Renewing a residence permit in Portugal is now done online, with AIMA (the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum). Which website you use depends on one thing only: the date your card expired, or will expire.
AIMA replaced SEF in October 2023. Renewals that used to be scheduled at IRN offices and Lojas do Cidadão are now requested on AIMA’s own platforms, and you only go in person if AIMA calls you to collect your biometrics.
Short version: card expired between 22 February 2020 and 30 June 2025 → services.aima.gov.pt. Card expiring from 1 July 2025 onwards → Portal de Renovações.
Which portal is yours?
Check the expiry date printed on your residence card.
These renewals stay with AIMA’s original platform. If AIMA has not contacted you yet, you request the renewal yourself.[2]
- Request at services.aima.gov.pt, in the renewal area (“Não foi notificado” if you never got an email from AIMA)
- AIMA confirms by email and sends the fees to pay
- After payment: an appointment to collect your biometrics, and instructions to upload your documents in your personal area
- Your proof of application appears in your personal area within 10 working days of payment
- Not for CPLP permits, Golden Visa (ARI) or EU family cards — see below
The Renewals Portal (Portal de Renovações) opens in blocks of months. At the moment it takes cards expiring up to 31 December 2026.[3]
- Ordinary residence permits expiring between 1 July 2025 and 31 December 2026
- Golden Visa (ARI) renewals for cards expired from 22 February 2020 to 31 December 2026
- Permanent residence certificates and cards for EU citizens and their families
- If your month is not open yet, wait: AIMA opens the next months about two months ahead
- The portal is in Portuguese and may only work from inside Portugal
CPLP residence permits (Portuguese-speaking countries) have their own procedure at services.aima.gov.pt/CPLP.[2]
How the Renewals Portal works
For cards expiring from 1 July 2025.
Check your month is open
The portal only accepts cards whose expiry month has already been opened by AIMA.
Check your NIF and NISS
Your tax and social security numbers must be correct and in order. Wrong data is the most common reason a request gets stuck.
Register and apply
Create your access with your email and fill in the request. You receive your password by email.
Pay the fees
After validation, the portal issues a payment reference. Pay it within the deadline shown, or the request lapses.
Keep your proof
Once paid, you get a proof of application. By law it works as your residence permit for 60 days, renewable, while AIMA decides.[6]
Biometrics and card
AIMA may call you in to collect biometrics. The new card is sent by post to the address in your file.
When to apply
- At the latest 30 days before your card expiresThis is the legal deadline for renewal requests.[6]
- From about 90 days beforeAs soon as your expiry month is open on the portal, there is no reason to wait.[5]
- Moved house?Update your address first, through the AIMA contact form (“Portal de Renovações › Comunicar/retificar morada”), so the card reaches you.[3]
- DecisionAIMA has 60 days to decide a renewal request. In practice, cards have been arriving up to two months after the online request.[6]
What to have ready
AIMA tells you exactly what to upload for your type of permit. These are the documents asked for in most renewals.
- Valid passportThe same travel document linked to your file, or the new one if it has changed.
- Your current residence cardEven if it has expired.
- Means of subsistenceProof of income or savings for your type of permit (pension, work, remote income, bank statements).
- Proof of accommodationRental contract, deed or a declaration from your host.
- Tax situation in orderFinanças certificate showing no debts (certidão de não dívida).
- Social security in orderSocial security statement, when you have contributions in Portugal.
Is my stay still legal?
- The automatic extensions ended on 15 April 2026Since 2020 the validity of expired cards was extended several times by law. The last extension covered cards expired up to 30 June 2025 and ran until 15 April 2026.[4]
- A renewal in progress keeps you legalAIMA has confirmed that foreign citizens with a renewal or regularisation request pending a final decision are not in an irregular situation in Portugal.[4]
- Carry your proofKeep your expired card together with the proof of application, or the process status certificate from AIMA’s platform.
- TravellingAn expired card is not accepted for travel outside Portugal. Only the renewed card lets you travel within Europe. If you must travel while waiting, talk to us first.[4]
How much it costs
The fees are set in AIMA’s official fee table, last updated on 1 March 2026, and are paid through the payment reference issued by the portal. Requests made online have reduced fees. Because the amounts change and depend on your type of permit, always check the official table before paying.[7]
Let Prismaat handle your renewal
We check which route applies to you, prepare and review your documents, submit the request, pay the fees with you and follow the process until the new card is in your hands — including Golden Visa and family renewals.
Sources · checked in October 2026
- AIMA — aima.gov.pt: Renewals Portal for permits expired after 30 June 2025; contact centre and contact form
- AIMA, “Autorização de Residência expirada entre 22 de fevereiro de 2020 e 30 de junho de 2025”, 26 Sept 2025 — aima.gov.pt/pt/noticias/dskhf
- AIMA, Portal de Renovações — portal-renovacoes.aima.gov.pt
- “AIMA assegura que imigrantes estão regulares mesmo com documentos expirados”, 17 Apr 2026 — Público; ECO
- gov.pt, “Renovar a autorização de residência” — gov.pt
- Lei 23/2007 (Foreigners Act), articles 78 and 82 — summary of the portal rules; consolidated text at diariodarepublica.pt
- AIMA, fee table for administrative procedures — aima.gov.pt (PDF)
