Travel while waiting for new residence card

The decree forms part of the document. It is just another way to issue it. Whether you have a card that has the date stamped on it, or the card and a just-as-valid legal decree of the Portuguese government accompanying it, with a future date of expiry, I don't see the difference and why anyone is worried. Date extensions on a paper medium are as valid as a date stamped into a plastic medium. It is easy to print off the decree and the AIMA declaration and have those with the current card. It should be valid for the entire EU, because it doesn't grant anything that is in conflict with the other EU states. When they talk about not granting anything in conflict they are meaning it doesn't change your current rights solely to stay in Portugal.

If you have expired visas, print these documents and carry them with you:

https://aima.gov.pt/pt/documentos-e-vis … -june-2025

Article 16, numbers (1) and (8) of Decree-Law 10-A/2020 of 13 March:

https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/legisla … -130241777

@Perpetual_traveler

Whilst I agree in principal its another matter entirely when facing a less than friendly/helpful immigration person or check in person, who may or may not know the law. People have come short when trying to enter Portugal via another Schengen country with an expired residency card. The reality is that we take a risk when travelling with an expired card, unfair as that may be