AIMA and the residence permit

AIMA (Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum, Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo) is the body you apply to for a residence permit in Portugal, and for its renewal. It succeeded SEF in regularising foreign nationals. The underlying rules are in Law no. 23/2007 (the Foreigners Act), as amended, among others, by Law no. 61/2025 and Law no. 62/2026.

This guide covers the most common route: arriving with a residence visa and applying to AIMA for the permit, what the law says about decision deadlines, how to renew the title, and what to do when your file asks for more documents. Each specific case (work, study, family reunification, CPLP, investment) has its own requirements. See the visas guide and the Path assistant to place yours.

Applying for a residence permit with a visa

According to AIMA, the general regime is for people with a valid residence visa. The application is made in person, by appointment at an AIMA shop, on the official form signed by the applicant or their legal representative. AIMA also mentions an electronic platform for visa holders, still being rolled out, so the channel may change: check the website before acting. If the visa is for remote work or qualified work, see the remote work and digital nomads and qualified work guides. To invest in Portugal, see the residence by investment guide, and to ask for asylum or temporary protection, the international protection guide.

1. Appointment. Some appointments are generated automatically when the visa is issued or when something is submitted on an AIMA platform. In other cases you request one through AIMA’s Contact Form or by emailing geral@aima.gov.pt with the subject Pedido de Agendamento, giving your full name, date of birth, nationality, email and the reason for the request.
2. Basic documents, according to AIMA: a valid passport or travel document; a valid residence visa; proof of means of subsistence (for example an employment contract, proof of business activity or a scholarship); proof of accommodation; health insurance or proof of SNS registration; and, where applicable, proof of registration with the Tax Authority and Social Security. Anyone who spent more than a year abroad may have to present a criminal record from the country of nationality or residence. The guide to means of subsistence explains the amount and the proof, and the one on AIMA forms and templates says what each form is for.
3. Hand everything in with the application. AIMA’s FAQ says all required documents must be attached to the initial application.
4. Fees. They vary with the type of permit; see AIMA’s fee table, which refers to Ordinance no. 307/2023.

When the temporary permit is granted, AIMA states that it is valid for two years and renews for successive periods of three years. To find counters, see Where to get help in person. For the NIF and NISS the file requires, see the NIF and NISS guides.

How to prove accommodation

AIMA’s March 2026 FAQ spells out what it accepts:

• In every case, a sworn declaration of the address, on the “Minuta Declaração de Alojamento” template available on AIMA’s website, stating the legal basis on which you use the property.
• Owner or usufructuary: the access code to the permanent property certificate, or a current paper certificate.
• Tenant: a copy of the tenancy agreement in your name and the previous month’s rent receipt.
• Free loan (comodato): a copy of the loan agreement and the current permanent property certificate.
• Certificates from parish councils (juntas de freguesia) are not accepted as proof.

There are separate rules for students (a contract signed by the school, a statement from the institution, or a certificate of entitlement to a university residence).

The decision deadline

Under article 82 of the Foreigners Act, as amended by Law no. 62/2026 of 10 September (in force since 11 September), an application for the grant of a residence permit must be decided within 90 days, which can be extended by 30 days in exceptional and duly justified circumstances, in particular because of the complexity of the case, and the applicant is told about the extension. The law makes room for other deadlines that it sets itself.

The nine-month deadline, extendable by the same period, in article 105 (Law no. 61/2025) belongs to the family reunification rules. See the family reunification guide.

These are deadlines the law places on AIMA. AIMA’s pages on this application do not say how long it takes in practice, and this guide does not promise any. How the new law applies to applications already under way should be confirmed with AIMA.

While you wait, keep the application receipt: it carries the case number, which you are asked for when sending missing documents. If you want to ask about the status of your case, there is a message template on the site.

Missing documents or notifications

If AIMA notifies you that documents are missing in a grant case started at a shop, you do not have to go in person. AIMA’s March 2026 FAQ describes this route:

1. Open the Contact Form and choose Autorização de Residência and the sub-type for sending documents to be added to ongoing cases.
2. Enter the case number (it is on the receipt) and attach scanned copies of the documents named in the notification. Each file can be up to 10 MB, and you must submit between 3 and 5 files.
3. Use short, simple file names with no accents or special characters (for example passaporte.pdf), and switch browser if the upload fails.

For cases opened through the Renewals Portal or services.aima.gov.pt, documents are added in the corresponding personal area. If you are asked to present your passport, the check is in person, at the place, date and time in the notification, and failing to attend can lead to the application being refused. Citizens of Brazil or Cabo Verde upload the original criminal record certificate online in their personal area; everyone else posts it to the PO box AIMA specifies.

If what you receive is not a request for documents but a notice saying you must leave the country, do not ignore it: see the guide to the notice to leave Portugal.

Renewing the residence permit

Renewal is, as a rule, online. According to gov.pt, it can be requested by people whose permit is valid or expired for less than six months, and the page speaks of applying between 90 and 30 days before expiry, with a warning that the information may be out of date. Always confirm the deadline on the portal.

1. Pick the right platform. The Renewals Portal accepts permits expiring after 1 July 2025 within the range shown on the portal. Permits that expired between 22 February 2020 and 30 June 2025 are renewed at services.aima.gov.pt, and so is the renewal of the CPLP title (see the CPLP guide). The guide on renewing a residence permit compares the channels and details paying the DUC.
2. Confirm your addresses. Check that the address is correct in your AIMA personal area. If it is wrong, fix it first (section below). AIMA also asks you to check which address Social Security holds for you: if it still shows an address abroad, report your Portuguese one as soon as possible.
3. Request the DUC. After updating your record, you generate the Single Collection Document (Documento Único de Cobrança) with the fees. Pay within 10 working days of it being generated. If you pay only part, use the same DUC for the rest and pay through a different bank from the first payment, never through CTT or Payshop.
4. If the DUC is not generated, confirm you meet the conditions and, if it still fails, write to geral@aima.gov.pt with the subject AIMA specifies, or go to an AIMA shop.

While the renewal is under way

Two rules matter here. The first is article 78(7) of the Foreigners Act: the receipt for the renewal request has the same effects as the residence permit for 60 days, a period that can be renewed. The second comes from article 63(14) of Regulatory Decree No. 84/2007, which AIMA cites in its clarification of 17 October 2025: the right of residence continues for up to six months after the card’s expiry date. For cards that expired on or before 30 June 2025, AIMA kept that right until 15 April 2026, a date that has now passed.

If you have a renewal in progress, AIMA asks you to carry the expired title and the receipt proving the request. If your card has expired and you have not yet applied, do not count on this regime: apply now and confirm your position with AIMA. AIMA also warns that the extended validity of expired documents is limited to Portugal; in other Schengen countries the Schengen Borders Code applies.

Permanent residence permit

After five years on a temporary permit, you can apply for the permanent residence permit, which has no limit of validity, or for long-term resident status, which has its own requirements. The permanent card is issued for five years and renewed. The years required, basic Portuguese, the documents and the differences between the two routes are in the guide on permanent residence and long-term resident status.

The card in practice

• Travel: the receipt for the grant application is not a travel document and does not allow you to move around other Schengen countries (AIMA’s FAQ on residence titles). Always carry a valid travel document.
• Returned card: cards are sent by registered post to the address on the application. If you are not home, CTT leave a notice to collect it at a CTT shop within the period indicated; after that the card goes back to AIMA. For cases handled on services.aima.gov.pt you get an email summons to collect it at the AIMA shop named; otherwise, go to the AIMA shop where you made the application, according to its opening hours and services. AIMA states a fee of 28.50 euros for in-person collection under Ordinance no. 307/2023.
• Wrong details: check the card when you receive it. If there is an error, go to the AIMA shop where you were seen within 20 days and ask for the change and a second copy. If the error is not yours, the new card carries no extra cost.
• Loss, theft or robbery: you request a second copy, with the report made to the police, by booking through the Contact Centre or by email.
• Address: ask AIMA to change it through the Contact Form, under Portal de Renovações › Comunicar/retificar Morada (or, with no case under way, under Alteração de dados), with the required documents. AIMA says it updates within two working days. Keep the address the same at AIMA, Social Security and the Tax Authority.

Where to get help

• AIMA Contact Centre: (+351) 217 115 000, Monday to Friday, 8:00 to 20:00, at a cost according to the tariff. Email: geral@aima.gov.pt.
• AIMA shops: AIMA lists 35 shops across the country. The residence permit application is made by appointment, and each shop’s opening hours and services are in the list at aima.gov.pt/pt/lojas-aima. Citizen Shops by district are in Where to get help in person.
• Local Migrant Integration Support Centres (CLAIM): AIMA lists 163 reception, information and support points, run by partners such as councils and associations, and states that their services are entirely free for migrants. They cover areas such as regularisation, nationality, family reunification, housing and work. The directory by district is at aima.gov.pt/pt/claim.
• National Migrant Integration Support Centres (CNAIM): gov.pt describes them as integrated service centres bringing several public services into one place, with telephone interpreting in about 56 languages. Confirm with the centre whether the services are free.
• Immigrant associations: AIMA names them, alongside AIMA shops, the AIMA Spaces in municipalities and the CLAIM, as support for people who need help submitting missing documents, depending on each service’s availability.