That’s such useful info for me. Thanks and congrats!
Congrats, it’s actually about 2.5 months.
My appointment was back on Sept 5th in Lisbon, and still nothing on my side either. But there’s still hope! 
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Would you mind adding also:
- when your old card was set to expire
- when you filed your application for a new card
Thanks!
In my first renewal, they chopped off six weeks of validity by moving the issue and expiration date forward, to my approximate DUC payment date.
I presume that I have the same question as the prior poster: for renewal cards issued months after expiration, is the new card issue date backdated to the prior expiration, or is it the real issue date? As long as there are no gaps in validity, I don’t mind if I get a few extra months of validity out of the delayed renewal bargain.
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Updated in the original post
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@kgoff74
Which path of the Golden you are. Property Investment or other?
What was the initial fees that were paid by you?
The initial fees are always the same for everyone on ARI.
@tommigun, I don’t mean the first card initial fee, I mean the initial that he paid for the renewal.
My investment is a real estate fund, something to do with medical office buildings. I don’t really follow it–it was just a means to an end (PT citizenship for my family). I don’t recall the fees for the initial application.
Renewal fee was 3.100 euros +/- per person. This is my first renewal (though it would have been (past) time for the second renewal but for processing delays).
@kgoff74,
Ahan ok understood, its real state fund, not directly property investment like you bought a house etc…
A question on the card dates. You mentioned the issuance date was 25 Nov. The cards usually only note expiry date. Were you counting back two years from the expiry date?
I have a trip to Portugal coming up a month after my renewal appointment, which is being handled by my lawyers. Judging by the two months lag between your appointment and card issuance, that trip might fall into the no man’s land between cards.
Actually, the issuance date is mentioned on the second line on the back of the card (Datá de Emissão).
You’re quite right! I was looking at a scan of my card, not the hard copy. Well thanks for that info, very helpful.
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Most of my family finally got renewal appointments for February. However one of them did not and is in limbo and the system won’t let us make one for her. We are considering having all her documents ready and bringing them to see if AIMA will renew her at one of the other’s appointments. We have 3 chances and I’ve seen that it all depends on who you get in Portugal if they will “bend” the rules. Has anyone else successfully done something like this?
There’s no bending the rules, if you are lucky someone cancelled their appointment and the AIMA officer is willing to accomadate another one instead, it is possible. This happed to us 5 years ago for the first biometrics appointment.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Perhaps not bending the rules - but there are definitely differing interpretations of them depending on who you speak with.
Anyone else able to do something similar? I’m curious how you handled it.
My wife (dependent family member) had her residency renewed today in the Alverca offices despite the lingering effects of the national strike. We are ARI/real estate investors. Our lawyer did the in-person renewal on her behalf. I have no idea when she will receive her card or what it ultimately cost but the timeline was as follows:
- Residency card expired 17 Feb, 2024
- Received appointment confirmation on 01 Sept, 2025 (for 12 Dec)
- Appointment held on 12 Dec, 2025 in Alverca do Ribatejo
… now we wait for the card.
FWIW, mine was easy since I was in the pool of online renewals.
- Card expired 8 Feb, 2024
- Renewed online on 15 July, 2024. Cost was 177.40 Euro.
- Received card on 08 Aug, 2024
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I’m surprised you were able to keep your appointment - my wife was also supposed to have her renewal appointment today (Dec 12th), attended by our lawyer, but they told me that the AIMA office in Santarém was closed. Supposedly AIMA will email my lawyer with a rescheduled date, but I don’t put much hope in that. Meanwhile the criminal record report will soon pass the 3 month mark.
Did anyone else have an appointment cancelled today (Dec 12) by the strike? Or was I just very unlucky? (Or maybe my lawyer went on strike too, and just doesn’t want to tell me?)
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With 3 chances, you have a 48.8% probability of success.
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