Ask the Lawyer: Unemployed, can I apply for family reunification?

Lawyer André Lima addresses whether a spouse who entered Portugal on a job-seeker visa but failed to find employment before a child was born can switch to family reunification or must return to Brazil. Portuguese law requires those who fail to secure employment within the legal timeframe to leave the country, imposing a one-year ban on applying for a new job-seeker visa. However, family reunification remains possible under specific circumstances, though it does not serve as an automatic replacement for an expired job-seeker visa and irregular stay can create legal obstacles.