Entering Portugal on Residence Card while being outside

I think this will all be OK.

If there are any unlikely issues then these will be addressed at the exit airport which will check all documents are in order before being allowed to board aircraft

If your parents are near an airport, perhaps they may wish to go check with airline before exit date, otherwise drop airline an email to confirm all is ok

All should be fine. All that matters is the card.

@slugsurmamates Thankyou very much for the reply

@AYODELE AYOTUNDE Thankyou very much for the reply

One more thing which I think will be fine, but Ok to discuss here as well that, there wont be a problem for Portugal authorties that my parents have been living outside Portugal while their case was under process. As mentioned earlier the reason was expiry of visit visa and we didn't want to take any risks to be in a situation where my parents overstay the allowed visit visa duration and Portugal family reunion outcome is negative as well, so we thought it would be better to go back, wait for decision and travel to Portugal with TRC if the outcome is positive.

@Mierchristopher6 If they have not been away for 6 conscecutive months or 8 cummulative months, then the card is valid. Even if they have been away for a longer period, it wont still affect the card now. Probably when they  want to renew they might request that they explain why they spent a longer time outside Portugal before they renew the card. Either ways, you will be fine.

@AYODELE AYOTUNDE Ok, but doesn't this rule apply after the residence card is issued? I mean the card was issued in last week of February 2024, the card has issue date and expiry date 5 years from issue date, so we should make sure that they are now in Portugal atleast 180 days a year from the date of issuance? or did i wrongly understand this rule? By the way they will now enter Portugal within 8 months of when they last left the Schengen.

When they last left the schengen does not matter. All that matters going forward is the date the cards were issued in February.  Make sure they enter Portugal before 180 days passes from the issuance date. E.g if the card was issued on February 15th 2024 make sure they enter Portugal before August 15th 2024.  With that I can assure you that the cards are very valid and they won't face any issue. Similar thing happened to me in the past too.

@AYODELE AYOTUNDE That clarifies my ambiguities. Thankyou again for sparing time to answer 🙏❤️