Thereâs an entire separate thread dedicated to that topic (link below). In short we still donât know yet⊠we have a few random examples of various dates being applied:
1 Like
Reread their comment - no, theyâre just asking about when they have to spend time in Portugal.
After you get your card
Hereâs the response from my attorney to my inquiry about the email from AIMA:
Based on the emails we have received from AIMA regarding changes in the status of their applications on the ARI platform, please allow us to provide some clarity on the matter.
The Immigration Office (AIMA) is currently updating the platform as part of ongoing changes to streamline future procedures. At present, applications that have not been approved or issued a temporary residence card are displaying the status âAwaiting application submission.â
Your application, which was submitted in 07-06-2023, is confirmed, and we have already provided you with proof of this submission. To address the current display issue, we accessed the platform, clicked the green arrow, and saved the information. The status for your application has now changed to âAwaiting analysis.â
Please rest assured that these updates to the platform are routine, and AIMA does not send notifications when such changes occur. Additionally, AIMA always communicates any requests for documentation or information via email. To date, no notifications have been received regarding your application or those of any of our other clients.
We are closely monitoring your file, and we will promptly inform you of any significant updates.
Dear X
Kindly note that your application is being monitored in the ARI Portal. Regarding access to the ARI Portal, to be able to be 100% responsible for your application, the legal representative should be the only one with control of the Portal for one very simple reason: if you have access to the Portal, you may receive notifications from AIMA that then we do not receive and are unable to act accordingly and for that, it is companyâs policy that all investors are registered with the email address of the legal representative from IAS. Please note that we will always keep you updated on any developments in your application, so you will always be updated on its status.
With that said, we are thrilled to share an important update regarding your Investment Residence Authorization (ARI) application. After a long waitâand as we have been announcingâAIMA has taken a major step to advance all pending applications awaiting biometric appointments.
To move forward, AIMA has updated the status of these applications, requiring that all documentation be refreshed, legalized, and uploaded. Once this step is completed, biometric appointments will be scheduled automatically, marking a significant milestone in the process.
However, it is important to note that if the required updates are not made, your application will be deemed abandoned and canceled by AIMA.
Key Updates
- Required Documentation
· Applicants must update their records by reissuing and resending all mandatory civil documents. These are the same documents you provided previously but must now be renewed.
· All documents must:
o Be valid under Portuguese law, specifically regarding their time of issuance.
o Be legalized or apostilled.
o Include certified translations into Portuguese or English â we can assist here.
· Original versions of civil documents must be presented during the in-person biometric appointment.
· Kindly find attached the list of documents for the Golden Visa process (please note that you only need to obtain the documents that apply to you and your family memberŽs specific case).
Option for Document Submission:
If you would like us to submit the documents, we have already received from you that were valid at the date of submission, we are happy to assist with this step. However, you must still prepare a new set of documents to present during the biometric appointment.
-
Scheduling of Appointments
· Once the updated documents are submitted, AIMA will automatically schedule an appointment at an AIMA service desk, following the chronological order of updates.
· Appointments will commence on 15 January 2025, with a lead time of 30 to 90 days.
· Appointments will be automatically assigned by the competent authorities, and selecting a preferred location may not be possible. For appointments at branches outside Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra, and Guarda, additional IAS legal fees may apply.
· Rescheduling requests will only be considered for the second half of 2025 and must be supported by documented and justified reasons. Please note, that due to this policy we advise all clients to attend the dates provided by the immigration services, since it is not guaranteed that new dates will provided. Failure to attend the assigned appointment may also result in the cancellation of your application. -
In-Person Appointment Requirements
· During the appointment, biometric data collection and confirmation of presence in Portuguese territory will occur.
· Applicants must bring:
o Valid Passport
o Original versions of all documents uploaded to the ARI Portal -
Payment of Fees
· All fees associated with the process, amounting to âŹ6,045.20 per applicant, must be paid during the in-person appointment via credit or debit card.
· Please verify with your bank in advance to ensure authorization for this transaction.
What We Need From You
While our team will manage the entire process on your behalf, we kindly request your collaboration in gathering and legalizing the required documents promptly. This is critical to ensuring compliance and avoiding delays.
For Investors Requiring Schengen Visas
If you require a Schengen visa to travel to Portugal, we recommend initiating the visa application process now to ensure you are prepared for your scheduled appointment.
We will guide you through the process of updating your documents and notify you as soon as your biometric appointment is scheduled. It is crucial to act promptly to avoid the risk of your application being canceled by AIMA.
Should you have any questions or need assistance, do not hesitate to contact us.
Thank you and we wish you and your family a Happy New Year!
4 Likes
@cbab one thing to be wary of, according to Prime Legalâs writeup (AIMA's new GV process) is that uploading fully certified docs is potentially better since it guarantees the lower GV fees of 6000 for online processing instead of 8000. This requires mailing all the physical docs to your PT lawyer for certification.
1 Like
We filed case in Sep by IAS and not hearing from the case result as well. But we received an IAS broadcast email regarding the situation. Mercan Rep already ask us to prepare the updated document. I assume after the holiday IAS will communicate directly.
1 Like
Does anyone know if it is necessary to upload the documents which do not have an asterisk on the list? And also, my lawyer told me that I can use a state apostille for my FBI report. Can anyone confirm this?
Thanks
It is technically not legal to do so, but I am not sure that the persons reviewing will understand such nuance.
Would you be able to share a list of documents mentuoned in the IAS email?
I want to jnow if theres anything else beyond Criminal, Marriage, and birth certificates require updating.
Thanks.
2 Likes
Is there someone else like me who have not received an email yet? My biometric appointment was already scheduled before in November and I am not sure that I neede to update my documents or not.
If you use an expediting service like Monument Visa I believe federal apostille times are faster now since they re-opened walk ins (which is the service Monument uses).
But if you can wait 5 weeks you can also mail it in yourself: Office of Authentications
Send your request by mail. We will process it within five weeks from the date we receive it.
Do you know if your ARI status was/is «em anålise » (under review) or «aceite » (accepted)⊠or something else?
Email I got from AIMA only refers to those 2 statuses being affected (translation below):
The applications in the âunder reviewâ status were automatically placed in the âawaiting submissionâ status, which allows documents to be updated in the application. As well as those in the âacceptedâ status will move to the âawaiting submissionâ statusâŠ
If you live in the US your Congressman can expedite the mail in Apostille. In '23 it was completed in a week with their help.
I donât think us newer (2023 applicants) should do Background checks just yet right?
Because theyâll be processing the 2021 people first, then the 2022 people, and this is Portugal, Iâd imagine the 2022 people might be processed by end of 2025 if weâre lucky.
Thereâs not a lot of transparency into this decision, and @ohbee nailed it, they COULD just process it with the documents which WERE valid at time of submission, as if they were on-time.
If youâve received the email, Iâd do it. In the bigger picture of pending visa applications, the ARI numbers are low and they could feasibly schedule biometrics for all of them fairly quickly I think.
2 Likes
Indeed, weâve seen big waves of biometrics before, particularly in 2023. We know there are much fewer applicants in 2022/23. It hasnât happened for a while, so weâve forgotten all about it. But if they really focus on it, it wouldnât be too difficult to clear a few thousand over the course of 2025. A pre-emptive document collection run does make sense if youâve received the status update, though it might be worth waiting a few more days for more clarification.
1 Like
I do agree that the allocation of biometrics appointments randomly is regressive. My family have all completed ours now, but we had a bit of a nightmare with my husbandâs as he has a job where he simply canât drop everything in order to travel overseas on an arbitrary date. Although the GV is important to us, weâre not in a position where our current employment is not important and can be risked. If we were, weâd be applying for the D7, not a GV⊠I really worry about what will happen for his renewal biometrics, if they donât revert to online renewalsâŠ
1 Like
I was talking to my local GV team in early December and I asked if they saw anything happening locally that would show thereâs progress in the overall backlog.
They told me that at the Lisbon local task force processing center that they are processing 1500 biometrics a day. This is for all application types but still great speed.
So @sen is right. If they focus on it I believe they could do all pending GV biometrics in the first half of 2025.
Everyoneâs situation is different but for us we are getting new documents to upload and will keep our criminal check updated every 3 months. Weâre a cup half full family and feel now that AIMA is focusing on the ARIâs, its going to move quickly.
4 Likes
Just criminal and marriage for us because we have no dependants
1 Like
I used DeepL to translate the e-mail I received from AIMA as most of us have been using the English Translation and I though a different translation may help clarify some points.
Iâve included the full translation below but two key points stand out:
- âYou must upload the documentation for ARI applications for investors and their families.â
- âOnce the application has been updated in accordance with the above terms, AIMA will automatically register an appointment to visit an AIMA service desk, in accordance with the chronological criteria for updating applications.â
So, itâs clear that you need to update the expired documents of your entire family and that appointments will be scheduled in order where the updated documents are submitted. No mention of what happens if an application is submitted without updating the documents.
AIMA, I.P. hereby announces that it has changed its policy for analyzing online registrations and scheduling applications for Investment Residence Permits (ARI), in order to prioritize older applications and process applications for residence permits electronically.
The current procedure involves inviting all applicants and legal representatives to complete the applications awaiting analysis through the respective online registration on the ARI portal, which precedes the application for a residence permit, in accordance with the provisions of article 65-D, no. 16 of Regulatory Decree no. 84/2007, of 5/11. To this end, the status of the applications on the ARI portal that were in the âunder analysisâ status were automatically placed in the âawaiting submissionâ status, which allows for the updating of documents in the application. In addition, those in the âacceptedâ status will be moved to the âawaiting submissionâ status, thus allowing processes that have not yet been formalized to proceed as indicated below.
From the moment this notification is received, it will be possible to submit new documents, update the validity of those already submitted and correct formalities, for example by attaching certified copies.
We therefore inform you that you should proceed as follows:
UPDATING ARI APPLICATIONS ON THE ARI PORTAL
-
You must submit all the documentation legally and exhaustively required by article 65-D, no. 16 of Regulatory Decree no. 84/2007, of 5/11, which must be duly valid, legalized (if the document is foreign and translated into Portuguese, preferably or English) and preferably certified in accordance with current legislation. If you submit documentation that is not certified, you must present the original documentation at the time of attendance.
-
You must upload the documentation for ARI applications for investors and their families.
-
The documentation submitted may not exceed a limit of 2MB per document, so if necessary, you should split the document into parts.
AGENDA
-
Once the application has been updated in accordance with the above terms, AIMA will automatically register an appointment to visit an AIMA service desk, in accordance with the chronological criteria for updating applications.
-
These appointments will take place from January 15, 2025 and cannot be less than 30 days or more than 90 days in advance.
-
All situations, duly and documentarily justified, in which it is impossible to attend on the scheduled date, will be rescheduled for the second half of 2025.
-
Due to flow management and the size of households, it may not be possible for applicants to choose a service desk.
FACE-TO-FACE SERVICE
During the face-to-face service, the foreign citizenâs biometric data will be collected and confirmation of presence on national territory will be made (in accordance with the provisions of Article 77(1)(c) of Law 23/2007 of 4 July and presentation of the Initial Application),
You must present the Initial Application and passport, as well as the non-certified documentation submitted on the portal, for confirmation.
PAYMENT OF FEES
-
Payment of all fees inherent to the issuing process will be made at the time of attendance.
-
In view of the amounts, payments will only be accepted via TPA, so if necessary, you must first request authorization from the respective banking authority to make the payment at the time of attendance.
Therefore, if you still wish to apply for a residence permit for investment under Article 90-A of Law 23/2007 of 4/07, for the purposes of the administrative procedure relating to your representativeâs application, made via the ARI portal, you are hereby notified that you must submit the required documentation in the manner indicated in this communication, failing which the application will be rejected.
If the application for an ARI has already been formalized, you should disregard this notification.
The Support Unit for Residence Permits for Investment (UARI)