Residency renewal and/or address change

@EstrellaGalicia,

Try the phone instead of email. Contacting AIMA is easier now, they're answering around 5,000 calls/day. Until recently they only answered 800/day.

Documents and visas valid and accepted until 30 June 2025:

https://aima.gov.pt/pt/documentos-e-vis … -june-2025

Here you have some support concerning IRN and residency renewals:

FAQ:

https://irn.justica.gov.pt/Servicos/Cid … -respostas

https://justica.gov.pt/Servicos/Renovar … Residencia

In the 2nd link you can read this:

IRN services are contacting foreign citizens with a residence permit to book an appointment to renew their permit at a branch near their residence area. Online booking on the follow and follow App portal is therefore unavailable.

Johnny PT,

Thank you for the phone tip!

I've read all this information too. I just wanted to hear about real, in-the-field, experiences people may have had dealing with AIMA or IRN these days.

Regarding the info in the second link (Os serviços do IRN estão a contactar os cidadãos estrangeiros com autorização de residência para agendar a renovação do título num balcão da sua zona de residência). I wonder how they are contacting people due to renew (for each potential renewee, they have a postal address, e-mail and phone on file).   

@EstrellaGalicia

I have applied for a renewal for the second time. Now you need to have a social security number in order to apply so AIMA can check if you owe any money. We are on NHR Status and have nothing but passive income here so I needed to apply. Friends told me to go to the Citizen Space in Lagoa and they would help. They did! The agent filled out the application there on his computer. He came to a blank where we had to input our postal code. Then about 5 or 6 options appeared in our area and none of them was my address. What to do now? Stuck. The agent said pick one of the options and you can change it later. I got my application and waited to be called by SS. Then I went to the office in Lagoa and the nice lady printed me a form with my new ss # on it. I pointed out that the address was incorrect. She said I needed to fill out another form to change it. She then gave me a new form with the correct address. I found out the hard way that the process we used to apply also changed my address on AIMA and Financas. (The lady at Financas said this was totally impossible.) I then had to apply to change my residence on Financas and have them send an authentication mailing to my "new address" where I have lived and paid taxes for over 5 years. Once I had that, I could tell AIMA that I had "moved back" to my correct address and apply for my residencia renewal. That was over a month ago. Now my driver's license needs to be renewed. I got my doctor's certificate and everything else ready, but there is a new law that states that a driver's license can only be valid for the normal renewal period or the expiration of your residencia, whichever is sooner. Since AIMA took 2 years and 10 months to renew my wife's residencia, i am not expecting to get my card very soon and my driver's license will probably be expiring. What a cluster f***! All of this has made a huge amount of work for us, but it has also created a lot more work for social security, Financas and AiMA. No wonder they never catch up.

Now my driver's license needs to be renewed. I got my doctor's certificate and everything else ready, but there is a new law that states that a driver's license can only be valid for the normal renewal period or the expiration of your residencia, whichever is sooner. Since AIMA took 2 years and 10 months to renew my wife's residencia, i am not expecting to get my card very soon and my driver's license will probably be expiring. - @runec

Regarding your immediate driver's license issue through the IMT (Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes):

1. Temporary Driving Permit (Guia de Substituição):

When you submit your driver's license renewal application (via the IMT Online portal or in person at an IMT branch/Citizen Shop), IMT issues a temporary driver's permit (guia). This document allows you to drive legally in Portugal while your application is pending or while your residence document is in processing.

1. Proof of Pending AIMA Renewal:

Under current Portuguese regulations regarding administrative delays, presenting your formal proof of submission for your residence permit renewal (comprovativo de agendamento/pedido de renovação from AIMA) along with your expired residence card protects your legal status. IMT accepts this proof to process your license application and issue/extend your temporary driving permit.

1. Proactive Expiration Management:

If your current driver's license expires before the new card or official permit arrives, carrying your original license, the doctor's medical certificate (Atestado Médico Eletrónico), and the IMT application receipt serves as proof that your renewal is underway.

@EstrellaGalicia

Just received an email saying my renewal was accepted and my new card would arrive in the mail. At the same time I applied through a different portal to enter a change of address so won't know till it arrives if they spoke to each other. My first card took 9 months to arrive!

@JohnnyPT

As far as I know, the last point only applies in Portugal. As a result, driving a car outside of Portugal will not be possible. This means that people who need to drive outside Portugal should keep a second drivers license if at all possible.