From August 2025, there was a significant shift in the process of renewing residence permits in Portugal.

Until July, appointment scheduling was managed by the IRN.

However, this responsibility has now returned to AIMA.

Once again, the rules have changed mid-process. There is still no clear information on how the new procedure will work in practice, which is causing uncertainty and frustration. In this context, it is important to understand what has changed and what is currently known.

End of IRN’s involvement

Since 1 August 2025, the Institute of Registries and Notary (IRN) is no longer responsible for handling renewal requests for expired residence permits.

Registry offices have confirmed that all residents will now be contacted either by EMAIMA or AIMA, depending on the expiry date of their permit.

According to communications issued by several registry offices, applications for renewal of permits expired up to 30/06/2025 will now be handled by the AIMA Task Force (EMAIMA).

Applications relating to permits expired after that date will fall under the direct responsibility of AIMA.

 

Even those who already had a confirmed appointment with IRN must now wait for new instructions.

 

What is EMAIMA?

The Task Force of the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (EMAIMA) was created by Council of Ministers Resolution No. 87/2024 of 10 July, with the aim of processing around 400,000 pending applications submitted to AIMA up until 2 June 2025.

Its original one-year mandate was extended until 31 December 2025 through Resolution No. 99-A/2025.

With this extension, EMAIMA was also assigned responsibility for the renewal of residence permits expired up to 30/06/2025.

This is a transitional measure that highlights the ongoing reactive adaptation of administrative structures to the system’s accumulated pressure.

 

Contact via the email registered in the SII

AIMA is contacting residents with expired residence permits supposedly using the email address associated with the Immigration Information System (SII).

“SII AIMA IP” refers to the Immigration Information System managed by AIMA, I.P.

However, the AIMA portal did not allow the creation of user profiles when the type of request — such as renewal of residence permits — was not among those that could be submitted online.

As a result, many residents still do not have a user profile with AIMA, since their expired residence permits were originally issued by the former SEF.

Nevertheless, we are aware that our clients who had SEF profiles created by us are now being contacted directly by AIMA, using the email address we had previously registered on the SEF system.

These emails instruct users to register or recover their password on the platform managed by AIMA. This suggests that SEF’s database has been imported into AIMA’s systems, and that AIMA is directly activating user profiles on its platform.

Once the password is recovered, applicants can move forward with their request, and are then redirected to the iPai platform to complete the payment.

For the payments we processed in the past 48 hours, we have already received appointment confirmations for 21/08/2025!

 

If you already paid IRN, what should you do?

We are also aware of several cases in which residents who had already been contacted by IRN and even attended their scheduled appointments — where they paid the applicable fees — are now receiving the same email, instructing them to follow the exact same steps as everyone else.

In other words, these residents are being asked to pay renewal fees that have already been paid.

There is, as of yet, no official clarification on how these situations will be dealt with.

If you already paid IRN and receive one of these emails, we recommend replying to the message, attaching proof of attendance and payment, and requesting clarification.

In any case, ALL residents with expired residence permits in Portugal should:

• Confirm the email address associated with their process (on the SEF portal);
• Check their email (including spam folders) regularly;
• Avoid making any new payments until official guidance is issued.

 

AIMA, residence renewals and Portugal: what to expect?

AIMA is now the entity responsible for centralising all residence permit renewals in Portugal. Further clarification is expected in the coming days regarding payments already made and the legal validity of previous steps.

 

We are closely monitoring developments and will share updates as soon as they become available.

 

By your GSN Team