AIMA Cleared to Pay the State Mint Up to 31.35 Million Euros for Residence Cards and Other Documents Through Mid-2027

The Government has cleared AIMA (Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo, the immigration and asylum agency) to spend up to 31.35 million euros on having residence permit cards and other official documents made by the state mint. The Council of Ministers approved a Resolução do Conselho de Ministros (Council of Ministers resolution) to that effect at its meeting on Thursday 22 October, according to the official communiqué of the meeting.

What the Government approved

The communiqué says the resolution authorises AIMA to make "a maximum expenditure of 31.35 million euros" to pay for the production, issue, personalisation, packaging and dispatch of residence permits and "other official security documents" by the Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda (INCM, the state printing works and mint). In our translation, it adds that the authorisation "makes it possible to meet the needs foreseen until the first half of 2027, guaranteeing the continued issue of documents that are essential to prove the legal status of their holders and to exercise the rights the law recognises".

The full text had not appeared in the Diário da República (official journal) by Friday afternoon. Until it does, several details are not public: how the money is split between years, whether VAT is included, how many cards it is expected to pay for, and which other documents are covered.

A larger sum than last year

The Government has authorised this kind of spending before. Resolução do Conselho de Ministros n.º 151/2025, published on 8 October 2025, allowed AIMA to spend up to 8 million euros, with no VAT added, in 2025 on INCM issuing residence permits. That sum was limited to cards from cases handled by the Estrutura de Missão (the special unit set up to clear AIMA's backlog of pending cases) and ran only to the end of 2025. The new authorisation is far larger and runs to mid-2027, and the communiqué does not tie it to the backlog unit: it describes it as covering residence permits and other security documents generally.

The numbers involved are large. AIMA's Migration and Asylum Report 2025 says 527,375 residence permits were issued in 2025, including 337,880 new grants and 189,331 renewals. It counted 1,585,854 foreign residents in Portugal at 31 December 2025. That figure includes people with valid permits, people whose regularisation cases are still in progress, and people covered by authorisations under specific legal instruments.

What it means for you

• It is a payment authorisation, not a new procedure. Nothing changes in how you apply for or renew a residence permit. The communiqué speaks of continuity of issue; it does not promise faster delivery or set any deadline for cards already approved.
• The card is printed by INCM. AIMA decides the application; the mint produces and sends the physical card. A decision in your favour and the card arriving are separate steps.
• Plan travel around the card, not the receipt. AIMA's own residence permit FAQ says the receipt showing that you have applied for a residence permit is not a travel document and cannot be used to travel to other Schengen countries.
• If your card has gone missing, our guide to replacing a lost or stolen residence card sets out the steps.

We will report the resolution's number, yearly amounts and the full list of documents once it is published in the Diário da República.