How long does AIMA have to decide a residence permit application in Portugal?

Checked on 2026-10-25

Portugal's immigration law says AIMA must decide an application for a residence permit within 90 days. In exceptional, justified cases, such as a complex file, it can extend this by 30 days and must tell you. Other decision deadlines in the law can apply. A renewal application must be decided within 60 days.

Key facts

What	The law says	Source
Who decides	AIMA (Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum)	Lei 23/2007, arts. 81.1, 87-B.1
Deadline for a new permit	90 days, unless another deadline in the law applies	Lei 23/2007, art. 82.5
Extension	30 more days in exceptional, justified cases (for example a complex file); you are told about it	Lei 23/2007, art. 82.5
Deadline for a renewal	60 days	Lei 23/2007, art. 82.6
Security check	If AIMA asks the security coordination unit (UCFE), it has 15 days; no answer means no security objection	Lei 23/2007, art. 82.3–4
If refused	You are notified with the reasons, your right to go to court, and the time limit	Lei 23/2007, art. 82.8
Working while you wait	A residence visa holder may work while the application is pending for reasons that are not the applicant’s fault	Lei 23/2007, art. 81.4

The 90-day rule

The law says the application “must be decided within 90 days”. AIMA can extend this by 30 days only in exceptional and duly justified circumstances, for example because the case is complex, and it has to inform you of the extension. The 90 days apply “without prejudice to other decision deadlines” in the same law, so another deadline in the law can apply instead.

What happens during the check

AIMA collects opinions and information from other bodies. It checks the Schengen Information System (SIS) and the Visa Information System (VIS). When it considers it necessary, it asks the UCFE for information on internal security, public order and illegal immigration. The UCFE must reply within 15 days; if it doesn’t, the law treats this as meaning there are no such reasons against your permit.

If the decision doesn’t come or is negative

A refusal must be notified to you with its reasons, your right to challenge it in court and the time limit for doing so.

Since Lei 61/2025, the law says court cases about AIMA’s decisions or failures to act take the form of an administrative action (ação administrativa) under the Administrative Courts Procedure Code. A faster order against AIMA (intimação para proteção de direitos, liberdades e garantias) is allowed only when AIMA’s action or inaction seriously and directly compromises personal rights, freedoms and guarantees that interim measures cannot protect in time. In that case, if asked, the judge must weigh how many cases AIMA is handling and the human, administrative and financial resources available to it (Lei 23/2007, art. 87-B).

Applying together with your family: you can ask for family reunification at the same time as your own residence permit (Lei 23/2007, art. 81.5).
Children: the application can include minors in your care (Lei 23/2007, art. 81.2).

Sources

Lei n.º 23/2007, de 4 de julho (immigration law), arts. 81, 82 and 87-B (consolidated text as amended up to Lei n.º 62/2026, PGDL Lisboa) checked 2026-10-25

Change history

2026-10-25: Page created

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