Even though my husband had already submitted the renewal application in person, I still tried creating an account for my husband, the primary applicant, using the old email address that he previously used to log into SEF, along with his first and second old card numbers, but it still didn’t work. The error display is:“A conta indicada para recuperação não existe”
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I personally am not worried about that. My kids have had their finance accounts for 5 years now. We are tax residents in Portugal and I declare the kids as part of the ‘agregado familiar’ (which I am obligated to declare). If our kids leave the country by the time they turn 18 (highly probable), they just go on to the portal and change the address to Germany or Hong Kong or Zimbabwe or wherever they decide to move to. Once your tax account is set to non-resident (more than a million Portuguese citizens are in this situation), finanças leave you alone.
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All you can do is try. And make a big fuss when you are there. Explode with anger and make them all tremble (and fix the portal).
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I gather that a few of you are in this awkward situation: you were able to log in and create a request (accidentally) with your old residence card number that expired long ago, not the current card that expired recently.
What are your thoughts on:
- paying and proceeding through the online portal using the old card number, vs.
- trying to get help from AIMA, vs.
- going to the scheduled in-person meeting and seeing where that leads, vs.
- ???
I submitted a detailed problem report and help request to AIMA two weeks ago, with screenshots, as an agent directed on the phone. Today I called (many many times, many busy signals) to follow up and eventually, after two hours of dialing and an additional 30 minutes on hold, reached a different agent. She believed that I was in default because I was not registered as a full-time tax resident in Portugal. She didn’t know or care about the ARI program. At best, it was an unproductive call, and didn’t help to improve my state of mind.
I tried to submit a new problem report today but it wouldn’t allow another submission. It says that I still have a help request in progress.
My lawyer thinks we should just submit payment for the online request based on the old, expired card, but she doesn’t really know. I am probably more invested in a successful outcome.
Also my lawyer has no idea what they want for proof of financial sufficiency. She proposes to include a bank statement for that slot.
Constructive perspectives: welcome! Dooming, glooming, trolling: off to the appropriate thread please.
There is no problem at all for the kids to have and use their own accounts at Portal das Finanças.
When it comes to annual IRS, you will submit it for them (i.e. you add their NIF on your own IRS, and then the kids don’t do nothing on the portal).
Of course your kids’ “accounts” already exist at AT by the virtue of them having their own NIFs, and they cannot escape their relationship with AT by not logging in to the Portal das Finanças.
By the same logic you may try to escape annual bank KYC by never using online/mobile banking. 
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I would rather submit a signed statement that this requirement is not applicable to ARI.
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I would absolutely submit. Upload all the documents (including copies of all cards you have had, including the most recent card). You will be in a much stronger position awaiting decision on an official paid application than on a problem report with screenshots.
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Maria, for the second card, did your husband auto-renew online on SEF’s old website?
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Thanks for sharing your experience. That is very frustrating and hope you can get it resolved soon!
I am having a similar issue as Maria. My first card expired in Feb 2026 and I do not live in Portugal. I’m the dependent and when I login to the portal, I start a New Application, I put the main applicant’s original card residence permit number and NIF number and I get the error
“The Investor Title Number does not exist.
The Investor’s NIF does not exist”
So I tried putting in my own info and I get the error “The indicated Investor Title Number is not eligible for this purpose.”
Did you get this error for your dependent and were you able to resolve it? Also, since I do not live in Portugal, do I need to get the NISS? How about for my minor kids? Do I need to create a separate account with new emails for them to be able to renew? Do they need to have a NIF or can the renewal for minors be done without it?
I have tried emailing AIMA few times about this error and not being able to renew but have not gotten a response.
Which Contact From did you use that you got a response from them? Also, do you have the list of documents to renew dependent’s card? Was the Terms of Responsibility from the main applicant needed as well?
I have not ordered any of my documents yet, since I am worried they will expire before I can figure out how to fix the portal error! Any advice from anyone is greatly appreciated!
Yes, I did consider that possibility if they didn’t resolve it for me because I have proof that I renewed online by every possible means.
I renewed the second card for the whole family online myself through the old SEF portal.
Dear Neda,
I feel your pain. I myself have experienced all the error messages you have described. But mine were resolved for all dependents by entering the primary investor’s first card and NIF. I am sorry it doesn’t work for you.
In regards to NISS, I am not sure what to say. It was never a requirement to have a NISS, but there was always a requirement to prove you owe nothing to social security. For that, you need a declaration from the social security office. Impossible to get remotely: someone has to go to the office on your behalf to get it (with a valid power of attorney). This would have been done for you when you applied for your first permit.
Every person renewing has to have his own account on the portal.
In regard to NIF, I believe everyone including dependents has to have one. You probably already do: I believe it would have happened when you applied for your first permit.
Emailing AIMA is like talking to a rock. Their contact form works slightly better. You can find it on their website. The option you should select is called ‘Portal de Renovações’. There, you can submit a problem form with screenshots of what you are experiencing.
For each dependent, you have to have a Term of Responsibility signed and notarised.
I am sorry, this is all the information I have.
For now, my kids profiles are still frozen (well past 10 days since the payment DUC’s were generated), the portal still asking for 3709€ per kid. The requests have not been ‘canceled automatically’ for non-payment, which was supposed to have happened. I guess, their profiles need to be reset manually – by the rock we all have to talk to.
Regards,
Boris
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Hi Boris,
Can you explain how you were able to proceed by entering the primary investor card and NIF for the dependent? If you use the credentials for the primary investor, how does the portal even know that you are registering for a dependent? It seems to me that you would need to register the dependent under their own name and NIF and email. Perhaps I misunderstood.
This could have something to do with the despacho listed for the person renewing. Also, note that for many the first card would have been classified under a different despacho than the 2nd renewed card. In fact, by law the renewal is converted to a D2 ARI. This could help to explain why the fees are incorrect for some.
Hi,
Each dependent has to have his own email and password and residence card to enter the portal. However, entering the portal is only the beginning. Once you are in the portal, the system will ask you to enter the residence permit and NIF of the MAIN INVESTOR. That’s where in my case nothing worked, except the very first residence permit of the main investor (my wife).
Hope this helps.
Boris
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You are on the right track. The despacho listed for my wife (main investor) clearly specifies IMOB (real estate). She had already renewed but I was still able to log into the portal under her name just to see what the despacho is. However, for the dependents it says FAMILIAR ARI and does not specify real estate, even though I entered the principal investor information (same as on her profile) when generating their renewal requests. That’s the glitch.
Thank you for the response. You have an impressive analytical mind.
This is the content in my account. My child’s account is blank, with an added warning, so I think the system is malfunctioning. Or, as I suspect, there’s a possibility that dependents can only renew their visa once the primary applicant’s application is processed by AIMA.
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Thank you Boris for the info. I have a NIF but my kids(11 and 14) do not and on the back of their residency card has N/A for their NIF. Do I need to apply for a NIF for them in order to renew their cards? Entering the main applicant’s first card residence permit and NIF bring the error I mentioned. He renewed his first card few months ago but has not received it yet. Maybe that is why it is not working?! All very confusing! I will try contacting AIMA through the contact form and see if that goes anywhere. Thank you!