Hey folks, I’m opening a new topic here just to focus the convo a bit on renewals.
I went into the AIMA website about 10 days ago and submitted my request for a renewal. NOTE: My first residency was approved in 2019 and I applied for citizenship 15 months ago. I live full time in Portugal.
Instead of uploading a Power of Attorney letter, I wrote a letter (in Portuguese) and said I’d represent myself.
I received notice of a renewal appointment within 10 days of uploading my documents. I was told that I could designate someone to go in my place, since no biometrics are required. The cost of renewal wasn’t specified, nor was I instructed to bring any documents.
As it happens, I can’t go to the appointment - I’ll be flying home from London that very day (and no, I can’t change the ticket because of the circumstances of the trip). I’ll either show up later in the day or the next day, or I’ll attempt to reschedule as it gets closer.
But it seems like things are happening.
Also - they just opened the portal yesterday for family members to be able to renew, so I submitted a request for my partner as well. If I’m not able to change my appointment, I’ll just go with him to his.
Thank you very much for having shared very useful information.
I will be learning your steps.
May I ask that AIMA gave you a fixed date or it gave you some dates to choose? As you completed 5 years of residency, have you thought about applying for PR or GV PR?
I am in a similar situation as yours i.e. living full time in PT and applied for citizenship 4 months ago. Therefore, your shared experience will be very valuable for myself.
Wishing you a successful renewal and speedy citizenship’s outcome.
AIMA gave me a fixed date and location.
I completed 5 years of residency a year and a half ago, but there are no appointments available for PR, so I’m not even bothering with it. It’s easier to just renew the GV - and hope that it isn’t going to cost €3000! If it does, I’ll have to figure out my next steps.
Since you have an appointment and also completed 5 years of residency, is it worth to also prepare all required documents for a normal PR? I think it is the same as citizenship + proof of income. Maybe on the day of appointment, you can explain to Aima the situation and apply for normal PR which has a very little cost in comparison to renewal of GV. Thanks again for the response!
When you go into the portal, in the same drop down where you select ARI, you can now select renovar residência de familiares. It opened a day or 2 ago and I entered my husband’s data, and he got a confirmation email today that his appointment request has been received and is being processed. Not sure what makes you think this is unsubstantiated, you just need to go to the website and look for yourself.
What I mean is that the current AIMA policy is to wait for an email to proceed. No one has yet confirmed that their dependent with expiration prior to June was able to renew on the platform without receiving such email.
You mentioned that you renewed but you don’t specify (a) if your husband is a dependent or (b) if his permit expired prior to June or (c) if you have previously received an email from AIMA.
I got an appointment to renew. My husband is my dependent and was also able to request an appointment. We expired in April, and I got the email after I uploaded the requested documents on the platform.
It appears that I am on the same timeline as you. My first residency was approved in 2019 and I applied for citizenship 15 months ago. I do not live full-time in Portugal. Our residency cards expired in February 2025 (mine) and April 2025 (my daughters’). In May, I was informed that AIMA had scheduled biometric appointments for all of us in late September in Porto, and that we would need to bring a complete set of apostilled documents issued within the last 6 months or 90 days (birth certificates, marriage certificate, FBI background checks) and that the charges would be €2,474.40 for AIMA’s analysis fee and €12,361.60 for AIMA’s approval fee. This appointment is in the middle of the school year and is requiring a 4-day trip from the US to Porto solely for the appointments and my daughters are missing 3 days of high school. I was informed that there was no flexibility whatsoever.
Therefore, I am curious why your appointment for renewal of your GV residency does not require biometrics or a new set of apostilled documents. Have the requirements for renewal appointments changed since my appointments were scheduled in May? Should I cancel these appointments and get new ones through the portal you used? Also, based on what I was told, the cost per person to AIMA for the renewal is around €3700 per person.
One unique factor is that my wife of 2 years is waiting on her first GV residency card, so I understand that biometrics and apostilled documents are necessary for her. Perhaps that element changed everything for us.
Thanks for sharing your experience, as I would have not known about this new development otherwise.