Frustration with Portugal’s migration agency, AIMA, continues to grow, with over 1,800 complaints lodged this year alone, according to the consumer complaints website Portal da Queixa.
Data points to an overloaded system with structural flaws that affect the lives of thousands of people who depend on the agency for migration, residency and visa procedures, leaving many affected by family separations, job problems, and restricted international mobility, Portal da Queixa says in a statement.
Data from January to November 19, 2025, shows 1,847 complaints, up 6.5% from the same period in 2024. Quarterly trends reveal mounting pressure: a 17.97% increase in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, 45.41% in the third quarter, and 46.61% in September compared to last year. April, May, June, July, and September were particularly critical months, all seeing sharp rises in complaints, the complaints watchdog reports.
Administrative and technical problems top the list (41.5%) of most common grievances, including errors in processes, IT failures, and issues with websites or documentation. According to Portal da Queixa, this category is the “most critical and comprehensive, directly affecting the regularisation and legal stay of thousands of citizens.” Difficulties with service and communication follow (22.1%), such as “difficulties to obtain information, insufficient or non-existent responses and failures in customer support,” as do delays and missed deadlines (19.1%), such as scheduling problems and lack of biometrics or document issuance dates. Other complaints involve financial issues (6.3%), service quality (6.1%), and legal or safety concerns (4.9%).
Unsurprisingly, most complaints come from urban centres: Lisbon (34.9%), Porto (17.4%), Setúbal (10.4%), Faro (6.8%), and Braga (6%). The majority are filed by working-age adults, especially within the age groups of 25–34 (42%) and 35–44 (32%), with men accounting for 56% of complaints.
Some of the testimonies posted on Portal da Queixa show the real impact of AIMA’s shortcomings on people’s lives.
“I’ve been trying for two years to bring my elderly parents to Portugal, but I can’t get an appointment at AIMA. We cry every day,” Arvind Singh writes.
Beatriz Garcia says she has been waiting over nine months for a visa decision that should take 60 days, while Zixuan Guo says she cannot travel abroad due to unavailable biometric appointments: “This is causing huge inconveniences; I cannot leave Portugal to visit my parents.”
Satisfaction ratings reflect the widespread frustration. AIMA currently scores 18/100, with both response and resolution rates at just 13%.
“The annual rise in complaints shows not just more demand, but a persistent inability of the system to respond efficiently and transparently within reasonable deadlines,” says Pedro Lourenço, founder of Portal da Queixa.
According to data cited by the portal, of nearly 300,000 foreigners awaiting residence permits at the end of 2024, only 187,000 had received their cards by October 2025.
