I’m going to throw this out there as it’s something I’ve been thinking about the last few days - for those of us who already have expired cards from 2023 (with two year validity) and have had renewal appointments in 2025, can anyone explain a downside to a delay in issuance of their new 2-year card?
I just got back from logging 7 of my 14 days for this current/unissued card, on a trip which I booked in December 2025 while thinking that “surely it can’t take 7+ months to issue a card when it only took a couple of weeks after payment in 2023 to do the same”.
The assumption was that I would have the new card by this time and that this would be similar to the trips I had already been taking prior to my first renewal (which went smoothly other than the current delay in card issuance/printing).
While in Lisbon, I spoke with my lawyers about this issue and the fact that the new card’s issuance date might be after the trip concludes, which could seemingly “invalidate” those days and require me to do an additional 7 days on my next trip. My lawyers gave me their opinion that it’s unclear how AIMA is going to these delays between payment and printing as it’s never really taken this long before. However, it’s clear that the delays are on AIMA’s end, and that because I was allowed to enter EES in Lisbon (coming from the US) using my expired ARI card and AIMA confirmation of approval from October 2025, they feel it would be very much defensible legally for the 7 days to count. Once AIMA stops changing their system for renewals/printing/etc, perhaps we’ll have some resolution.
On the other hand, because my first card was August 2023-August 2025 and each card is good for two years, I would benefit greatly from my newest card being issued after August 2026, as I would then be eligible to apply for GV PR at my next renewal as opposed to doing one more round of GV TR.
Given that:
- It’ll likely take at least 2-3 years to get any resolution on a pending early citizenship application (for a 2021 applicant who either has 5 years already or will have 5 years in the coming months), and
- That one needs to have a valid GV until you actually get citizenship,
The current delays would therefore not actually be a bad thing for those whose original cards were issued in mid-late 2023. All clocks are running - time from initial application if that ends up being relevant in the nationality law regulations, and also the clock counting from your first card issuance to get GV PR at 5 years, or the dreaded 10-year wait for citizenship if nothing resolves in our favor via regulations or Parliament.
But here is the key - gaining the option to divest from one’s funds/real estate by virtue of having the GV PR (assuming you aren’t in the camp that is divesting and quitting the process anyway) in 2028 instead of 2029 or 2030 might be of material value depending on your personal financial circumstance. It certainly is in my case.
So in summary here are the options in my case as I understand them from best to worst (insert your first card’s 2023 issue date in place of August if it applies to you):
- Card issued AFTER August 2026 + AIMA does respect the 7 days between approval and issuance - then I only need 7 more days before applying for GV PR in August 2028. Clearly the best case scenario.
- Card issued AFTER August 2026 + AIMA does NOT respect the 7 days between approval and issuance - even if I have to do an extra 7 days in Portugal before applying for GV PR in August 2028, it costs less than an additional GV TR renewal, plus I have the opportunity to be in Portugal an additional 7 days.
- Card issued BEFORE August 2026 + AIMA does respect the 7 days between approval and issuance - I think I’d have to wait another 2 years to apply for the GV PR barring an AIMA-caused delay in getting an appointment that pushes the date of renewal past my 5 year clock. But at least I’d save the cost of flights + 7 days on this card renewal in any case.
- Card issued BEFORE August 2026 + AIMA does NOT respect 7 days spent between approval and issuance. Obviously the worst of the 4 options since GV PR will be kicked back another two years and I’d still have to do 14 days across 2026-2027-2028.
I guess we’ll have to see how everything shakes out. Próxima semana indeed…
