NextSpring

Family Reunification Waits Two Years, Unless the Family Is Children or the Money Is Big

Answer

The general rule applies to you

No exception is recorded for citizens of Uruguay on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.

98 exceptions recorded across 37 countries · none match Uruguay to Portugal · Residency through marriage

Portugal does not let a resident bring their family immediately. The right belongs to the holder of a residence permit valid for at least two years - fifteen months for a spouse who lived with them for at least eighteen months before they came. The wait does not apply at all to dependent minors, to a spouse who is the other parent of a dependent minor, or to the family of someone holding a permit for highly qualified activity, investment or the tech visa. Who counts as family is a seven-item list reaching spouses, minor and adopted children, adult children who are unmarried and studying, dependent parents in the first degree, and minor siblings under the resident's guardianship. The applicant must then show accommodation and means for everyone, both fixed by ministerial order, and the family must attend Portuguese language and civic training afterwards.

Verified with official sourceActively changing right nowlast checked 2026-10-09

At a glance

How long you must have held your permit
Two years
Spouse who lived with you 18 months before you came
Fifteen months
No wait at all
Dependent minors, a spouse who is their other parent, and families of highly qualified, investment and tech-visa holders

Article 98(3).

Whether the relationship predates your arrival
Irrelevant - the article says so
Dependent parents
Included, in the first degree of the direct line
Refugees
Exempt from the accommodation and means conditions

Article 101(2).

After the permit
Language and civic training, and school for minors

Requirements

  • A residence permit held for at least two years, or fifteen months for a long-cohabiting spouse
  • Cohabitation with, or dependence of, the family member
  • Accommodation considered normal for a comparable family in the same region, as defined by ministerial order
  • Means of subsistence for everyone without recourse to social support, as defined by ministerial order
  • Attendance at Portuguese language and civic training after the permit is granted

What applies to you

Nothing changes for a citizen of Uruguay

We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.

What the law says

Text layer - verbatim verifiedLei n.º 23/2007, com as alterações até à Lei n.º 61/2025 · Artigo 98.º
«O titular de autorização de residência válida há pelo menos dois anos tem direito ao reagrupamento familiar com os membros da família abrangidos pelos artigos 99.º e 100.º, desde que com ele tenham coabitado ou que dele dependam, independentemente de os laços familiares serem anteriores ou posteriores à entrada do residente em território nacional. 2 - O período de duração da autorização de residência previsto no número anterior é de 15 meses relativamente ao cônjuge ou equiparado que com o titular tenha coabitado durante, pelo menos, 18 meses no período imediatamente anterior à entrada deste em território nacional. 3 - O prazo previsto no n.º 1 não se aplica aos seguintes membros da família do requerente: a) Menores ou incapazes a cargo; b) Cônjuge ou equiparado que seja, com o titular de autorização de residência, progenitor ou adotante de menor ou incapaz a cargo; c) Membros da família do titular de autorização de residência concedida ao abrigo dos artigos 90.º, 90.º-A ou 121.º-A. 4 - O prazo previsto nos n.os 1 e 2 pode ser dispensado ou reduzido em casos excecionais devidamente fundamentados, por despacho do membro do Governo responsável pela área das migrações, tendo em consideração a natureza e a solidez dos laços familiares»

The waiting period, the shorter one for a long-cohabiting spouse, the three cases with no wait, and a discretion to waive it. The sentence that makes the date of the marriage irrelevant is in the first paragraph.

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About this source

The Lisbon public prosecutor's legal database, which has carried consolidated Portuguese statutes in plain HTML for two decades. Each statute is served at a stable numeric address with its full amendment history at the head of the page, named act by act and dated.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: Not the official gazette and not the authentic text: the Diário da República publishes that, and where the two differ the gazette governs. The consolidation is the office's own editorial work and the page does not say who made it or when it was last revised - only which amending acts it claims to carry. The site is served as ISO-8859-1 with the charset in a meta tag, so a fetch that assumes UTF-8 destroys every accented letter.

We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedLei n.º 23/2007, com as alterações até à Lei n.º 61/2025 · Artigo 99.º, n.º 1
«Para efeitos do disposto no artigo anterior, consideram-se membros da família do residente: a) O cônjuge; b) Os filhos menores ou incapazes a cargo do casal ou de um dos cônjuges; c) Os menores adotados pelo requerente quando não seja casado, pelo requerente ou pelo cônjuge, por efeito de decisão da autoridade competente do país de origem, desde que a lei desse país reconheça aos adotados direitos e deveres idênticos aos da filiação natural e que a decisão seja reconhecida por Portugal; d) Os filhos maiores, a cargo do casal ou de um dos cônjuges, que sejam solteiros e se encontrem a estudar num estabelecimento de ensino em Portugal; e) Os filhos maiores, a cargo do casal ou de um dos cônjuges, que sejam solteiros e se encontrem a estudar, sempre que o titular do direito ao reagrupamento tenha autorização de residência concedida ao abrigo do artigo 90.º-A; f) Os ascendentes na linha reta e em 1.º grau do residente ou do seu cônjuge, desde que se encontrem a seu cargo; g) Os irmãos menores, desde que se encontrem sob tutela do residente, de harmonia com decisão proferida pela autoridade competente do país de origem e desde que essa decisão seja reconhecida por Portugal.»

Who counts. Adult children must be unmarried and studying; parents must be dependent and in the first degree.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Lisbon public prosecutor's legal database, which has carried consolidated Portuguese statutes in plain HTML for two decades. Each statute is served at a stable numeric address with its full amendment history at the head of the page, named act by act and dated.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: Not the official gazette and not the authentic text: the Diário da República publishes that, and where the two differ the gazette governs. The consolidation is the office's own editorial work and the page does not say who made it or when it was last revised - only which amending acts it claims to carry. The site is served as ISO-8859-1 with the charset in a meta tag, so a fetch that assumes UTF-8 destroys every accented letter.

We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedLei n.º 23/2007, com as alterações até à Lei n.º 61/2025 · Artigo 101.º
«Para o exercício do direito ao reagrupamento familiar deve o requerente dispor de: a) Alojamento, comprovadamente próprio ou arrendado, considerado normal para uma família comparável na mesma região em território nacional, e que satisfaça as normas gerais de segurança e salubridade, tal como definido por portaria dos membros do Governo responsáveis pelas áreas das migrações e da habitação; b) Meios de subsistência suficientes para sustentar todos os membros do agrupamento familiar, sem recurso a apoios sociais, tal como definido por portaria dos membros do Governo responsáveis pelas áreas das migrações e da segurança social. 2 - O disposto no número anterior não é aplicável ao reagrupamento familiar de refugiados. 3 - Os familiares do requerente devem, após a concessão de autorização de residência para reagrupamento familiar, cumprir medidas de integração correspondentes à frequência de formação em língua portuguesa e de formação relativa a princípios e valores constitucionais portugueses, bem como à frequência do ensino obrigatório, no caso de menores, nos termos previstos em decreto regulamentar. 4 - Salvo por motivo não imputável aos familiares do requerente, a renovação da autorização de residência p»

Accommodation and means, both deferred to ministerial orders, the exemption for refugees, and the integration measures that follow.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Lisbon public prosecutor's legal database, which has carried consolidated Portuguese statutes in plain HTML for two decades. Each statute is served at a stable numeric address with its full amendment history at the head of the page, named act by act and dated.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: Not the official gazette and not the authentic text: the Diário da República publishes that, and where the two differ the gazette governs. The consolidation is the office's own editorial work and the page does not say who made it or when it was last revised - only which amending acts it claims to carry. The site is served as ISO-8859-1 with the charset in a meta tag, so a fetch that assumes UTF-8 destroys every accented letter.

We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source

Practical notes

Both money conditions are set by ministerial orders this record does not reach, so the figures are not stated here.

A family member of a Portuguese national or of an EU citizen is under a different regime and not under this chapter.

Sources1 · all accessed 2026-10-09
  • consolidates
    Lei n.º 23/2007 (Lei de Estrangeiros), consolidated text, articles 67 to 126

    Procuradoria-Geral Distrital de Lisboa

    About this source

    The Lisbon public prosecutor's legal database, which has carried consolidated Portuguese statutes in plain HTML for two decades. Each statute is served at a stable numeric address with its full amendment history at the head of the page, named act by act and dated.

    Standing: Maintains the text in force

    Cannot be cited for: Not the official gazette and not the authentic text: the Diário da República publishes that, and where the two differ the gazette governs. The consolidation is the office's own editorial work and the page does not say who made it or when it was last revised - only which amending acts it claims to carry. The site is served as ISO-8859-1 with the charset in a meta tag, so a fetch that assumes UTF-8 destroys every accented letter.

    We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source