Prior to departure from Lisbon I asked the airlines (Emirates) to send me the copy of booking with “ok to board” mark.
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I’ve entered Schengen 3 times for the past 4 months with my expired card and a printout of the decree. It seems that border control (in my case it was Austrian, Dutch and Dutch again) knows about this stuff and reacts normal when shown an expired Portuguese permit. I wouldn’t advise doing so of course, just saying it works sometimes.
Just visited the SEF Portal to try renew my GV. (Second renewal).
It refused to let me do this with an error message. 
Previously I was able to access it but for financial reasons (paying school fees!) - I decided to wait. Has something changed?
Hoping someone can help please. Very concerned - looks like the goalposts may have shifted again. Please don’t tell me that I have to make an appointment now!
Message:
O seu estatuto não cumpre os requisitos legais para utilização da funcionalidade “renovação automática”. Para mais informações, o Centro de Contacto do SEF está ao seu dispor, todos os dias úteis, das 8:00 às 20:00 através dos números – 808 202 653 (rede fixa) ou 808 962 690 (rede móvel).
Translation:
Its status does not meet the legal requirements for using the “automatic renewal” feature. For more information, the SEF Contact Centre is at your disposal every working day from 8:00 to 20:00 Through the numbers – 808 202 653 (fixed network) or 808 962 690 (mobile network).
What a pity. You’ve just missed the golden opportunity. School fee can be late, but with SEF you should have grabbed any kind of opportunity 
Thank you so much for this helpful advice. Makes me feel much better.
I’m hoping someone can indicate if the automatic renewal system has been discontinued, the process has changed permanently or if it’s some drama with the AIMA migration.
This is the one community I can usually trust! 
As you have experienced, things are not looking good for automatic renewals.
It has been discontinued. All AIMA approvals will revert to manual appointments, that’s what my lawyer told me.
Some unexpected good news. Automatic renewals extended for permits expiring until March 31st, 2024.
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That’s big news if true but I haven’t yet seen it announced anywhere else.
I just got a message from my lawyer - your info is correct! Automatic renewals have reopened for this quarter!!! 
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Since they have reopened renewals today do you still get the error message? Maybe when you attempted it most recently they were changing things on their end to get ready for todays announcement.
Apparently the system AIMA opened today has glitches. Main one being it won’t generate payment details, so can’t conclude the renewal. They’re working on it.
Great news! So, AIMA is running backend, but is the website to renew online still the following link:
Also, so that means that we can assume they open 2nd quarter online renewals starting in June 2024 assuming this trend continues.
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I just tried to renew my permit that expired in February 2024. I get the same message I was getting before. I am not sure why it is not working for me.
O título de residência que possui não permite a utilização da funcionalidade “renovação automática”. Para mais informações, o Centro de Contacto do SEF está ao seu dispor, todos os dias úteis, das 8:00 às 20:00 através dos números – 808 202 653 (rede fixa) ou 808 962 690 (rede móvel).
Not sure from where your lawyer got the news that automatic renewal was stopped. Now it is 100% opposite of what your lawyer said 
.
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Were you able to do the first renewal on sef portal tho ?
Just an update, the glitch we encountered yesterday seems to have been fixed. My spouse’s Q1 automatic online renewal was accepted this morning. Seems like we are back in business folks!
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Exactly! Portugal govt is a mess. There is no clarity, and even people with expired cards in Jan 2024 can’t renew online so don’t know what’s happening.
Thank you for the info. Has the amount been accepted too? Can you share if the residency end date is past due or valid in March?
This is for a card that is going to expire on 31st March, so I presume they have opened up renewals for the entire Q1 2024.
The system generated the usual payment request with reference number, now on AIMA letterhead. It takes 48 hours before you can use the reference number they provide to pay online with a bank (that was also the case with SEF).
So far, nothing is different to previous automatic renewals.
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