Portugal Implements Changes to Golden Visa Program to Address Pending Applications

Portugal’s Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) has announced new measures to address the backlog of pending applications for the Golden Visa Program. The Golden Visa program offers residency to non-EU nationals who make financial investments in Portugal.

According to Get Golden Visa, AIMA has reached out to applicants in the Golden Visa program to inform them that significant changes are being made to the application process, with the goal of streamlining and simplifying the procedure. The updated application process now takes a more digital and chronological approach, with an emphasis on prioritizing older applications. From now on, all submissions must be made electronically through the ARI portal.

Among the new changes is the automatic booking of biometric appointments, which began on January 15, 2025. These appointments will be scheduled based on upgrades to the application. Additionally, applicants will be required to pay residence permit fees during their biometric appointments. The certified documents fee is set at €6,045.20 per application, while uncertified documents will cost €8,060.20, with payments to be made via card.

AIMA also issued a warning for applicants with pending cases who have been inactive for six months or more. These applicants risk having their requests marked as abandoned, meaning they will need to reapply under the updated rules.

AIMA has introduced a new portal for immigrants who expressed interest in living in Portugal by April 30, 2024, but were not included in the group of over 400,000 individuals who were called to regularize their document status in the country. Immigrants who submitted an Expression of Interest by June 3, 2024, will receive an email prompting them to change their password on the new platform. AIMA believes these new measures will help make the application process simpler and more efficient, with quicker appointment scheduling expected. The agency aims to clear all pending cases by June 30, 2025.

However, AIMA is facing challenges in meeting demand. Around 15% of the total 6,000 daily appointments go unfilled, with applicants failing to show up, which limits the agency’s ability to respond to requests. In a recent debate on "New migrations and talent attraction," Pedro Portugal Gaspar, the leader of AIMA, highlighted that the agency, in collaboration with municipalities and partners, had successfully increased its daily capacity from 1,000 to 6,000 services, with the goal of resolving 400,000 pending cases.

By fLEXI tEAM