The AIMA immigration office has increased the processing capacity of immigration applications to reduce the backlog of pending applications seeking residence permits in Portugal.
Current AIMA is able to serve 6000 immigrant appointments per day, from the previous 800), that is a seven fold increase in service capacity, the Minister Antonio Amaro announced. AIMA has set a target to fully resolve backlog by June 2025.
AIMA has already introduced streamlined application process to speed up in-person visits with appointments. AIMA has about 150,000 applications currently pending, including golden visa applications. Many of them accumulated during restructuring of AIMA from SEF, and last minute GV applications submitted before closing real estate route. The current waiting time for new golden visa applications is around 10-12 months.
The Government decided to extend the validity of expired residence permits and visas for immigrants living in the country by one year until June 30th, 2025 under the Migration Action Plan 2025.
The Portuguese government will add additional 50 staff at consular posts for speedy decision of visa applications within 20 days. This is done to address shortage of workers seeking employment contracts for recruitment, done by Portuguese companies.
