First Time Entering On My Visa

The timeline

• Applied for my Visa

• VFS / Consulate Appointment

• Received my passport with Visa attached

• -> My first entry into Portugal using my recently received visa

Some Background

The visa does not come with instructions. Do you know what to do next? Do you know how it works? I didn’t. I mean, I have traveled before so I just assumed that meant I stand in a line at passport control and when it is my turn, I give my passport with the visa to the person in the booth, they look at it…then they look at me… and then the look at it again…stamp it and that is all.

Well, quite possibly this might actually be the case. But Portugal, along with the rest of the EU have started using EES:

A new and improved border management system that will make travelling to Europe easier and more efficient Travelling to Europe for short stays is about to get easier Manual stamping of passports will be largely replaced by the fully automated, digital Entry/Exit System (EES)

Portugal started to implement this in early 2026. But, the lines and the crowds became out of control and people had been complaining about spending hours waiting on lines for the machines so Portugal suspended the process until they could better manage and deal with this.

Also, like many other countries and in big cities, they were already using the electronic scanners to read your passports.

So, if you were not quite sure how the visa stamping process might work, it was much less clear how the visa checking process would work when (if) you stepped up to one of these machines to scan your passport. Someone had told me that when I entered Portugal for the first time on my visa, I should make sure that I told “them” that I was entering the country on the Visa and not a tourist passport.

Armed with this limited amount of knowledge, I boarded my flight, flew to Lisbon, got off the plane and headed to passport control… along with 200 other people from my flight… joining the hunreds of other people getting off their flights and heading on over to passport control. I tried to explain what I was doing to some completely harried and overworked and overwhelmed young woman who just signaled that I should get into a line… along with many other people who were all entering on their tourist passports… WTF?!

What actually happens

I would like to say that now that I have been through this ordeal, I know what I need to do and can tell others how to proceed. I can’t! Well, maybe I can make the process less stressful. Perhaps I can tell you what you need to do and say…but, I have no idea what the correct thing to do is.

So, here goes…

Don’t wait in the very long family lines that are going to the booths that are attended by customs and immigration representatives. Maybe you should? But those lines are so friggin’ long and they don’t move. It gives you too much time to think that perhaps you really are not on the correct line… especially when you see everyone else who was on your flight ‘zipping’ (okay, a relative term, but moving much more quickly) through the automated scanner line.

AND… When I asked another woman about the lines, she asked me if I was traveling alone (I was) she directed me back to one of those automated scanner lines…again, WTF?!

Go through the scanning machine. But… as I walked through the machine, there were police/guards/customs people standing there at a booth. I had to ask them… PLEASE NOTE… I DID NOT HAVE TO… I could have simply walked off toward baggage claim… I HAD TO ASK THEM… I told them I had a visa. At this point they told me I needed to have it stamped and one of the agents there pulled out his stamper and stamped my passport/visa.

Again… I had to ask for my passport to be stamped. If you are entering the country for the first time with your visa, do not leave until you get stamped or talk to someone who knows what is going on first.

So this is what I should do, right?

Well, probably not! If you are reading this trying to figure out what to do, then most likely you will be entering Portugal using the EES system which has once again been activated. Perhaps “they” have figured out what the problems were when the last tried using the system? Maybe they do not care but need to start using this system. In any event, you will be entering using the EES system

What to do if you encounter the EES System

please see my note below. If you would like to give me an update, I would love to hear about it.
Look for my next post regarding “Re-entering Portugal Using the EES System”

Please note that 1) I did not enter Portugal the first time on my visa when the EES system was active and 2) it is my understanding (but take that for what it is worth) that you do not need to use the EES system when entering Portugal if you are holding a residence permit or a long-stay visa.

Instead of standing in some long line, not knowing for certain what to do, ask… even if it will take you some time to find out. There is nothing more frustrating that standing in a very long line only to find out that it is the wrong, very long line that you are standing in.

Signage and documentation basically suck. It is unclear and uncertain what you need to do, and EU documentation uses strange terms that do not always make sense or are certainly vague and unclear… Are you a non-EU national holding a residence permit or long stay visa? Really good question. Parsing the words, non-EU national I assume I am that… I am not holding an EU passport. Am I holding a resident card? Nope. Do I have a long-stay visa? Don’t know… I’m planning to stay what seems a long time, does this qualify? Who knows… check the links below to determine what type of visa you have and whether or not it is a long stay visa. Just ask… you may have to ask several people… but someone will know.

What exemptions are there for the EES?

This is what I was alluding to previously. EES is for tourists visiting the EU and Schengen Area where Schengen rules apply. If you are a tourist, comging to visit Portugal (or any EU country) the EES will apply… This is easy to figure out as this is the most common scenario. If you have a visa, a residence permit, or an AIMA receipt that your residence permit is in process but that you do not yet have it… just ask first.

The EES will not apply to:

• Nationals of European countries using the EES, as well as Cyprus and Ireland;

• Non-EU nationals who hold a residence card and are immediately related to an EU national:

• Non-EU nationals who hold a residence card or a residence permit and are immediately related to a non-EU national who can travel throughout Europe like an EU citizen;

• Non-EU nationals travelling to Europe as part of an intra-corporate transfer or for the purposes of research, studies, training, voluntary service, pupil exchange schemes or educational projects and au-pairing;

• Holders of residence permits and long-stay visas;

• Nationals of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, and holders of a passport issued by the Vatican City State or the Holy See;

• Those exempt from border checks or who have been granted certain privileges with respect to border checks (such as heads of state, cross border workers, etc.);

• Those holding a valid local border traffi c permit;

• Crew members of passenger and goods trains on international connecting journeys.