Portugal’s AIMA introduces new measures to address golden visa delays

Lisbon: Portugal’s Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) has introduced new measures to address pending applications for the Golden Visa Program.

The Golden Visa Program of Portugal offers residency to non-EU nationals in exchange for financial investments in the country, Schengen.News reports.

According to a report from Get Golden Visa, AIMA has communicated with Golden Visa applicants to inform them that the application process for this scheme is experiencing significant changes, with the main goal of streamlining the application procedure.

The application process has been updated with a more digital and chronological approach to prioritise the older applications. Electronic submissions are required for everyone.

The new changes include:

All applicants are required to upload documents electronically through the ARI portal.

From January 15, 2025, biometric appointments will be booked automatically, taking into account application upgrades.

Residence permit fees will be paid at biometric appointments. (Certified documents cost €6,045.20 per application, while uncertified documents cost €8,060.20. Payments must be made by card)

Applicants with pending cases on Portugal’s Golden Visa program who have been inactive for a period of six months risk having their requests marked as abandoned. It means that they would be required to apply again under the new rules.

New Portal for Uninvited Expressed Interest Applicants

The Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) has launched a new portal for immigrants who have Expressed Interest in living in Portugal until April 30, 2024, but were not part of the list of over 400,000 people called to regularise their document situation in Portugal.

According to a report from Publico, immigrants who submitted an Expression of Interest by June 3, 2024, will receive an email asking them to change their password on a new platform.

The agency believes that the new changes will streamline the process and will be simple and functional. Appointments are expected to be made more quickly after the government has set a goal of abolishing all pending cases by June 30, 2025.

About 15 per cent of the total 6,000 daily services by AIMA are not carried out after applicants fail to show up, limiting the system’s response.

In a debate on “New migrations and talent attraction” the leader of the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum, Pedro Portugal Gaspar, said that AIMA, together with municipalities and partners, allowed it to go from 1,000 thousand per day to 6,000 in terms of response to users, aiming to regularise 400,000 pending cases.