AIMA processing times in 2026: what the backlog means for Golden Visa applicants
Portugal's immigration agency became known for delays: hundreds of thousands of pending files and Golden Visa applicants waiting years. The general backlog has largely been worked through, the route that created most of it has been closed, Golden Visa files are being scheduled through 2026, and the industry plans on 12 to 18 months from filing to residence card. This page sets out what happened, what changed, and how the 2026 Nationality Law fits in.
- 12 to 18 monthsFrom filing to residence card, the range the industry now plans on
- 347,000Pending files AIMA inherited when it replaced SEF in October 2023
- 300,000+Residence permits issued by the backlog task force, 2024 to 2025
- 850AIMA staff in 2026, up from 723
How long does the Golden Visa take now?
The industry now plans on 12 to 18 months from filing the application to receiving the residence card. Law firms report around 14 months for applications filed today, and some plan on up to 18.¹
The wait has two stages. After filing, AIMA schedules a biometrics appointment, recently reported at around eight months after submission; the residence card follows the appointment, once the issue fee is paid.
| Stage | Reported time, applications filed in 2026 |
|---|---|
| Filing to biometrics appointment | Around 8 months |
| Filing to residence card | Around 14 months reported, up to 18; the industry plans on 12 to 18 |
Industry estimates, not official AIMA figures. Each file depends on its documents and the office handling it.
Why were there such long delays?
The delays came from a surge in immigration meeting an agency in transition. Portugal’s foreign resident population almost quadrupled in eight years, from 421,802 in 2017 to 1,585,854 in 2025, and in October 2023 the border service SEF was replaced by a new agency, AIMA, which inherited 347,000 pending files.²
Much of that volume came from the manifestação de interesse, a route opened in 2017 that let people who had entered Portugal without a residence visa apply to regularise once working and paying social security. It generated hundreds of thousands of files: about 445,000 such cases were in the backlog. Together with renewals and family reunification, pending items across AIMA reached about one million.³
What has changed since?
Three things changed. The manifestação de interesse was abolished on 3 June 2024, closing the main source of new files; a dedicated task force cleared most of the general backlog between September 2024 and December 2025; and a new immigration law set a general 90-day deadline for deciding residence applications from September 2026.
| Date | What changed |
|---|---|
| 29 October 2023 | AIMA replaces SEF and inherits 347,000 pending files |
| 3 June 2024 | Manifestação de interesse abolished (Decreto-Lei 37-A/2024) |
| September 2024 to December 2025 | Task force for pending files: over 750,000 appointments and over 300,000 residence permits issued; 93% of manifestação de interesse cases decided |
| 15 January 2025 | Pending Golden Visa files moved to digital resubmission, with biometrics scheduled by AIMA (as reported by law firms) |
| 16 February 2026 | Golden Visa renewals move to AIMA’s online renewals portal |
| 11 September 2026 | Lei 62/2026: residence applications to be decided within 90 days, extendable by 30 in exceptional cases; lawyers read it as covering Golden Visa applications, with no official statement yet |
By October 2026, about 5,000 of the 445,000 manifestação de interesse cases remained open, according to the Government, and AIMA’s staff had grown from 723 to 850.⁴
What happened to Golden Visa files?
Golden Visa files were deliberately left to the end. In October 2025 the Government said it had prioritised other pending cases and would resolve the Golden Visa backlog in 2026; in October 2026 it reported that around 46,000 Golden Visa processes were stalled when it arrived, and that 30,000 had been scheduled this year.⁵
Surveys of completed files, many of them filed between 2021 and 2023, still show long average waits, because they measure the files that waited longest. The 12 to 18 month range is what law firms report for applications filed now.
Did the 2026 Nationality Law change the Golden Visa?
Not the Golden Visa itself: the reform changed the residence period that counts towards citizenship, and left the Golden Visa’s rules, rights and stay requirement unchanged. The Golden Visa is a residence programme, governed by the Immigration Act (Lei 23/2007); citizenship is governed by a separate law, the Nationality Law (Lei 37/81).⁶
The two laws have always moved separately. The residence period for naturalisation was cut from six to five years in 2018 (Lei Orgânica 2/2018) and raised to 10 in 2026 (7 for CPLP nationals), while the Golden Visa itself was untouched by both changes. The Golden Visa law has never set a citizenship timeline: what it grants is residence, and the years of legal residence then count under whatever Nationality Law is in force when the citizenship application is made.
How did the 2026 Nationality Law come into force?
Parliament approved the reform on 28 October 2025; the Constitutional Court struck down four provisions on 15 December 2025, including one applying the new requirements to applications already filed; the President vetoed it on 19 December; Parliament re-approved a revised text on 1 April 2026; the President signed it into law on 3 May, and it was published on 18 May and entered into force on 19 May 2026.⁷
| Point | What the law and the Court say |
|---|---|
| Applications already filed | Assessed under the previous law (Lei Orgânica 1/2026, Art. 7.º, n.º 2) |
| New applications | 10 years of legal residence (7 for CPLP nationals), from the first residence permit |
| Counting from the date of the residence application | Removed; the Constitutional Court did not find this unconstitutional (Acórdão 1133/2025) |
| Residence permits already held | The permit is unchanged; time to citizenship is now 10 years (7 for CPLP nationals) unless a citizenship application was already pending |
Some Golden Visa holders disagree: in June 2026, 1,260 investors filed a complaint with Portugal’s Ombudsman asking for a transitional regime, and lawyers acting for holders have argued that they had a legitimate expectation of the earlier timeline. On 27 May 2026 the Government told Parliament that linking the Golden Visa to nationality “never was the rule”. For an applicant today, the law is in force: 10 years of legal residence, counted from the first residence card; the implementing regulation, including the format of the new civic test, is still to come. See Stay, residence and citizenship.
¹ Law firm estimates published in 2026 (Liberty Legal and others), as reported by IMI Daily. Indicative.
² AIMA Migration and Asylum Reports; Government figures on SEF's pending files, October 2023.
³ Government statements, October 2025; Government of Portugal, task-force results, 18 December 2025.
⁴ Government figures, October 2026, as reported by Diário de Notícias and IMI Daily.
⁵ Minister of the Presidency, 29 October 2025 (RTP, Observador) and 7 October 2026 (Diário de Notícias).
⁶ General information only, not legal advice.
⁷ Tribunal Constitucional, Acórdão 1133/2025 of 15 December 2025; Presidency of the Republic; Lei Orgânica 1/2026 of 18 May 2026.
Sources: Decreto-Lei 37-A/2024 (end of manifestação de interesse) · Lei 62/2026 (decision deadline) · Government of Portugal, task-force results · AIMA, Migration and Asylum Report 2024 · AIMA, renewals portal · RTP, 29 October 2025 · Diário de Notícias, 7 October 2026 · Tribunal Constitucional, Acórdão 1133/2025 · Lei Orgânica 1/2026 · ECO, 24 June 2026.
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Updated 9 October 2026 · Cascais Ventures · Primary sources linked on this page (links checked 9 October 2026)