Guides
Applying for Family Reunification in Portugal
The AIMA immigration agency process, the legal framework, the spouse, children, and parent routes, and the documents that lead to a residence card.
AIMA
Immigration
Two Migration Bills Walk Out of the 7 May Council of Ministers — Lisbon Transposes the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum and the External-Borders Control Framework Ahead of the Pact's June 2026 Application Window
On 7 May the Council of Ministers approved two propostas de lei transposing the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum — an asylum reform with relocation/resettlement mechanisms, and a borders bill introducing mandatory triagem and the Single Permit.
Immigration
AIMA Reimposes the 10-Senha Daily Cap on Lawyers at the Porto Loja With a 12h–16h Window — Three Cases Per Advogado Per Day Against a 200,000-File Court Backlog, Less Than a Year After the National Cap Was Lifted by Protocol With the Ordem
The Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo has quietly reimposed the ten-senha daily cap on lawyers at its Porto loja, with access squeezed into a four-hour 12h–16h window. Público's Vicente Nunes reads the new rule on the ground on Saturday...
Immigration
More Than 500 Golden Visa Holders Prepare a Collective Lawsuit Against the Portuguese State Over the New Nationality Law — Liberty Legal, Fresh Portugal and Prime Legal Argue Breach of Legitimate Expectations as the Five-Year Path Doubles to Ten
More than 500 ARI holders, most of them North American, are coordinating a class action against the Portuguese State after the new Nationality Law pushed the citizenship clock from a five-year submission count to a ten-year residence-card count. Liberty Legal, Fresh Portugal and Prime Legal lead.
Immigration
AIMA Closes the Backdoor — Foreign Students Will Now Need a Consular Study Visa Before Enrolling in Portuguese Schools, Replacing the Post-Enrolment Residence-Permit Path
Portugal will require a consular-issued study residence visa from foreign nationals before they can enrol in Portuguese educational institutions, closing the post-enrolment residence-permit path that has been the practical entry route for tens of...
Politics
Government Plans Modular Construction to Reach 300 Detention Beds for Irregular Immigrants by Summer — Secretary of State Says Portugal Is No Longer the EU's Illegal-Migration Front Door
The government will widen the existing immigrant detention network to 300 beds by summer 2026 using temporary modular structures bolted onto current Centros de Instalação Temporária (CITES), the Secretary of State Adjunto da Presidência with the...
Immigration
Polícia Judiciária Searches AIMA's Ponta Delgada Office in Operação Linha Direta — Public Servants Suspected of Selling Appointment Priority and Case-Processing Speed Inside the Loja AIMA dos Açores
PJ executed nine warrants on 29 April in Operação Linha Direta — three residences and three premises including the Loja AIMA in Ponta Delgada. Crimes: abuso de poder, recebimento indevido de vantagem, corrupção. AIMA opened an internal inquiry; STM union responded 2 May.