We Asked ChatGPT 6 Portugal Visa Questions. Here’s Where It Went Wrong
More of our clients start with ChatGPT than with Google now. That makes sense: it’s free, it’s quick, and it always has an answer.
So this week we tried it ourselves.
We typed six questions our clients ask us all the time into ChatGPT, one per new chat, worded the way you would ask them. Then we compared each answer with what actually happened in our cases this year.
It got three right. The other three would have cost someone weeks, or their application. And it sounded just as sure of itself either way.
- Can I use an Airbnb booking as proof of accommodation?Wrong
- Do I hand in my 1978 marriage certificate?Missed the key rule
- Can I fly home after my visa expires?“Possibly”
- Which UK criminal record do I need?Right
- Can I lock in the old 5-year citizenship rule?Mostly right
- Do I need a Portuguese bank account before my appointment?Right, quoting us
Can you use an Airbnb booking for a Portugal D7 visa?
“Yes, an Airbnb booking can be accepted as proof of accommodation for a Portugal D7 visa in some cases…”
A UK client of ours applied with an Airbnb booking this year, and the application didn’t go through. A year ago this often worked. Now we don’t recommend it to anyone.
To be fair, ChatGPT has a reason to say yes. One VFS checklist still lists hotel and Airbnb bookings. Another, for the same visa, asks for a 12-month lease.
When the official documents disagree, you need to know which one the consulate actually follows.
What we ask clients for now: a 12-month lease, a property deed, or a letter from someone hosting you. If you need a lease from abroad, our rental search is how Ersel and Kübra found theirs from Istanbul.
Do you hand in your original marriage certificate for a Portugal visa?
“I would take your original 1978 marriage certificate to your Portugal D7 visa appointment at VFS, along with a good photocopy…”
A 1978 certificate won’t be accepted at all. It needs to be freshly issued, roughly within the last six months, with an apostille. And VFS keeps what you hand in.
ChatGPT worried about the right thing, getting the original back. It just missed the bigger problem.
A client of ours was about to hand in her original from the 1970s this year. We caught it at intake, and a freshly issued copy went in instead. The original stayed in her drawer.
Can you leave Portugal after your D7 visa expires, before your AIMA appointment?
“The short answer is: possibly…”, followed by advice to contact AIMA.
In our cases, coming back from outside Schengen after the visa has expired is usually refused, and AIMA rarely answers in time. Plan to stay until your appointment.
This one matters more every month. The D7 visa is valid for about four months. In our 2026 cases, the AIMA appointment came 7 to 10 months after the visa was approved.
So almost everyone spends months in Portugal with an expired visa and a pending appointment. You’re allowed to be there. Leaving is the risk.
One more thing for that stage: keep proof of the day you arrived, like a hotel night or a stamped police declaration. Your first stop in Schengen often isn’t Portugal. More in our AIMA support.
Which criminal record certificate do you need for a Portugal visa from the UK?
“…you need the ACRO Police Certificate… not a standard DBS check.”
Right. And it’s the mistake we see most from UK applicants. One client brought an apostilled DBS check to VFS London this year and was refused on the day.
That cost two certificates, two apostilles and about six weeks. Once the ACRO came through, the visa was approved 17 days after the new appointment.
So: ask for the ACRO, get the apostille, and time it so the certificate is fresh on the day you apply.
Can you lock in Portugal’s old 5-year citizenship rule?
Applying for a D7 now “does not, by itself, guarantee that the previous rules will apply to you.”
Mostly right. Citizenship now takes 10 years of legal residence instead of 5 (7 for EU and CPLP citizens). It changes the citizenship timeline only, not your visa or residence permit. Applying early doesn’t lock in the old rule.
This is also where we’ve seen AI go furthest off track. One client came to us with three “documents” an AI tool had told him to file, all meant to keep the 5-year rule:
None of them exist in Portuguese law. They sounded official, which is exactly why he believed them.
Do you need a Portuguese bank account before your D7 appointment?
Open the account before the appointment if you can. A couple who applied in Ankara in February 2026 had theirs unopened, and the consulate put a lot of weight on it.
Right, and we know why. See the little “NOVOMOVE” tag in the screenshot: it was quoting Ersel and Kübra’s story on our blog.
Their account wasn’t ready for their appointment in Ankara, and the consulate sent a draft refusal five weeks later. We sent a stamped bank statement the next day, and both visas were approved on 1 April.
Here’s the catch. We asked the same question again later that day, and got a different answer without that source. Same question, two answers.
So should you use ChatGPT for your Portugal visa?
Yes, for the right job. It’s good at explaining terms, building a first checklist, and helping you work out what to ask.
Just don’t let it make the call. It can’t see your documents. It doesn’t know which checklist your consulate follows this month. And its answer can change between one chat and the next.
The right fix usually isn’t written down anywhere. It comes from having seen the same problem before. One of our clients, an American who applied from Cairo, put it well:
“AI doesn’t solve it. In fact, it can sometimes make your life harder, because it’s just wrong… you need a human being, an expert.”
You can read his full story here, or browse all our client stories.
Bring it to a 45-minute call with Dra. Mariana, our partner immigration lawyer. She’ll look at your situation and tell you what your consulate will actually expect.
If you go ahead with a visa package within two weeks, we take the €80 off.
We asked every question on 21 October 2026 using the free version of ChatGPT, logged out, one question per new chat. Screenshots are cropped to the question and the start of each answer, otherwise unedited. ChatGPT’s answers change from day to day, so you may get different ones. Client cases are anonymous unless the client has approved their story. Every application is different, and consulate requirements change. Novomove is a relocation technology platform that coordinates licensed Portuguese lawyers, not a law firm. ChatGPT is a product of OpenAI, which has no connection to Novomove.
