Extending the validity of documents for staying in Portugal

On the 29th of June 2024, Decree-Law no. 41-A/2024 of the 28th of June came into force, bringing important changes to the validity of documents and visas for staying in Portugal.

Authors: Maria Pinheiro, Lawyer, and Isadora Costa Angeli, Jurist

 

On the 29th of June 2024, Decree-Law no. 41-A/2024 of the 28th of June came into force, bringing important changes to the validity of documents and visas for staying in Portugal. This legislation comes in response to the delays experienced by the Public Administration in processing the renewal and extension of documents relating to the stay of foreign citizens in national territory, aggravated by the growing number of cases pending analysis.

In order to ensure the continuity of the regime established in Decree-Law no. 10-A/2020, of 13th March, with regard to the validity of documents and visas, one of the main measures of this new Decree-Law is to extend the validity of documents and visas relating to stay in national territory that expire on or after 14th June 2024. These documents will be accepted, under the same terms, until the 30th of June 2025. This means that all documents whose validity expired after the 24th of February 2020 will be considered valid in Portuguese territory until the end of June 2025.

After the 30th of June 2025, documents and visas for staying in Portugal will still be accepted, but only to the extent that the holder can prove that they have already made an appointment to renew them with AIMA.

It is essential to note that only the Portuguese authorities are bound by this measure and that, therefore, the validity of these documents may not be recognised outside Portuguese territory.

It should also be noted that according to the President of AIMA, Luís Goes Pinheiro, a “mission structure” has been approved for the recovery of pending cases, which promises to put an end to the backlog by June 2025 through the reinforcement of staff dedicated to both the processing of administrative cases and assisting applicants.

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