Admin Hublisbon project

How to get an appointment at AIMA

Key links

Description

AIMA (Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo) is Portugal's immigration and asylum agency. It replaced SEF (Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras) on 29 October 2023, and inherited a large backlog of pending cases in the process — which is why getting an appointment can still be slow and frustrating in 2026.

There is no single "AIMA appointment." What you need to do depends on your situation:

You entered on a D-series visa (D2, D7, D8, family reunification, etc.) — Check your visa documentation first. Many D-visas already come with a pre-scheduled AIMA appointment to collect your residence permit, so you may not need to book anything. You don't have a pre-scheduled appointment, or you're renewing / regularizing your situation — You'll need to reach AIMA yourself, through the channels below.

⚠️ Important: If you have an old SEF appointment, it was automatically cancelled when AIMA took over. Ignore any old SEF booking link — it's dead — and rebook through AIMA directly.

1. Check the process-status tracker and the SAPA portal first

Before calling or emailing, check whether your case is already progressing:

Process tracker / SAPA portal — services.aima.gov.pt lets you check the status of an existing process and, for renewals, generate the payment reference (DUC) online, without needing an in-person appointment. Portal das Renovações — for renewing an existing residence permit online.

If the portal shows nothing or you don't yet have a process number, continue below.

2. Call AIMA

Main number: +351 217 115 000 Operates weekdays, roughly 8:00–20:00.
  • If the call starts with "AIMA, Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo…" and then disconnects, the call did not go through.
  • If it starts with "Bem-vindo à AIMA / Welcome to AIMA…", the call went through.
  • Lines are frequently overloaded — persistence matters. Try first thing in the morning.
Linha Cidadão (general citizen line):
  • +351 210 489 010
  • +351 300 003 990
  • Option 2 for citizenship/nationality matters, Option 8 for AIMA-related queries
  • (Menu options on general government lines can change — if Option 8 doesn't route correctly, confirm the current routing on AIMA's official Contacts page.)

3. Email AIMA

When you don't get through by phone, email is the main alternative — and sending multiple emails, on multiple days, genuinely improves your odds, since cases are often handled in the order they're picked up.

General enquiries
Lisbon, Loja 1
Lisbon, Loja 2
Outside Lisbon
If you hold a Manifestação de Interesse

When emailing, always include:

  • Full name and NIF
  • NISS (Social Security number), if you have one
  • A clear explanation of what you need (new appointment, renewal, collecting a card, etc.)
  • Scanned copies of your passport, visa, and — for renewals — your current residence permit

⚠️ AIMA's only official email domains are aima.gov.pt and, for some legacy cases still in transition, sef.pt. Anything else is not AIMA (see the scam warning below).

4. Use the official online contact form

IMA's digital contact form now covers more than just CPLP citizens:

  • General contact form: contactenos.aima.gov.pt — select the subject category that matches your situation (residence permits, visa extensions, CPLP applications, etc.) and attach your passport and visa. This channel has also been used to open visa-extension requests without needing to call or visit in person.

Keep the submission confirmation — it's useful proof that you made an active, timely effort to regularize your situation, even if AIMA is slow to respond.

5. If nothing works: the legal route

If you've been waiting well beyond a reasonable timeframe with no response, a growing number of applicants — including many with expiring visas — are turning to a legal mechanism:

Intimação para Proteção de Direitos, Liberdades e Garantias ("Summons for Protection of Rights"). A lawyer files this action in the administrative court on your behalf; if granted, a judge orders AIMA to schedule your appointment, typically within a few weeks. It does not grant residency automatically — it only forces AIMA to give you the appointment the law already entitles you to. Legal fees for this vary (commonly quoted in the €500–1,500+ range for the lawyer alone, more if court costs apply), so weigh this against how urgent your situation is.

This is not something The Lisbon Project can file for you, but we can point you toward immigration lawyers who handle it.

⚠️ Scams to be careful of

Beyond general phishing (fake SMS messages claiming to be from Social Security, asking for bank card details — never legitimate, and never something Social Security does), there is a scam specifically targeting people waiting for AIMA appointments: fraudulent emails announcing a fake scheduled appointment, sent from addresses like noreplyportalsef@saf-aima.pt — designed to look official but not from AIMA.

  • AIMA's real emails only ever come from the aima.gov.pt domain (and, in some transitional cases, sef.pt). Anything else is fake.
  • Never click links in unsolicited appointment emails. If in doubt, verify your status directly on the SAPA portal or by calling AIMA.
  • If you've received one of these, block the sender, mark it as spam, and you can report it via the Polícia Judiciária's cybercrime reporting channels.

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

No. We can help you navigate the process — for example, helping you draft and send emails — but we cannot guarantee an appointment, as we do not work within AIMA and have no control over its scheduling.

Where we are

Rua Carvalho Araújo 66-B
1900-140 Lisboa
Portugal

How to Get Here

  • Metro: Linha Verde (Green Line) - Intendente Station
  • Bus: 708, 730, 742, 794

Opening hours

Mon, Tue, Thu
10:00–12:30 & 14:00–17:30
Wednesday (Extended)
Until 19:30
Friday
Until 18:30
No appointment needed. Just walk in.

Contact info

+351 964 809 959