My lawyer did, but they used my email ID(validated by one time code).
After they used the Contactenos form, I recd a confirmation via email with all the details which also showed that the lawyer had applied for renewal of ARI.
But the scheduling email I recd today was for 1st card.
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Thank you very much. It was exactly what
I did without lawyer…but I have not received any confirmation email. Maybe I need to redo again…
The confirmation email was recd immediately. Please check your spam folders. Gmail has a habit of labeling important emails as spam.Hope it helps.
My lawyers informed that in person is not required and they have been receiving such misleading emails for many clients.
Maybe one more glitch in AIMA
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Thank you very much!!
I’ve checked all inboxes but there was nothing. I knew that confirmation should have arrived immediately because I used the platform before to update niss/nif/passport number.
So I decided to resubmit the renewal request. Then the contatenos platform showed a message that “the associated passport had already filled a request. Please wait for the response”. It means my request was in and now I need to wait…
Has anyone who applied for renewal in 2025 gotten their renewed card yet? If so how long did it take you? I know there is a tracker but that doesn’t seem to distinguish between GV renewals and others. I am almost at six months since biometrics and no sign of a card still.
Did you attend the renewal in person or sent a lawyer?
Which delivery method you agreed with AIMA?
According to unconfirmed rumours, the wait for the card should be 2-3 months approx.
Hi. My lawyer did my renewal in September and Im also still waiting on my card. This is my 3rd renewal. Does anyone know if the renewals on ARI are still for 2 years or are they issuing 3 years? Both my first 2 cards were for 2 years.
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I did it in person and went with my legal representative. Not sure about delivery method though. I have also only heard estimates but wondering if anyone on here got it in that time frame
Delivery methods:
- CTT to your home address in PT
- CTT to your lawyer’s office in PT (not available if your own NIF address is in PT)
- Collection in person at the same AIMA office (can be done by your lawyer under PoA), extra fee charged.
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Has anyone who has renewed recently been asked to provide proof of social security (NISS) no debt, or asked to prove proof of non-registration with NISS?
If so, is there an easy way to get this aside from going in person to the social security office?
I just followed the official requirements list from SEF/AIMA, which has this point listed. So I cannot tell what would have happened if I did not supply that declaration. On the other hand, my lawyers did not flag this document as ‘unnecessary’ either.
From the two method I listed in the linked post, the first one is longer to set up but solves the problem permanently as in the end you’d have your own online access to this declaration any time. The second one is quicker short-term, but it requires repeated appointment either in person or via lawyer every single time in the future.
If this is your 3rd renewal, I’m assuming you already applied for citizenship, right?
Usually it takes about a year from submitting the application to getting the first card.
So why are you renewing again if that’s the case?
You can get it online in seconds if you are registered.
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Question for any fund investors who completed a renewal appointment recently.
Did you have to provide a new declaração dated 2025 from your Portuguese bank confirming the original outbound transfer of money to your fund investment?
We already provided SEF with one when we first applied for the GV back in 2020, but my lawyer seems to think I should get a fresh version ready as a precaution because AIMA has been losing documents on file (lol surprise!), and it really depends on the mood of the official you deal with that day.
Problem is I’m not in Portugal right now and I cannot get anyone at Millenium BCP to provide me the document I need remotely, even when I provide them a copy of the original they gave me in 2020.
If your lawyer has a valid POA from you, supposedly he/she can do that for you.
Simple answer to this question: Nope, not needed.
You only have to provide one document proving you do hold the shares without any leverage or debts with the bank. The document is called Certificação de valor mobiliário Livres de onus e engargos or simply Certificação.
As per the Article 2 of Law No. 18/2015, banks in Portugal no longer indicates the nominal value per share on the Certificação they issue. So, you need to carry the old one + new one and the monthly bank statement issued by the bank to prove the value of your holdings.
@yungsen.lin when you say the lawyer “can do that for you” do you mean contact the bank for the declaration?
@TommyReine I’m not sure that’s correct. You’re right that we need a declaration from the bank holding custody of the funds proving continuing ownership (which I have from Bison), but I don’t think it needs to be in that specific Certificação format. I’ve not provided that Certificação before in this process, and I can’t see any AIMA guidance to that effect. You can just get a bank declaration attesting to ownership and bank custody.
In any case, even though my fund shares are in custody with Bison, I paid into the fund from BCP, and that transfer proof is what I’m referring to. The AIMA guidance we’re relying on is this:
Declaração da instituição de crédito autorizada ou registada em território nacional junto do Banco de Portugal atestando a transferência efetiva de montante igual ou superior ao exigido legalmente (na eventualidade de não ter sido submetida ou caso
não seja suficientemente esclarecedora dos factos que deve atestar)
Which is in this document:
It says the original transfer proof isn’t needed if it was previously submitted (which logically it had to be to get approval in the first place 
).
The point my lawyer was making is that some AIMA officials have been claiming they have lost a lot of original documents submitted at application and frontline staff are being ornery in the application of the rules and asking again for proof of the original payment into the fund from a Portuguese bank.
I was wanting to know if anyone who has had a recent renewal appointment had encountered this problem.
Yes. This was what my lawyer did for me to contact with bank to get the documents.
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Thanks, that’s good advice. I’ll get the lawyers on it.
My lawyers have just this week asked me to get the same thing (residency renewal app in Jan 2026), but for the transfer of funds for my property purchase. Which was in 2019. They’ve also said I need to ask Millennium for the document. Sound like it’s going to be difficult to get it.