Dear all, I am new to the community and I would like some insight if possible. On the ARI Portal *Before the changes in January the status said “Awaiting analysis” then for a short time of a couple of weeks it was switched to “Awaiting Documents”, now it has been switched back to “awaiting analysis” , but I have not submitted any new or updated documents, nor have I received a letter requesting any additional documents. Can anyone clarify if this means I do not need new documents??
Welcome to the community.
The answer really depends on where you are in the process.
Because you are new to the forum, it is not clear whether you have already done biometrics (and are awaiting final approval), or whether you are awaiting a slot for biometrics (after your submission of your application).
There was a January 2025 meeting with AIMA in Braga.
AIMA stated at that meeting that they had decided to change the ARI portal system so that persons who had been waiting for biometrics for years - some waiting since 2021 or 2022 - would soon be able to update documents (through a change in the ARI Portal status from “Awaiting Analysis” to “Awaiting Documents”. Once the portal was open and documents updated, they would open up appointments for biometrics. You may want to go to the Private Lounge in this forum and read the English transcript of that meeting (AIMA’s Plan for Catching up with the ARI Backlog -jan-14-2025).
However, many awaiting biometrics (Stage 2) have observed that they cannot yet upload documents. So they are experiencing another frustrating wait.
AIMA also stated that persons who had already done biometrics, do not need to do anything. All their documents would have been freshly updated and supplied to AIMA at the time of biometrics, and therefore they do not have to do/upload anything further (see this link: Awaiting Final Approval (Stage 4) - #2217 by Onward).
So if you have already done biometrics, then one continues to wait for final approval. Or sue AIMA (as many have successfully done).
If, however, you have not yet done biometrics, then updated documents will be required to be uploaded -when the portals are open. See the many queries towards the end of the thread called Awaiting Pre-Approval (Stage 2) in this forum. I give the link only to the last post in that thread as only the posts from January 2025 after the AIMA meeting are relevant. Awaiting Pre-Approval (Stage 2) - #2619 by mwwilliams10.
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Thank you so much for your feedback. We applied in 2021 and we have NOT done our biometrics yet . My biggest confusion is why did we switch from ‘Awaiting Analysis’ to ‘Awaiting Documents’ in December and then in January we switched back to ‘Awaiting Analysis’ ?? Does this mean that they perhaps don’t need us to update any information? I find that hard to believe because our criminal records for example have definitely expired.
Should we already start working on getting new criminal records although we haven’t received an email yet?? This is something that takes time to get and translate, apostile, etc. but then what if we cannot upload them because the status is not in awaiting documentation???
Some more insight please…
Is there any chance you or your lawyer pressed the green right arrow when it was “Awaiting Documents?” That arrow is the submit button and would switch the status back to “Awaiting Analysis”
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I don’t know but I suppose it is possible. Now what??? we still haven’t received the email with a list of the documents and our application was submitted in 2021.
Hey TinG,
It is very frustrating. We have been discussing these issues in another thread: AIMA’s new GV process - Residencies & citizenships / Portugal Golden Visa 
- Nomad Gate Community
My situation is similar to yours. The portal will not allow us to upload updated documents and so far, we do not have a response from AIMA as to when this will be fixed. I took the chance and did new criminal records and got them apostilled as it can take some time and I figure they are valid for three months. Hoping this issue is resolved before then.