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AIMA Process Status

AIMA process status · onde consultar e qual é o prazo legal

AIMA now lets you follow your case online, through the services portal or with a code e-mailed to you. I set out the routes that exist, what each status means, and work out the date the legal decision deadline runs out, counting from the day you filed.

By Elijah·UPDATED AUGUST 2026·6 MIN·OFFICIAL SOURCES
KEY FACTS
Where to check
services.aima.gov.pt (user area) or the contact form
Deadline · first permit
90 working days (art. 82(5), Lei 23/2007)
Deadline · renewal
60 working days, with tacit approval (paras 6 and 7)
Proof of a pending case
Comprovativo de Estado de Processo, a PDF with a QR code
Primeiro pedido de autorização de residência, incluindo os feitos com visto D1, D2, D3, D4, D7 ou D8.
Use a data do recibo do pedido, depois de pagas as taxas. É essa a data que conta.
Escolha uma data para começar…
PRAZO LEGAL DE DECISÃO
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Prazo da lei-
ContagemDias úteis
Deferimento tácito-
Base legal-
O QUE SIGNIFICA O ESTADO QUE VÊ
"O seu processo está em análise"

O pedido foi aceite e está na fila técnica. Não há nada a fazer da sua parte e não há nada a corrigir. É também o estado onde os processos ficam mais tempo parados, por vezes muito para além do prazo legal. Mantenha o e-mail do processo vigiado: qualquer pedido de documentos chega por lá e tem prazo de resposta.

How this works

For years, knowing where an AIMA case stood depended on getting someone to answer the phone. That changed in 2026: in April the agency launched the Comprovativo de Estado de Processo, a PDF with a QR code that proves, with legal standing, that your application is pending; in July it added a lookup to the contact form that needs no portal account and e-mails you the link. Both first-time filings and renewals show up. This page puts together the two things that matter: where to check, and how to compare what you find with the deadline the law gives AIMA to decide.

  1. 1
    Route 1: the AIMA services portal
    At services.aima.gov.pt you log into your user area with the e-mail and password you created when you filed. There you see the up-to-date status and, since April 2026, you can download the Comprovativo de Estado de Processo (proof of process status). It is the complete route: it shows first permits, renewals, the swap of the CPLP paper for the card, and transition-regime cases.
  2. 2
    Route 2: the contact form, no login
    In July 2026 AIMA added the lookup to its contact form, at contactenos.aima.gov.pt/contact-form. You pick the Tipo de Assunto (subject type) "Consulta e acompanhamento do processo" and the subtype "Qual o estado do meu processo?", enter the e-mail used on the application and ask for the verification code. AIMA e-mails you the code and the tracking link. It is for people who never created a portal account, and it is still being rolled out.
  3. 3
    The proof with a QR code
    The Comprovativo de Estado de Processo is a PDF carrying your identification, the case number (MI or NIE) and a dynamic QR code. The paper freezes at the date you printed it, but the QR always points at the page with the current status. It has legal standing under art. 78(7) of Lei 23/2007 and it is what you should show employers, banks, schools or public services while you wait for the card.
  4. 4
    Decode the status you see
    The statuses are few and always in Portuguese: "em análise", "audiência prévia", "aguarda decisão", "deferido", "indeferido". The decoder below the calculator tells you what each one means in practice and what the next step is. When a case is approved, a CTT tracking code for the card also appears.
  5. 5
    Compare it with the legal deadline
    The law sets how long AIMA has to decide: 90 days to grant, 60 days to renew, nine months for family reunification. Deadlines set in days are counted in working days (art. 87 of the CPA: the clock suspends on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays), and that is what the calculator does. Knowing the exact date changes the conversation: it stops being "this is taking long" and becomes "the art. 82 deadline ran out on 14 May".

Frequently asked

Do I need an account and password to see the status?
For the full route, yes: the services.aima.gov.pt portal asks for the e-mail and password created when you filed, and that is where you download the PDF proof. Since July 2026 there is an alternative with no account: on AIMA’s contact form you pick "Consulta e acompanhamento do processo" and "Qual o estado do meu processo?", give the e-mail attached to the case and receive a verification code with the tracking link. Either way, what matters is the e-mail registered on the case.
My lawyer filed the application and I see nothing. Why?
Because access follows the e-mail that filed the case, not the person. If a lawyer, a company or a relative filed with their own e-mail, that is the inbox where the code and the notifications land, and that is the account where the case shows up. Ask them for access or for the documents. Changing the registered e-mail needs a separate request on the contact form, under "Alteração de Dados", and it takes time.
How long does AIMA have to decide my case?
Article 82 of Lei 23/2007 gives 90 days to decide an application for a residence permit and 60 days for a renewal. Family reunification has its own rule in article 105: nine months, extendable by nine more in exceptional cases of complexity. Deadlines in days are working days, because article 87 of the CPA suspends the count on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays; ninety working days is about four and a half calendar months. The calculator above does that sum from your filing date.
Is it true that the 2025 law killed tacit approval?
Only partly, and the confusion is widespread. Lei n.º 61/2025, of 22 October, amended articles 45, 46, 52, 52-A, 57-A, 75, 87-A, 89, 98, 99, 101, 103, 104, 105, 106, 122 and 123, and repealed paragraphs 3 and 4 of article 105. Article 82 appears neither in the list of amendments nor in the repeal clause: tacit approval of a residence-permit renewal, in paragraph 7 of that article, is still in force. What ended was tacit approval of family reunification at six months, and even that only for cases started after 23 October 2025, under article 8 of the same law.
The deadline has passed. What can I do?
Start with the cheap steps: download the proof, keep evidence of the dates and file a complaint on the contact form with your case number. If it is a renewal, you can invoke the tacit approval in article 82(7), notifying AIMA in writing and, if nothing happens, asking a court to certify it. If it is a first permit, there is no tacit approval and the route is judicial. Lei 61/2025 added article 87-B: the normal action is the ação administrativa, and the intimação para proteção de direitos, liberdades e garantias (urgent injunction for fundamental rights) is only admissible when the delay demonstrably and directly compromises the timely exercise of those rights, with the judge also weighing AIMA’s caseload and resources. That applies to cases started after 23/10/2025. Talk to a lawyer before going ahead.
Does the proof replace the residence permit?
No. It proves a procedure is pending, not that it was granted, and it is not a travel document. Inside Portugal it does its job: with it you keep access to the SNS (public health service), to work, to Segurança Social and to public services while the case runs. At the borders of other Schengen states it carries no weight. If you plan to show the proof to an employer, know that AIMA advises that employer to check the identification, scan the QR code and confirm the page opens on the official aima.gov.pt domain.
The status has said "em análise" for months. Is that normal?
Sadly yes. The portal reflects the administrative record, not the real work: a case can sit in a queue with the same status for months and then jump straight to approved. Updates also land days behind the actual decision. What the status does not change is the legal clock: the article 82 deadline runs anyway, which is why it pays to know the date it ends. Keep checking now and then, and watch the case e-mail, spam folder included.
I cannot find my case anywhere. What now?
Three causes cover almost every case. First, the e-mail: the case sits in the account of whoever filed it. Second, the channel: renewals filed on the Portal das Renovações and older Estrutura de Missão cases do not always show up on the services portal side, and the reverse happens too. Third, the age of the case: applications predating the systems migration may simply not be integrated. If none of those explains yours, use the contact form with the case number, your passport and the filing receipt. And distrust any site or middleman charging money to "check your status": the lookup is free and only exists on aima.gov.pt domains.
OFFICIAL SOURCES
DISCLAIMER
Guidance, not legal advice. The deadlines calculated are the legal decision deadlines and are counted, under article 87 of the CPA, in working days from the day after the application; if AIMA asked you for documents and the delay is attributable to you, the clock may not run against the agency. Tacit approval of a renewal is not automatic in practice: it has to be invoked and, often, certified by a court. The contact-form status lookup launched in July 2026 and is still being rolled out, so not every case appears. Always confirm on the official AIMA channels linked above and, if the deadline has passed, seek a lawyer.