Residence/Working Permit and Administrative Issues in Portugal

Hi Expats,

My name is Danny, and I’m originally from Mauritius. I’ve been living in Portugal with my family since August 2022. We moved here after my wife received a job offer as a French teacher at an international school, together with the hope of building a better future for our children.

Portugal is a beautiful and very safe country, and we genuinely appreciate many aspects of life here. However, dealing with the immigration administrative system (AIMA) has been extremely challenging and frustrating. It is inefficient, excessively slow, and difficult to navigate. Note that the bureaucracy here is generally terrible; even the Portuguese people said it loudly.

Both my wife and I are highly qualified professionals, having a valid working contract, yet the process of obtaining our work permits and temporary residence permits was extremely poor and terrible. From submitting applications to securing appointments, and finally receiving our residence cards, the process took nearly three years.

After finally receiving our permits last year, we immediately initiated the family reunification process for our children. This process is officially meant to be straightforward and completed within a maximum of three months. In reality, we have now been waiting for ten months just to obtain an appointment for their residence cards.

It is important to note that without these residence cards, our children cannot travel outside Portugal. Leaving the country would put us at serious risk of being unable to return and having our applications reset. As a result, we have effectively been stuck in Portugal for almost four years, without the possibility to travel, despite complying with all legal requirements and procedures.

I am sharing this experience to see whether others are facing similar delays, and to understand if there are any practical steps, contacts, escalation routes, or concrete actions that have helped move this process forward. At this point, the situation feels unreasonable, and families who follow the rules should not be left in such prolonged uncertainty.

Any advice or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for taking the time to read.

Kind Regards,

Danny