For over five years, the timelines for residence permits have been administratively extended without the need to replace documents, initially due to the pandemic and later because of the significant influx of immigrants to Portugal and administrative delays in the regularization of foreign nationals.
Today marks the end of the most recent administrative extension under decree-law 10-A/2020, which recognizes expired residence documents as valid, leading to increased demand at AIMA offices.
However, a government source stated that the date was already anticipated and that the vast majority of individuals have either obtained their documents or scheduled their renewals, now with biometric requirements and new parameters imposed by European partners.
Immigrants who have scheduled and paid for their renewals will have valid permits for 180 days, even after today’s date.
“Even today, if they cannot schedule an appointment, they can still do so in the coming days,” said the source, explaining that “it was necessary to establish a final date” for the automatic extension of documents.
Since June, the AIMA mission structure has processed 74,000 renewals, and to date, 190,000 residence cards have been issued for expressions of interest and 55,000 for citizens of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP).
The decree-law that has been extended since 2020 has faced criticism from associations and political leaders because many immigrants have encountered difficulties in having expired documents recognized elsewhere in the European Union.
This legal provision has been used by immigrants to justify expired document dates to authorities, a resource that will no longer be available.
The overseeing body and AIMA have argued that all digital channels are functioning to allow immigrants to schedule the renewal of their documents.
