Portugal extends visas and immigrant documents’ validity till 30 June 2025. The Agency for Integration, Migrations, and Asylum (AIMA) estimates about 410,000 pending cases, creating an immense backlog.
On Tuesday 25 June, the Council of Ministers approved a decree-law following the presentation and approval of the Action Plan for Migration. This decree-law outlines the rules for implementing the plan, including:
- Assigning AIMA the mission of proactively attracting immigrants.
- Recognizing and enhancing the Migration Observatory as an AIMA body.
- Extending the validity of documents and visas for staying in the country by one year, until June 30, 2025.
AIMA’s president, Luís Goes Pinheiro, expressed optimism that the backlog will be resolved by the summer of 2025. He emphasized the need for scalable solutions to address many pending cases. He also explained that part of the backlog pertains to expressions of interest, a now-defunct legal resource that facilitated the normalization of processes for tourists.
The new decision will help AIMA to focus more on pending cases instead of extensions of immigrant documents such as work visas, residence permits, and mobility visas from the Community of Portuguese Language Countries.
Immense backlog at immigration department AIMA
Currently, there are the following pending cases at the AIMA:
| Category | Number |
| Pending issues (expressions of interest and administrative residence authorization processes) | 342,000 |
| Cases currently in progress | 70,000 |
| Total requests awaiting resolution | 400,000+ |
| Emails sent for early settlement | 223,000 |
| Paid processes | 110,000 |
On June 3, the Government presented the Action Plan for Migration, which includes 41 measures aimed at addressing the migratory flow and the over 400,000 pending processes at AIMA. The plan has a budget of 15 million euros.
Other strict measures against illegal immigrants
On June 3, the Portuguese government presented a new immigration plan, which was swiftly approved by the cabinet, signed by the president, and published in the official gazette. The process was expedited, with no grace period provided. As a result, applicants who were waiting to submit their applications for residence permits under Article 89 of the “Immigration Law 59/2017” are now unable to do so. This has recently halted the process of submitting new applications by undocumented migrants.