AIMA D7 appointment for 2nd stage

Don't take me for an expert - I absolutely do not know what I'm talking about - but you might look at doing it somewhere else.  Namely, the Instituto de Registos e Notariados, whose web site claims they can do this.

Em certos casos é possível renovar a autorização de residência de forma automática, através dos serviços online da Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo (AIMA).

Nos casos em que não seja possível renovar de forma automática, o pedido de renovação de autorização de residência, é apresentado nos balcões do IRN, mediante agendamento prévio, exceto se for para atividade de investimeno e para vítima de tráfico de pessoas, 

O pedido de renovação para atividade de investimento e para vítima de tráfico de pessoas é apresentado nos balcões da AIMA.

So the way I read it, you can try it online at AIMA (?), or go on down to the local IRN office, which might be worth a try.  They schedule appointments online with the Siga app, and the menu tree doesn't really have anything about título de residência, so I suppose if you want to get an appointment it might be for renewal of cartão de cidadão.  Or you could just walk into the Loja de Cidadão and inquire about the IRN office.

The link, by the way, being https://justica.gov.pt/Servicos/Renovar-Autorizacao-de-Residencia

Thank you, i will certainly look into this and will let you and others know if they can help.

@Jac g I'm in a similar boat but have only been here a couple of months. I've been reading about filing a complain in the "yellow book". I have not done this yet since I have three months until my visa stamp expires. But I have seen some people in Facebook groups having some success with this method for getting an appointment scheduled.

From https://www.portugal.gov.pt/pt/gc24/governo/comunicado-do-conselho-de-ministros?i=623

3.    Na sequência da apresentação e aprovação do Plano de Ação para as Migrações:

a.    Aprovou o Decreto-lei que aprova as regras de execução desse plano, nomeadamente: (i) atribuindo à Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo (AIMA) uma missão de atração proativa de imigrantes; (ii) assumindo e valorizando o Observatório das Migrações como órgão da AIMA; e (iii) prorrogando por um ano, até 30 de junho de 2025, a validade dos documentos e vistos relativos à permanência em território nacional;

b.    Aprovou a Resolução do Conselho de Ministros que cria a "Estrutura de Missão para a Recuperação de Processos Pendentes na AIMA", que será responsável por analisar e decidir os processos pendentes de regularização de estrangeiros. A Estrutura de Missão funcionará até 2 de junho de 2025, contará com até 300 pessoas dedicadas a funções quer de tramitação administrativa dos processos, quer de atendimento aos requerentes.

Which is to say, it looks like deadlines are now next summer.  For various things.  I'd check to verify that your visa is included, but probably is.  Could be a major tangle at that time, if there aren't further revisions to that schedule.

And they're going to hire 300 or so more staff.

@JRTRUEMA

any idea where to find yellow book??

@Jac g

We went into faro Aima today to see if we could get any help with them, one guy had queued from 2am to be first in the queue.  We arrived there just before they opened at 8.30am and people queuing out to the main door, there were hundreds ahead of us by then.

As expected no help again, so instead we went and asked for the yellow complaints book, did a long complaint as many had before us we were told.  She said they were  supposed to respond to us within the next 15 days, but the look on her face said don’t hold your breath. so now we carry on trying and waiting.

Good luck all.

@Andrew Finnie in the Aima building in Faro we asked for it.

I wish you all good luck. It is sad to see that especially the non-EU residents have so many problems with their residency card renewal.

@Andrew Finnie I think you can access online here

[link under review]

@Andrew Finnie you can also do a search for it on the eportugal . gov . pt site.

@Jac g In the Facebook groups I'm following, several people have said it took a month for them to get a response but some people are getting responses. I've also seen some people say their complain was just closed in the yellow book without an answer. It's just chaos

AIMA is in a pretty dire situation, a backlog of hundreds of thousands they inherited from SEF.  It is what it is - not a good thing, but likely no one has died from it yet.  The government has promised to add more staff, and deadlines are being extended.

The idea that people can go to the head of the line by making a complaint in the yellow book is nonsense.  If it worked for anyone, I think that's kind of unfortunate.

@donn25 I respectfully disagree. It's not individual people's fault for the bureaucratic problems. Life needs to go on and if you can't leave the country, get a job, or start a business without a valid visa, it can throw a wrench in things. I'm seeing many many people who have spent countless hours calling AIMA thousands of times a day without success. That is not hyperbole, thousands of calls a day over several months. I don't think anyone dreamed of retiring here to spend hours listening to a busy signal. Filing a complaint in the yellow book isn't jumping the line, it's escalating an issue for resolution. 

Donna25 I totally agree with you, when we came to Portugal to retire we knew there would be problems to overcome, but never did we expect to spend month after month trying to get a 2nd stage appointment. We are buying a house and all our belongings are in storage in the UK until we have our appointment to be able to ship them over. so it feels like we are in limbo until this is resolved.

All this time I took "second stage" to mean the second temporary residence permit, but now I infer that you actually are trying to get the interview for the initial residence permit.  The IRN stuff I mentioned above isn't relevant, then.

On the bright side, as frustrating as it may be, I bet it's a walk in the park compared to immigration to Italy, Spain, France ...  I don't really know anything about that, just have heard that most other European countries are really difficult about this.

No we already have our first stage visa, we are trying to get our sacond stage which will then allow us to be residence for the next two years, before applying again.

@jac g I am arriving in Porto tomorrow. I did not get an AIMA appt in my visa. Seems Miami VFS/Portuguese Embassy stopped giving appt in the visa in March. Any advice on how to get an AIMA appt? I have emailed AIMA every day for a week and I am going to continue to do so. Have not tried calling yet, but it seems to be futile. Is it possible to go to an AIMA office anywhere in PT and get a walk in appt?

@Jac g

good luck my first stage visa ended in January. Tried everything and no follow up appointments. Although having visited Faro in November i have a reference number and a stamped certified sheet confirming i have been in and tried. i am now spending most of my time in Portugal and playing it out until i get my 2yr card…

@wordsmith555 I think the only real thing you can do is be patiently persistent until you get an appointment. I'm emailing every day, calling several times throughout the day, submitting an AIMA contact form daily, and visiting the local AIMA shop (waiting in long lines for hours) when possible. I have seen people hire lawyers but all they do is hire someone else to call AIMA repeatedly on your behalf. I have also seen people who have been trying for months, submit a complaint in the yellow book.

I don't want to be obsessed with it and want to enjoy BEING in Portugal, but I'm staying on it until it gets done. As stated above, the Portuguese government is working to resolve the large backlog by extending the validity of certain visas and hiring new staff. I do think that hiring and training new staff will take time and we won't see real change for probably months. So, I'd say keep yourself updated on the current state of affairs as it evolves, be persistent, and adapt your strategy to the changing situation.

I also recommend Americans & FriendsPT Facebook group as another forum with lots of great ideas and up-to-date information.

@wordsmith555 we have tried calling into Faro Aima several times but they always tell us to phone or email Aima as they are unable to help us. we tell them we have been doing this month after month with no joy, which is why we asked for the complaints book. good luck and just keep trying.

Try calling at different times of the day, for example as early as 8am or as late as 8pm. At the moment, AIMA only has the capacity to answer 5000 calls a day but is receiving +10 x more ...

There are some people who use several mobile phones and with recurring calls, many of them really experts in this...

The current government wants to sort out this mess (created by the previous government) this summer, so we'll see...

@JRTRUEMA What does "visiting the local AIMA shop daily" mean?

@wordsmith555 I'm calling AIMA daily but I'm not standing in line at the AIMA shop every day. The local AIMA locations are called "stores" and you can find the addresses for them on the AIMA site. You can go to one and try and see if you can get an appointment that way but it usually requires waiting a long time and leaving in frustration because they can't help you.