AIMA Residency authorizations soar 60% to 386,000 in 2025

Portugal’s immigration and asylum office AIMA reported that concessions of authorizations for residency rose 60% to 386,000 so far in 2025.

Nevertheless, the President of the Administrative Board at the Agency for the Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA), Pedro Portugal Gaspar insists that the number of immigrants entering Portugal will maintain on a downward path.

On October 22, we actually issued 386,463 [residence] cards, representing new authorizations throughout 2025, meaning applicants had received the card. […] In the same period of 2024, we had 236,030, so we have an increase of 60%, 61%, around that,” he said.

He said that most processes still corresponded to situations of people who entered Portugal through the ‘manifestation.of interest’ that allows foreigners on national territory to request authorisation for residency, especially if they already have been offered a work contract and have made social security discounts.

Even so, Pedro Portugal Gaspar estimates that as was the case in 2024, this year will see a reduction in the number of those allowed to enter Portugal by around 50%  and expects this to continue given the new Foreigners Law that has been introduced.

The new law, stipulates, for example, that visas will be limited to applicants for qualified work while 20% of all callers to AIMA are left hanging on the line.

The AIMA boss also said that those looking to renew their authorisations for residency should avoid going to AIMA offices where huge queues have been reported,  and instead do so online at the Portal das Renovações (Renewals Website)

To meet the pressure of requests, Pedro Portugal Gaspar said that AIMA was taking on more staff to join the 770 it already has after beefing up staff numbers by 10% over the past year.

Photo: Immigrants guard their spaces by sleeping rough overnight on the street where the AIMA agency is located in Anjos, Lisbon,16 October, 2025.TIAGO PETINGA/LUSA
Copyright:
© 2025 LUSA – Agência de Notícias de Portugal, S.A.

SOURCE: Público