Appointment with AIMA

@fotheringhamdiane thank you so much Diane, this is great to know 

@fotheringhamdiane thank you so much.  Great to know.

@IBHwood I fortunately am going to my junta this week with my landlords for the attestado. The real estate agent I am working with also offered me the names of 2 friends who could accompany me. If you don't know 2 witnesses who could accompany you, and you are using an agent, ask your agent for help/advice. It can't hurt!  My understanding is your witnesses must live in the junta area where you have your accommodation and be registered voters. The official at the AIMA meeting may/may not request the attestado. I'm also confused because applicants have told me you don't need the attestado if you have the document showing the landlord paid the 10% stamp duty on your lease. I do have that document because I was told it was required for the D7 application, but apparently many applicants don't have it. It would be wonderful if there was a clear list of required documents for the entire process.

@wordsmith555,

The residence certificate issued by the parish council is only for EU citizens, as they don't need a visa/residence permit. They just need this certificate.

If you're a non-EU citizen, you'll need proof that you have a guaranteed form of accommodation. In other words, in your case, you'll need a tenancy agreement in which the landlord has already paid the stamp duty on the agreement, thus making the agreement valid, according to the Portuguese tax authority.

From non-EU origin, the only use I ever had for atestado de residência, was for customs when importing the household contents.  The shipping agent felt that it had to be dated to the time I officially began residence, and since we had more or less immediately gotten atestados on an earlier visit, with the assistance of the real estate agent, I had to go back and get another one with the date the shipping agent wanted.  Fortunately they were willing to do it.

@JohnnyPT Well, I already have lease with proof landlord paid the stamp duty, so you're confirming I don't need the attestado. I'm a US citizen.

Thanks for the clarification. I didn't see anything anywhere about the attestado being only for EU citizens.

@wordsmith555

My brother recently achieved Stage 2. i assisted him throughout the process and nowhere official with reference to AIMA Stage 2 documents did it state Atestado da Residencia is a requirememt. However he is staying at my apartment and does not and will not have bills in his name. It’s an apartment below my own and the two apartments form one house and i pay the bills. To sayisfy his accomodation requirements for D7 he has a free lease arrangement with me. He could have taken only his free lease document which was notarised but we felt pressure as on FB Groups talk began of the requirement for Atestado dR. Posts and conversations said it was needed. So out of worry I obtained  the form and we found two witnesses  two local restaurant owners who walked across the street and signed to say they knew him. And two days after the initial handing in of the form he went back and collected it. It’s questionable whether he needeed it but i say he did not. However it was useful for other things since his tax representative (Portuguese and Local Private Individual) used  it to obtain his NISS and sign him on at Centro de Saudade (Heath centre BEFORE AIMA and he used it as medical insurance proof. Some on sites said this could not be done! Anyway the answer to this post is no you do not need it for AIMA. But it does serve its purposes like instantly proving you live in Portugal and the specific village/address. And for sending your goods. It was this year 2024 in March i add this because ots important that posts are current. Good Luck

@Fear7474 I was simply reading through forums and accounts from people who had attended AIMA. Many mentioned they were asked for the attestado, but I guess those applicants were EU citizens. Basically, I was going to get the attestado because many people said there were asked for it or brought it along (even if it was not requested). As JohnnyPT pointed out, I'm not an EU citizen so it's not required, and I have the confirmation that my landlord paid the 10% stamp duty on my lease, which I can present. I am simply trying to be informed. Thank you for your feedback.

Hi All,

Update as promised:

My husband and I had our AIMA appointment, for our initial residency visa on 17th July.

Although we took an amount of documents for 'just in case' ,  all that was looked at/ required was literally WHAT WAS ASKED FOR ON THE AIMA APPLICATION FORM.

On the form I left 3 spaces blank because I was uncertain what to fill in, but the agent filled them in from me as we went through the form. Most of the documents were the same as we took for our D7 appointment and it seemed to me that these were all on the agents computer screen because anything that I had already supplied at the D7 appointment was not copied.

What we took:

completed AIMA application form (as much as possible)

passport

Proof of address

Proof of financial situation

Proof of medical cover

Because we are retired, we didn't have IRS and because it's our 1st year residency application we don't yet need to prove we are competent in the Portuguese language.

We had also updated a personal statement to support our application and wrote that onto the others section but this was glanced at and kept but not copied or questioned.

We then had our photo, fingerprint and signature taken digitally.

We paid the €177.40 and were then given a receipt for the payment and a bit of paper which we were told in Portuguese that this was our temporary residency card and that we would receive the actual card in the post in the next 3 weeks (or it might have been 3 months!) I said thank you and we'd see them in 1 year, to which we were told no 2 years. I questioned that and was told 2 years and then 3 years.... Everything I read before my D7 appointment said apply at AIMA and get 1 year and then 2 years and then another 2 years. This was also what I was told at my D7 appointment.

Our temporary  residency visa does not have an end date on it, maybe it will say on my card......

That was that!  Done, residency visa granted there and then on the spot! Again, like the D7, I thought the agent was just gathering the information and paperwork and then that all would be sent somewhere for approval and we'd be contacted by email (same as the D7 process) but nope, it was granted there and then at my 30 minute appointment!

Easy as that! ... No lawyers or agencies involved, just a couple filling out the appropriate forms with the information that was asked for.

If I can help in anyway or clarify anything please let me know. If I can help, I will.

Good luck and best wishes to anyone applying. I say go for it- it's actually not as daunting a task when you get into it.

Regards

Dx

Completed A

@Scottywightman

How did your AIMA appt. go?

@fotheringhamdiane thank you for the update! Reassuring to hear a "smooth sailing" story!! My challenge is getting the appointment!