If you have NISS you can get the clearance easily online. Otherwise I think your lawyer (or you) has to go in person to the social security office and get a letter proving you have no NISS.
1 Like
That is correct, I had to go in person the Social Security office to get the ‘no NISS record’ letter. It was quite a dramatic experience on its own.
1 Like
FWIW my lawyers sent me this email from AIMA, re: necessity of NISS for renewals on the new portal.
Portal de Renovações
Caro (a),
A AIMA informa que o Portal das Renovações já se encontra disponível para as Renovações
de Autorização de Residência que caduquem até junho de 2026.
Caso se encontre nesta situação, renove a sua Autorização de Residência no seguinte link:
portal-renovacoes.aima.gov.pt
Assim, a AIMA relembra que para concluir o processo de renovação de Autorização de
Residência com sucesso, é necessário o Número de Identificação da Segurança Social
(NISS).
I - Quem ainda não tem NISS
1.o Passo: Requerer o NISS junto do Instituto da Segurança Social ou em algumas lojas do
cidadãos, podendo aceder a informação aqui: Como pedir o NISS para pessoas
estrangeiras em Portugal
2.o Passo: após obtenção do número, efetuar o registo do mesmo na AIMA para o que
deverá:
Aceder ao Formulário de Contacto (contactenos.aima.gov.p)
Escolher Tipo de Assunto → Portal das Renovações
Escolher Subtipo de Assunto → Retificar ou inserir Número de Identificação de
Segurança Social (NISS)
Indicar os dados a registar/alterar e associar a documentação exigida (documento
emitido pelo ISS)
- Após este registo, a AIMA procede ao registo inicial no prazo máximo de 48h, podendo
então aceder ao Portal das Renovações e efetuar o pedido de renovação.
II – Quem já tem NISS e o mesmo não consta nos registos da AIMA
Aceder ao Formulário de Contacto (contactenos.aima.gov.p)
Escolher Tipo de Assunto → Portal das Renovações
Escolher Subtipo de Assunto → Retificar ou inserir Número de Identificação de
Segurança Social (NISS)
Indicar os dados a registar/alterar e associar a documentação exigida- Após este registo, a AIMA procede ao registo inicial no prazo máximo de 48h, podendo
então aceder ao Portal das Renovações e efetuar o pedido de renovação.
A AIMA relembra ainda que para receber o documento de Autorização de Residência na
sua residência atual, é necessário que a sua morada esteja atualizada.
III - Alteração de Morada
A Alteração de morada tem de ser efetuada antes do pedido de renovação de autorização de
residência e inclui os seguintes passos:
Aceder ao Formulário de Contacto (contactenos.aima.gov.p)
Escolher Tipo de Assunto → Portal das Renovações
Escolher Subtipo de Assunto → Comunicar/retificar Morada
Indicar os dados a registar/alterar e associar a documentação exigida- Após este registo, a AIMA procede à sua atualização no prazo máximo de 48h, podendo
então aceder ao Portal das Renovações e efetuar o pedido de renovação com a nova
morada.
IV - Acesso ao Portal de Renovações
Caso nunca tenha acedido ao Portal de Renovações, deverá começar por criar a sua conta
clicando no botão “Criar conta”, usando o endereço de email pretendido.
Caso já tenha acedido e não se recorde da password deverá clicar em “Recuperar
Password”. Se o email já estiver registado na nossa base de dados, será enviado um link
para reposição da palavra-passe.
Atenciosamente,
AIMA
Exigencia.NISS.Portal.AIMA.pdf (313.4 KB)
In the case of renewal, the fee increased from 3,157.80 to 4,210.30 euros, also a rise of 33.3%.
https://aima.gov.pt/pt/noticias/atualizacao-da-tabela-de-taxas
tabela-de-taxas-e-demais-encargos-a-cobrar-pelos-procedimentos-administrativos (9).pdf (387.2 KB)
Submitted my documents on the 25th of Feb. Still no updates.
No QR code or confirmation received.
*It was supposed to be within 48h. Oh well…
1 Like
AIMA PORTAL and IN-PERSON nightmare: a detailed experience of a family of 5 trying to renew.
We have Canadian passports and are living in Lisbon, having INVESTED IN REAL ESTATE (bought our own house) about 6 years ago.
Our current permits (1st renewal) expired in January 2025. When AIMA started scheduling appointments for renewals, I requested appointments for all of us via the contact form. A few MONTHS later, only appointments for my wife and I were scheduled (kids forgotten) in Lisbon AIMA. The appointments (in September) were partly successful: my wife and I renewed for 185€ per card - the cards, valid for 3 years, came in the mail in December. However, AIMA staff refused to process the kids’ renewals -they said their hands were tied-, asking us to try to schedule again via the contact form.
I re-submited the contact form and a couple of months later the kids were scheduled for March 2, 2026 (two sons in Bragança AIMA afternoon, daughter in Castelo Branco AIMA morning). We laughed and decided to try to make a roadtrip out of it… to discover parts of the country we would never otherwise go to…
To our surprise, however, the sons were abruptly rescheduled to Porto on the same day and AT THE SAME TIME (10:30am) as daughter in Castelo Branco. Desperate to have our kids finally re-legalized, my wife and I decided to divide and conquer: she would go with our daughter to Castelo Branco, I’d go with the sons to Porto.
However, a month before: SURPRISE! AIMA announced the PORTAL was to become the only way to renew. What a convenience!
It was difficult to get access. First, the portal wouldn’t recognize the NIF of the investor and the permit number. Or the email address. Or it said the applicant was not legible. Or didn’t exist. Eventually, I cracked the code, matching the FRIST (very original) permit of the principal investor (my wife) to the email addresses I used when I auto-renewed the kids’ permits the first time on the old SEF portal (each kid had to have a different email address). I discovered that hack by going to the ‘recuperate password’ area. So I gained access, even though their permits expired in January and the portal is supposedly only for those that expire July onwards…
But… a new problem arose: the portal wanted me to pay first, before even asking me what kind of investment we have. And the price… 3700€ instead of 185€. Per kid, that is.
I didn’t pay. Decided to see what happens at the in-person appointments, which we had to attend anyway.
In Castelo Branco AIMA, my wife explained everything to them and they talked to the manager and finally agreed to process the application for my daughter’s renewal at 185€. Done.
Contemporaneously, the staff at the Porto AIMA also agreed that the permit should be renewed at 185€ (it’s the law), but said it absolutely must be done online. Email the online people, they said, or email the general email, they are only allowed to take the biometrics for the kids and that’s it - their hands are tied. I reasoned with them unsuccessfully and finally made a fuss, refusing to leave without proof of refusal and insisted that the police officer be present to witness it. It was fun, but now we are back in Lisbon empty-handed.
I really don’t want to pay them 3700 for their fantastic service (because trying to get the money back will be even more fantastic), so my plan is to complain through all channels and force them to fix the portal and re-set my kids’ profiles.
If any of you notice the portal changes to the correct fee for DEPENDENTS of REAL ESTATE INVESTORS or starts offering a selection of type of renewal, please post about it here.
Thanks for reading. I hope this helped someone.
PS: I just learned from another applicant that the fee on the portal is 185€ real estate principal investors. It seems the portal is not set up to take that fee for DEPENDENTS.
Real estate investors, please post here about your DEPENDENTS’ fees on the portal. If the fees are incorrect, we have to complain – make a fuss about it when we go for biometrics at AIMA, try to strong arm them into processing the files on the spot instead of the portal, fill out all the complaint forms available, write many emails. Otherwise, they won’t fix the glitch.
5 Likes
It’s a joke, AIMA opens a tender to contract the development of a new portal for EUR 208.000,00.
Dear AT,
Please give more details of the process.
Do you have to register first. Were you able to make the payment for fee and upload all the required documents. Which documents did you upload.
Are you doing the renewal yourself or through a lawyer.
My lawyers are still not able to register online because of technical issues.
Thank you
Hi Richard. I’ve written about everything you’re asking about already (check this thread above).
2 Likes
Thanks, Just went through all your posts.
Congrats on the submission.
My lawyers are still struggling with the registration. There is hope that the site is working atleast for some investors.
Just got the confirmation of submission with a QR code.
Let’s see how long it takes from here.
Tbh I can’t see any use of the lawyers in this process. You can do everything on your own. Apart from certifying the documents.
4 Likes
In Lisbon, there is a quick and free way to get a NISS. No employment contract needed, no self-employed receipts. You go to the Loja de Cidadão in Saldanha and take a number for Espaço Cidadão (attention: NOT for Segurança Social), selecting the option: ID for foreigners. Once your number is called (usually within 30 min), you go to the Espaço Cidadão counter (not Segurança Social counter) and tell them you need your NISS. They will smile and ask for your:
- passport
- residence permit
- proof of current address (utility bill). If you don’t bring that, you can just tell them address is same as on residence card. It doesn’t matter if it’s old: you can change that address later.
- proof of NIF (if you have it)
- proof of SNS health coverage (if you have it)
If you don’t have either NIF or SNS, they will also apply to get those for you.
You need a working portuguese cellphone. They will set it up to receive an SMS code in their system. This is a must. Bring the phone with you, fully charged.
The NISS comes by email within 10 days. You can then sign up for segurança social direta to access your profile and generate the declaration that you are in good standing.
That’s it.
11 Likes
Thank you. Your feedback is invaluable to us. You’ve only done this for the principal applicant, right?
So far yes
1 Like
Any other software engineers here? We can tell them we’ll do it for free if they give us all citizenship immediately 
7 Likes
Thank you for the information. My family also invests in real estate like you, and my husband, the primary applicant, submitted his renewal application in October 2025 but has yet to receive the card. My husband paid the fee of 181€. I have an in-person visa renewal application scheduled for April 2026 at AIMA Porto, but I’m worried they might require us to apply online as previously announced. To save time, I tried to apply online for my dependents (myself and my child) as soon as the online application opened, but the only error message I received was: “O Número do Titulo do Investidor indicado não é elegível para o efeito”. I’ve almost given up and am now eagerly awaiting my in-person appointment. Could you tell me if you encountered a similar error and how you resolved it? When you renew your child’s subscription online, do children need to enter their NISS number? I sent an email to the general email address but nobody replied. I’ve also heard of many cases where children’s fees were incorrect when renewing online.
1 Like
Hi, Maria, yes, this is one of the many errors I got as I tried to get in.
Did you try entering your kids’ current permit numbers and your husband ORIGINAL (very first) permit number? And the email address also matters. And the NIF. Did you try recuperar password option?
1 Like
Thank you for your reply. I successfully created an account and registered for NIF and NISS on the AIMA portal. However, my child has never had a NISS number. After all that, I logged in and selected “Create Novo Pedido,” but after entering the information in the two required fields, I received this error message.
Could you tell me how you entered this information? I entered my current card number and my NIF number, but I received this error message.
In those fields you have to put the very first permit number of the PRINCIPAL INVESTOR and THE NIF OF THE PRINCIPAL INVESTOR.
2 Likes
Kids are exempt from NISS requirement.
1 Like