But immigrants advised, “don’t risk leaving country and trying to return”
The new law brought in to extend the validity of expired residence permits has now come into force. What it means is that anyone with a residence permit that has expired, has until October 15 to get their papers in order.
The government has stressed that online services exist to solve all pending renewal processes, and that although the time limit may look tight, it is definitely doable.
There is one problem however that potentially affects the more than 374,000 immigrants waiting for this law to come into effect. It is only valid inside Portugal. Outside the country, depending on border controls, there could be issues. “It is therefore risky to leave Portuguese territory for other places without an up-to-date permit”, warns Público.
AIMA (the agency for integration, migrations and asylum) explains online that services available for renewals are ‘the mission structure’ (which guarantees renewal of residence permits that expired by June 30, 2025) and general AIMA offices for permits that expired after June 30.
All applicants will be receiving emails with instructions on how to proceed.
For relevant information, in Portuguese and English, click here.
