timing consequence it did not before.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU. If you are choosing between a D7 and a D8 visa and you plan to bring family, this change may make the D7 route materially better for your situation — because the family-timing restriction falls hardest on D8 holders.
WHAT CHANGED. Law 61/2025 restructured the family reunification regime from 23 October 2025. The change most relevant to our clients: the introduction of a residency-duration requirement before certain visa holders — D8 in particular — can apply for family reunification. Previously, a main applicant could, in many cases, include or quickly follow with family members. The restructured regime introduces a waiting period tied to the applicant's own residency before that reunification application can be made. The exact waiting period and eligible categories continue to be refined in implementation — confirm the current position before you commit to a route.
THE PRACTICAL EFFECT: D7 VS D8. D7 (passive income — pensions, dividends, rental, investment): historically the more immediate family route. D8 (remote salary or foreign clients): now subject to the restructured waiting period. For a family relocating together, where the main applicant's income would qualify for either route, the family-reunification treatment is now a real factor in choosing between D7 and D8 — not just the income-type test.