Immigration 4 July 2026

Permit expiring in July or August? AIMA's portal is now taking renewals

If your residence permit lapses in these two months, you can now renew online. And there's an important warning for anyone travelling in the Schengen area.

Good news for anyone counting the days: AIMA has opened its renewals portal for residence permits that expire in July and August 2026. If that’s you, you can already start the update request at portal-renovacoes.aima.gov.pt, without waiting for an in-person appointment.

What to prepare first

Renewal has become stricter on paperwork. On top of the tenancy contract, you now need to provide the property’s permanent land registry certificate and proof of the last rent receipt reported to the tax office. In practice, this shuts the door on informal renting: if your landlord doesn’t declare the rent or issue a receipt, that property no longer works for your case. It’s worth confirming everything ahead of time so you don’t get stuck midway.

The warning that can wreck a trip

Here’s a detail many people learn too late: AIMA is still running delays on issuing physical residence cards and, instead, hands out a paper confirmation. That paper is not accepted for travelling freely within the Schengen area. Anyone leaving Portugal with only the receipt risks being stopped at the border on the way back. If you have a trip booked, check what’s in your bag before buying tickets.

Add it all up and the advice is the usual: start early, gather the right documents, and keep your submission receipts.

See also: why proof of address got stricter. File your request and check deadlines on AIMA’s official portal.

By Juliana Castilho

Image: Ardfern / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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