I didn’t manage to register on the renewal portal, bcs it returns an error saying that “Cidadão não identificado ou sem acesso nesta fase”.
Neither have I received an email with an invitation to do so.
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Did you attempt to register with your current residence card number or the previous one(s)?
I only have one, the first.
I received the AIMA email even though I am not yet eligible to renew.
My dependent who already renewed under the old procedure but doesn’t yet have the card also received an email from AIMA.
This seems to be another botched execution.
I’m in a similar situation. My husband, the primary investor, renewed his visa directly with AIMA in October 2025, but he still hasn’t received his card. I received an email from AIMA stating that the online renewal service was available, and I was able to access the system, but I couldn’t proceed due to errors in the information fields. I believe AIMA hasn’t yet implemented the online renewal service for dependents, only for the primary applicant.
I’m curious do folks expect to be able to renew their GV without their lawyers assistance? Mine charges 1,000 EUR for renewal so if I can do it myself online I would be gladly do so.
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I was able to access the new ARI renewal portal using my original residence card number, but there are several data issues that warrant attention. I called AIMA on the phone and reached an English-speaking staff member after a reasonable wait. She walked me through a few troubleshooting steps then advised me to submit a detailed help request using the contactenos web form. I am waiting for a response, which is expected in a few days.
The process diagram shows that after payment, there is a document submission step. If anyone reaches that point, I will be grateful if you share a screenshot of the instructions, so that I can be prepared when the time comes. Since the form times out after some minutes, I’d like to have everything perfectly prepared in advance, rather than trying to scan and combine pdf documents with the clock ticking.
The main complication is that the apostille is attached to the criminal background check with a metal seal far from the edge of the page, which poses a complication for scanning. I also have the original pdf, but it doesn’t look like the page that was connected to the apostille by the seal. Also, I don’t want to tear it apart myself because I will use the same document for my citizenship application.
An alternative I’m considering is to obtain a certified copy by a notary, but I don’t want to overcomplicate things if I don’t have to.
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This is an incredible achievement in its own right 
I would be grateful to learn which number you used to call them.
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Are you the primary investor or a dependent? You’re lucky to have contacted AIMA by phone. I also called repeatedly but no one answered, and now I can only log in but can’t do anything because the primary investor’s card number is incorrect.
Have you successfully created an account?
I tried but still same problem continues…
Can’t you reduce the image?
Imagine a document inside a sealed envelope. It is difficult to scan that document without unsealing the envelope.
The apostille seal isn’t an envelope, but there’s no practical way to scan the sealed document using my typical flatbed scanner without destroying the seal. I’m hesitant to assume IRN will accept a document with a broken seal, and I don’t have any spare copies handy. It’ll take 40 hours of flying, a few hundred dollars, and several weeks of waiting to procure another.
I understand your frustrations. FYI, American apostilles are generally just stamps across slightly staggered pages, hence the confusion.
Nevertheless, I have used, quite successfully, just my mobile phone to take a picture of documents, including apostilled ones, and convert it into a .pdf. On several occasions, local authorities in Portugal, like IMT, have accepted such scans. Hence the suggestion.
Good luck!
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I posit that it would be preferable to have images or scans of the document with the metal braid and some imperfection, rather than destroying the seal. That would invalidate the document so would be a no-go for me. Not that it helps now, but a possibility in the future is to scan the document prior to having it apostilled, and then scan the apostilled and collate the document post-facto in PDF.
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Thank you, yes, I have a clear image of the original document as well (which arrives from the government as a plain PDF), but it is obvious from the lack of the seal that it is not connected to the apostille page. The point of the seal is specifically to ensure that the apostille is bound to the document it validates until the recipient unseals it.
For people who haven’t seen it and don’t understand the issue (and still care), just imagine that it’s a document inside a sealed envelope. Once you rip open the sealed envelope to scan the document, the envelope isn’t sealed any more.
Here is an example image:
See that circular metal seal? It’s very much in the way for scanning the page underneath. One could probably snap a photo that shows 95% of the page, or bend the document around in a weird way to make a dog-eared flatbed scan, but I lack confidence that any such improvisation will be accepted. I frankly don’t know what they expect. I haven’t been able to reach that point in the renewal portal workflow to read the instructions, and nobody else seems to know either.
The most plausible solution is to obtain two certified copies from a notary or lawyer of the apostilled document. The accredited professional can break the seal and scan the pages, and credibly attest that it was sealed until they copied it.
I think this is fine for the digital upload. They can ask for the physical doc if they need further verification. Keep the physical doc sealed
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Take my opinion for what it’s worth, but I think you may be overthinking it.
I would agree with @anonymous69 that if they distrust the document for some reason, they can request to see the original which will be nicely stored by you in a safe location for such contingency.
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I treated the rivet the same as an oddly placed staple and just simply folded the page back as if it were a neatly placed one, minus the dog ear part. Unless this has to be run through a machine I don’t see how this would create an issue. AIMA hasn’t had any issues with this to date.
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What is the solution for an error message such as the following on the portal:
- A sua situação de dívida com a Segurança Social e a Autoridade Tributária está em revisão. Poderá fazer pedidos no entanto a situação da divida deverá estar regularizada para que estes avancem.
I successfully created the account, but the problem lies with the card number and NIF of the principal investor. The principal investor renewed their visa directly at AIMA in October 2025, but untill now still haven’t received the card. This system seems to be playing a trick on us. Golden Visa spends a lot of money and gets nothing but frustration and stress when the card is held up for years, making me feel like I’m illegally in Portugal.
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