Residency rule, Portugal

Portugal Temporary Residence — Total Time Away

Summary

A temporary residence permit in Portugal can be cancelled if your absences add up to 8 months within the total period of validity of the permit, without a good reason. The trips do not need to be long: separate absences count together. A first permit is valid for 2 years and each renewal for 3 years, so the 8 months are not a yearly allowance. The permit is not cancelled if you prove that you worked or ran a business abroad, or if you justified the absence to AIMA. A sister limit covers one absence of 6 months in a row.

Limit
8 months outside Portugal in total
Period
The total period of validity of the permit (2 years, then 3 years)
Sister limit
6 months away in a row
What can happen
The temporary residence permit may be cancelled
Law
Law 23/2007, article 85, paragraph 2, letter a
Run by
AIMA (Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo)

Who it applies to

The rule

Article 85, paragraph 2, letter a of Law 23/2007 gives two absence limits for a temporary residence permit. The permit may be cancelled when the holder, without a good reason, is away from the country for six months in a row or for eight months in separate periods, within the total period of validity of the permit. This page is about the second limit, the total.

The period is the validity of the permit, not the calendar year. Article 75, paragraph 1 says that a temporary residence permit is valid for two years from the day the card is issued and is renewed for periods of three years. So on a first permit the 8 months are measured over 2 years, and on a renewed permit over 3 years. The law does not say how part months are added up. A careful way is to count days: 8 calendar months are between 242 and 245 days.

Two paragraphs protect people with a reason. An absence beyond the limits must be justified by a request to AIMA before you leave the country or, in exceptional cases, after you left (paragraph 3). And the permit is not cancelled when you prove that during the absence you worked, ran a business or carried out cultural or social activity (paragraph 4).

Passing the limit does not end the permit by itself. The law says the permit may be cancelled. The member of the Government responsible for migration decides, or the board of AIMA when the power is passed on. You are told the reasons, the card is taken back, and you can challenge the decision in the administrative courts. Article 85 applies without prejudice to special provisions, so some kinds of permit can have rules of their own.

Why it exists

A limit of six months in a row would be easy to avoid with a short visit to Portugal every few months. The total limit closes that gap. A temporary permit is given to people who come to live in Portugal, and the state wants to see that they really spend most of the permit's time there, unless work or another accepted reason keeps them abroad.

Counting the days

You add up all the time you spent outside Portugal while your current permit is valid. Every absence counts, long or short, in any country.

  1. Find the first and the last day of validity on your residence card.
  2. List every trip out of Portugal inside those dates, with the day you left and the day you returned.
  3. Count the days of each trip and add them together.
  4. Compare the total with 8 months. To be careful, treat 240 days as the line.
  5. Before you book a new trip, add its days and check the total again.
  6. If the total will pass the limit, ask AIMA to accept the absence before you leave, and keep proof of your reason or of your work abroad.
How Countr counts it. Countr adds up your days outside Portugal in the last 36 months for Portugal Temporary Residence — Total Time Away and compares the total with 240 days. Eight calendar months are at least 242 days, so the card warns early, never late. It warns you 30 days before the limit. The app's count is simpler than the law in one point: it looks at the 3 years that end today, not at the dates of your permit. On a first permit, which is valid for 2 years, or soon after a renewal, it can count days from before the permit started and warn early. Only days the app can see count as days away. If your photos or location history have big gaps, your real time away can be more than the app shows. Countr cannot know whether you had a good reason or worked abroad.

Track Portugal Temporary Residence — Total Time Away on your phone.

Countr finds your past trips in your photos and keeps counting from there.

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Examples

Three trips on a first permit

Amara's first permit is valid from 1 March 2025 to 28 February 2027. In those two years she is away three times: 70 days, 85 days and 60 days. Together that is 215 days. No trip is near six months, and the total stays under 8 months, which are at least 242 days. Neither limit of article 85 is reached.

Three months away every year

Daniel's renewed permit is valid for three years, from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029. Each year he spends three months with his parents abroad. He believes 8 months are allowed per year, so he feels safe. But the 8 months are for the whole validity of the permit. After the third trip he has been away for 9 months in total, and the permit may be cancelled unless he has a good reason or worked while abroad.

The app counts days before the permit

Ines moves to Portugal and her first permit is issued on 1 June 2026. Before that she lived in Brazil, and her phone holds photos from those months. In October 2026 Countr looks back 36 months and finds more than 240 days outside Portugal, so the card shows that she is over the limit. Under the law only absences from 1 June 2026 count, and she has none. The card is early here, as its small print says.

Exceptions

Common misconceptions

“I can be away for 8 months every year.”
No. The law measures the 8 months over the total period of validity of the permit, which is 2 years for a first permit and 3 years for a renewal.
“If no trip is longer than six months, nothing can happen.”
That clears only the limit for one absence in a row. The second limit adds your separate absences, and 8 months in total is enough for the permit to be cancelled.
“Trips inside the EU or the Schengen area do not count.”
They count. Article 85 speaks of being away from the country, which is Portugal. A month in Spain is a month away.
“Working abroad counts against me like any other absence.”
It is the opposite. If you prove that you worked or ran a business abroad during the absence, the permit is not cancelled on this ground.

Questions and answers

How many days can I spend outside Portugal with a temporary residence permit?

The law gives months, not days: at most 8 months in total while the permit is valid, and at most 6 months in a row. Eight calendar months are 242 to 245 days, so staying under 240 days in total keeps you under the limit.

Does the count start again when my permit is renewed?

The law ties the 8 months to the total period of validity of the permit, and a renewal is valid for a new period of 3 years. The law says no more than that. Countr does not start again at a renewal: it always looks at the last 3 years.

Do the days I leave and return count as days away?

The law does not say. It speaks only of months of absence. If you are close to the limit, count the travel days as days away so that a stricter reading does not surprise you.

What happens if I pass 8 months?

The permit can be cancelled, but this needs a decision. You are told the reasons and can challenge the decision in the administrative courts. If you worked abroad or had a reason that is accepted, the permit is not cancelled.

How do I ask AIMA to accept a longer absence?

Article 85, paragraph 3 says the absence must be justified by a request presented to AIMA before you leave Portugal. Only in exceptional cases can the request come after you left. Keep a copy of the request and of the proof you sent with it.

What is the other limit for a temporary permit?

Six months away in a row. It is in the same letter of article 85, and one long trip can reach it although your total is under 8 months. Countr shows it as a second card, Portugal Temporary Residence — Longest Time Away.

Sources

Other rules for Portugal

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This page explains the rule and how the days are counted. It is not legal or tax advice. The authority decides each case on its own facts.