EXTENSION OF VALIDITY FOR VISAS AND RESIDENCE PERMITS – DECREE-LAW No. 41-A/2024 OF JUNE 28th

Delays in processing renewals and extension of documentation for foreigners residing in Portugal, by the Public Administration, have caused significant negative impacts on their professional and family lives, as well as on access to essential public services.

Several factors have contributed to these delays:

• The prolonged and disorganized process of abolishing the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF);
• The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which initially slowed down administrative processes; and,
• More recently, the inability of the Agency for Immigration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) to effectively manage and control the increase in the volume of pending cases.

Given this context, and due to the particular inability to currently guarantee an adequate mechanism for the renewal of Residence Permits, the Portuguese Government, on June 25, 2024, approved the extension of the validity of the aforementioned documents for another year.

In accordance with the government decision, on June 28, 2024, Decree-Law no. 41-A/2024, came into force, a diploma that appears with the aim of alleviating the current administrative burden and guaranteeing time for migration services so that they can be reorganized, improving their efficiency in handling requests from foreign citizens.

Main Provisions of Decree-Law no. 41-A/2024 – regarding the amendment of article 16 of Decree-Law no. 10-A/2020, of March 13:

• Validity extension until June 30, 2025:

“Documents and visas relating to stay in national territory, which validity expires from the date of entry into force of this decree-law or in the 15 days immediately preceding, are accepted, under the same terms, until June 30, 2025.”

• Provisions for after June 30, 2025:

Furthermore, as previously decreed, the extension includes the possibility that “The documents referred to in the previous paragraph continue to be accepted, under the same terms, after June 30, 2025, as long as their holder provides proof that they have already carried out the scheduling of the respective renewal.”.

Mariana Antunes Silva

Attorney