AIMA residence permit renewal: how to renew a Portuguese residence permit on the online portal

Published November 4, 2026

Most Portuguese temporary residence permits are now renewed on AIMA's online portal, which opens in stages by expiry month. Here is who can use it, when to file, what documents and fees to expect, and how to handle delays.

AIMA residence permit renewal now happens online for most temporary residents. You apply on AIMA's renewals portal (portal-renovacoes.aima.gov.pt), upload your documents, pay the fee by payment reference and wait for the new card by post. The catch is timing: the portal only accepts permits whose expiry date falls inside the window AIMA has opened. As of late October 2026 that window covers permits expiring between 1 July 2025 and 31 January 2027. If your card expires later, you have to wait for the next opening.

Who can renew on the AIMA renewal portal

According to Portugal's government services portal (gov.pt, updated 1 September 2026), you can request a renewal if you are a foreign national holding a temporary residence permit that is still valid or expired less than six months ago. A legal representative, such as a lawyer with power of attorney, can file for you. That covers the common expat permits, including D7, D8 and D2 holders and most work and family reunification permits.

Some cases sit outside the normal flow:

Expired more than six months: gov.pt says you have to file a new residence application at an AIMA counter rather than a renewal.
Students who have finished and started working: this is a change of permit type, not a straight renewal.
Golden Visa (ARI) holders and their dependants: they use the same portal but have had their own access problems and fee structure (see below).
In-person renewals: these happen by appointment only. gov.pt says IRN contacts eligible people to book; you cannot walk in.

When to renew: the legal window and AIMA's portal windows

Two sets of dates apply, and you need to satisfy both.

The legal window

gov.pt states that a temporary residence permit renewal should be requested at least 30 days before it expires, and can be requested from 90 days before the expiry date. Mark both dates in your calendar the day you receive a new card.

The portal window

Since the portal launched in July 2025, AIMA has opened it in stages by expiry month, roughly two months ahead, to avoid a flood of applications. When DN Brasil reported the October 2026 opening, the portal text read that it accepts renewals of permits "cujo termo expire após 1 de julho de 2025 e até 31 de janeiro de 2027" (whose term expires after 1 July 2025 and by 31 January 2027). Holders of later permits are told to wait for the portal to open to the following months.

Reported opening	Expiry months added
Early January 2026	January and February 2026
26 February 2026	May and June 2026
10 June 2026	September and October 2026
3 August 2026	November and December 2026
23 October 2026	January 2027
Not yet announced	February 2027 onward

Dates come from Portugal News and DN Brasil reporting of AIMA announcements; AIMA does not publish a schedule in advance. In practice: if your permit expires in February or March 2027, check the portal regularly and file as soon as your month opens. If the portal opens late for your month, your legal 30-day deadline can pass through no fault of yours, so keep screenshots showing the portal would not accept you.

Documents to prepare

AIMA does not publish a single renewal checklist for every permit type, so prepare the core set plus the evidence that you still meet your original permit's conditions. Applications must be complete; incomplete ones can be rejected.

Core documents

Valid passport (copy of the photo page)
Current or recently expired residence card, front and back
Proof of address in Portugal: a lease, a property deed, or an address certificate from the Finanças portal
Portuguese criminal record certificate (you can request it online)
Tax clearance certificate (certidão de situação tributária regularizada) from Portal das Finanças
Social security clearance (declaração de situação contributiva) from Segurança Social Direta, and a NISS number

Evidence for your permit type

D7 (passive income): recent statements showing pension, rental or investment income at or above the current threshold, which in 2026 is €920 a month for one person. The D7 visa guide explains how the threshold and family add-ons work.
D8 (remote work): proof the foreign employment or client work continues, and income at the current D8 level of €3,680 a month in 2026.
Employees and company managers in Portugal: recent payslips, your social security contribution history, and for your own company the commercial registry certificate, the minutes appointing you manager and the company's tax and social security clearances.
Everyone who files in Portugal: your Portuguese tax return (IRS) and settlement note for the last year, if you have filed one.

If you don't yet have a Portuguese tax number for a family member, see how to get a NIF. AIMA also announced that from late July 2026 people starting a process would be assigned a NISS automatically, and portal users report a button that starts the NISS request if one is missing.

How to renew on the portal, step by step

Confirm your expiry month is open. Log in at portal-renovacoes.aima.gov.pt. If your month isn't covered yet, you will usually be told to wait for a later opening.
Check your login details. Access is tied to the contact details AIMA holds for you. If the email on file is wrong or the portal says it can't identify you, fix that first; it can take days.
Fill in the form and upload PDFs. Use clear, complete scans. Name files so a caseworker can tell what each one is.
Pay the fee. The portal generates a payment reference (DUC/Multibanco). Pay within the deadline shown, typically 10 working days, or the request lapses.
Keep the proof of submission. Once approved, you can download a declaration with a QR code showing the renewal; keep it with your old card.
Attend biometrics if called. Not everyone is called, but AIMA can ask for an appointment. Bring originals.
Track the status. Status updates are online; one forum user who phoned AIMA in August 2026 was told status is no longer given by phone. Statuses move from pending analysis to approved (deferido) to card being issued.
Receive the card. Cards are posted to your registered address and must be signed for, so make sure your address is current.

Fees

AIMA's fee table (Portaria 307/2023) charges two components for a temporary permit renewal: a reception-and-analysis fee and the renewal fee itself, with a 25% discount when you apply digitally. AIMA updates the amounts every year, and after complaints in March 2026 it said the change was the annual update provided for in the regulation, not an extraordinary increase.

Fee	Amount	Notes
Reception and analysis (online)	About €91 to €100	€91.46 in the 2024 table; a forum regular quoting the current table gives €99.80
Temporary permit renewal (online)	About €79 to €86	€78.62 in the 2024 table; €85.80 in the current figure quoted
Typical online total	About €170 to €186	One relocation firm lists €185.30 for most nationalities and €58.10 for Brazilians
Golden Visa (ARI) renewal	Several thousand euros	Separate, much higher schedule

AIMA's table exempts nationals of CPLP countries (all except Timor-Leste, so including Brazil) from the renewal fee component; they still pay the reception fee. Pay the amount the portal shows; it is the one that counts.

Processing times and delays

Experiences vary widely. DN Brasil, which tracks reports from the Brazilian community, says new cards have been arriving within about 60 days of an online renewal. At the other end, forum threads and newspaper comment sections describe people waiting many months with no update, and older renewals handled outside the portal have been the slowest. Plan for the long end: file as early as the rules and your portal window allow.

If your case stalls well beyond the legal decision period, options include a complaint to the Ombudsman (Provedoria de Justiça) and, through a lawyer, court action to compel a decision.

Travel while your renewal is pending

Portugal has repeatedly extended the validity of expired permits while renewals are processed, and the QR-coded declaration is meant to prove your status. These extensions are Portuguese measures. Re-entering Portugal is generally the safest trip; travel through other Schengen countries with an expired card is a grey area, and forum reports differ. If you must travel, carry the old card, the submission proof or declaration, and your passport.

What people who've done it say

These are individual experiences from public forums, mostly from 2026. They show the range; they are not rules.

Fixing the login took an outside helper. A resident now paid a salary by their own Portuguese company posted on Expat.com in October 2026. The poster couldn't get into the portal because AIMA held an old email address. An immigrant association near Lisbon changed it within two days for a membership fee plus a small filing charge, and advised waiting about 48 hours after receiving the payment reference before paying. The renewal went in with company registry papers, manager minutes, payslips, contribution history and clearances.
A travel document and online tracking. A Canadian resident of five years reported on Expat.com in spring 2026 that once they got into the portal and submitted, they received a document showing the renewal was in progress, which they planned to use for a month-long trip. A forum regular said cards for well-documented online renewals tend to arrive two to eight weeks after the status changes to approved. In the same thread, another member said a spouse's certificate had expired nearly three years earlier and a lawyer had not been able to resolve it.
"Unidentified citizen" errors and missing NISS. In August 2026, several Golden Visa holders on Nomad Gate reported the portal refusing to recognise them or their dependants. One said dependants received payment links about three months after their cards expired. Another was turned down for lacking a NISS; others replied that a button on the portal starts the NISS request, and one reported the number appearing in their profile a couple of weeks after clicking it.
Renew early, if the window lets you. A Golden Visa holder in the same thread renews about six months before expiry because cards take a long time to issue, and believes validity on the new card now runs from the decision date rather than the payment date.
Waiting while others move ahead. Readers commenting on Portugal News in mid-2026 said they had been waiting months after filing, while newer applicants were approved first, and that AIMA was not answering emails or calls.

Common mistakes

Waiting for a reminder. AIMA does not email you when your window opens. Check the portal and the news yourself.
Missing the six-month cliff. If your card has been expired more than six months, gov.pt says you are back to a new application at a counter.
An out-of-date email or address. Login problems and undelivered cards often trace back to old contact details.
Not showing you still qualify. A renewal is checked against the original permit's conditions, including current income thresholds that rise each January.
Tax or social security debts. Clearances are part of the file; sort out any debt before filing.
Paying late. If the payment reference expires, the request can lapse and you start again.
Assuming an expired card works everywhere in Schengen. Portugal's extensions are domestic measures.

Bottom line

Renewing a Portuguese residence permit is now an online process for most people, but it runs on AIMA's schedule. Check whether your expiry month is open at portal-renovacoes.aima.gov.pt, file between 90 and 30 days before expiry where the portal allows, upload clean clearances and proof that you still meet your permit's conditions, pay promptly, and keep every confirmation. If you have been resident for five years, compare renewing with applying for permanent residence instead.