AIMA — Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (Portugal)

Scope

• Issues residence permits for D-series residence visas (D7, D8 Digital Nomad, D3 Highly Qualified Activity, D2 entrepreneurs).
• Administers the Golden Visa residence-by-investment programme (restructured in October 2023 to remove the real-estate route).
• Handles family-reunification residence permits, student permits, and Portuguese citizenship by naturalisation applications.
• Coordinates integration programmes for migrants and refugees through Centros Nacionais de Apoio à Integração de Migrantes (CNAIM).

Procedural quirks

• Appointment availability has been the dominant bottleneck since AIMA launched — automated booking systems repeatedly failed through 2024 and appointments were often rebooked by AIMA rather than the applicant.
• AIMA inherited a backlog of ~400,000 cases from SEF and has been clearing them through a 2024–25 Mission Structure. The queue disproportionately affects family-reunification and Golden Visa cases.
• Consular D-visas continue to be issued by Portuguese consulates abroad, not by AIMA directly. AIMA only steps in after arrival, to convert the entry visa into a residence permit.

Primary service channels

• AIMA main portal

  https://aima.gov.pt/en

• Residence visa information

  https://aima.gov.pt/en/viver/vistos-e-autorizacoes-de-residencia

• Portuguese consular network

  https://www.portaldiplomatico.mne.gov.pt/en/

Routes administered

AIMA decides the following Portugal visa routes covered on Visa Atlas:

• Portugal Golden Visa (residence by investment)

  Residence-by-investment route; real-estate and capital-transfer pathways were closed in October 2023, but fund-investment and other options remain.

• Family reunification (residence)

  Residence authorisation for family members of legal residents in Portugal.

Related

• Portugal routes hub

  All visa routes into Portugal.

• Portugal processing times

  Every processing window this authority publishes.