9 months to decide a family-reunification application, extendable by an equal period in exceptional circumstances tied to the complexity of the analysis.●Verified ·
Unit
months
Issuing authority
Diário da República — Lei n.º 23/2007 (texto consolidado)
Legal instrument
Art. 105.º n.º 1 e n.º 2, Lei n.º 23/2007 (red. Lei n.º 61/2025)
Last verified
Review cadence
quarterly
Notes
Art. 105.º n.º 1 sets a 9-month decision deadline (raised from the former 3+3 months by Lei n.º 61/2025, in force 23 October 2025), extendable for an equal period in exceptional, complexity-related cases (excluding the Art. 98.º n.os 1 e 2 situations). The former n.º 3 tacit-approval rule (deferimento tácito after 6 months) was revoked and not replaced — so silence is no longer an implicit approval. Real-world processing frequently runs longer than the statutory deadline.
Change history
Initial capture9 months to decide a family-reunification application, extendable by an equal period in exceptional circumstances tied to the complexity of the analysis.
No further changes recorded yet — unchanged since it was first captured.
