Suing at this final hurdle seems crazy, although I don’t know how long is a reasonable time to continue to wait. I have had 4 years of patience to get here, I am very now getting frustrated.
You mean the online system does not yet show that you made the payment? Or the system does show that you made the payment, but you haven’t yet received the card?
System does not reflect the payment. I was pretty careful when doing it to follow instructions closely. Apparently there have been more issue like this which take an indeterminable time to resolve…
Heard of such issues happening early in 2025; didn’t know they were still continuing. Need lawyer to escalate efforts, I suppose…
System often does not reflect the payment properly. My wife has received her card over two months ago, and her payment status is still showing as “pending”.
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I got my approval in October as well, but it took a month for my lawyers to verify the DUC for payment before I paid. Got the card 2 weeks later. They told me that some clients were still waiting since February after paying. Apparently, before paying it is good practice to reach out to AIMA and ‘verify’ the DUC with them. Apparently, when they are issued initially they are all wrong and the payment does not register in the system.
I’m also a November 2021 applicant, and my approval was issued on 7 November 2025. My lawyers completed the payment on 10 November, and the system reflects that same date. However, I still haven’t received my residence card.
I asked my lawyers to verify whether the system shows if the card has already been produced, but they confirmed that this information isn’t displayed. From their experience, it can take up to three months from the payment date for the card to be delivered.
You may want to ask your lawyers to follow up directly with AIMA. I’m assuming your approval was handled through Funchal. Typically, the cards are printed in Lisbon, then sent to Madeira, and from there forwarded to your collection address.
Hi - any suggestions how your lawyers did that, given that AIMA never answers emails or the phone? Did they use the lawyer-AIMA complaints channel introduced last year (despite this not being a complaint, just a double-check)?
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My spouse and I completed our biometric appointments in Lisbon in June 2023. Under the old procedure, no fees had been paid at that stage.
Our daughter completed her biometric appointment in Lisbon on March 6, 2025. Under the new procedure, the fee of EUR 6,100 was paid.
There has been no litigation involved in any of the applications. However, to date, none of the applications has been approved.
On January 2, our lawyer visited the Anjos office in person to check the status, and we were informed that the applications are still under review.
At this point, the situation is unclear, and it feels as though the cases have entered a black hole with no visibility on progress.
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Updated progress: a lawsuit against AIMA was formally filed on January 28.
The government has been bragging about issuing fewer residence cards:
It’s clear that there is political pressure to take our money (especially the 6k EUR per card), but not to give out residence cards too soon.
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give enough rope..
I plan to use this kind of ‘admission of guilt’ speeches in my lawsuit if/when the new proposed citizenship law is approved as is.
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That PTN article and Minister of the Presidency (António Leitão Amaro) statement baffles me, because AIMA itself said last October:
Residence permits will increase by 60% to more than 386,000 in 2025 – AIMA
Autorizações de residência sobem 60% para mais de 386 mil em 2025 – AIMALisbon, October 26, 2025 (Lusa) – AIMA has granted 386,463 residence permits up to October 22 of this year, 60% more than in the same period of 2024, and estimates that the 50% reduction in the number of immigrants entering the country will continue.
Gemini thinks the numbers are more like this:
| Year | Permits Granted | Official Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | ~328,000 | Final year of SEF/Transition year. |
| 2024 | 236,030 | AIMA’s first year; Mission Structure established in July. |
| 2025 | 386,463 | Record surge; 60% increase due to the Mission Structure task force. |
| 2026 | Ongoing | Focus shifted to ARI (Golden Visa) and high-skilled visas. |
Admittedly I’m still on hols in Australia, and perhaps a bit upside-down… but what am I missing? 
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This article is about work visas not residency visas.
I have no idea how to reconcile the numbers. AIMA (or the current government) has said goodbye to data integrity a long time ago (remember the monthly approval stats SEF used to publish?), and now just selectively gives out a blurb about data, rather than the data itself, to fit the political narrative of the day.
You and I can read the same article and reach different conclusions on what it’s “about.”
All I’m saying is the minister bragged about “60% fewer residence permits were granted compared to 2023.” He also bragged about stopping MI altogether and making immigrants get work visas in their home countries instead, a policy I agree with.
People with “work visas” or “ARI visas” both get non-permanent residence permits. In other words, both are counted in the number of residence permits issued. You as an ARI applicant do not have a special category called “residency visas.”
Hey guys,
I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to change my lawyer and find someone who is organized, responsive, and proactive to handle my Golden Visa and citizenship matters for my family and me.
If any of you have had a good experience with a lawyer in Lisbon, I would really appreciate it if you could share a recommendation.
Thanks in advance!