Visa and Residence Permit Renewal for Employees in Portugal

In Portugal, a foreign employee does not renew a work “visa”. The visa only gets the person in. What you renew is the residence permit, through AIMA’s digital renewals portal, and the request has to be filed between 90 and 30 days before the card expires. The employer does not file it, but it does carry the compliance risk if the paperwork slips. This guide explains what to track, what to collect and what to do when a card expires before AIMA decides.

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TL;DR

The residence visa is valid for four months and exists to let the worker apply for a residence permit. Renewal applies to the permit, not the visa.
Since 1 August 2025 only AIMA renews residence permits, and since 15 October 2025 renewals follow AIMA’s digital procedure, with no automatic extension.
File the request within 90 days before expiry and no later than 30 days before it.
Keep the renewal receipt, the contract and the worker’s status documents together in the personnel file.
The receipt is not a travel document. Staff who travel while a renewal is pending need to plan around it.

Visa or residence permit: what actually needs renewing
Who handles renewals now: AIMA only
Deadlines: when to file
What the employee and employer each provide
The renewal receipt and what it covers
What the employer must do while the renewal is pending
Travel while a renewal is pending
Perspective: what we see across foreign hires
How an EOR takes the date-tracking off your plate
A short renewal checklist for HR
FAQ
Sources

Visa or residence permit: what actually needs renewing

Most confusion starts here. For long-term employment, the European Commission’s immigration portal explains that a residence visa allows entry for four months so that the worker can apply for a residence permit. The visa does not itself grant a right of residence. Portugal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the same: the holder must apply for a residency permit with AIMA during those four months.

So the life of a foreign employee’s status looks like this:

Stage	Document	What happens
1. Before arrival	Residence visa (work)	Valid four months, used to enter Portugal
2. After arrival	First residence permit	Applied for with AIMA within the visa window
3. Later	Renewal of the residence permit	Generally one year at first, then successive two-year periods

The EU portal states that a temporary residence permit is generally valid for one year and renewable for two-year periods. The law itself says temporary permits are generally renewable for two-year periods, though this can vary by permit type (Lei 23/2007, Art. 75). Even the former immigration service framed employment-based renewal as renewal of the residence permit for employed workers.

If your team uses the phrase “visa renewal” internally, that is fine, as long as everyone knows the real object of the work is the residence permit card. If the employee is still at the visa stage, our guide to Art. 88 and 89 work permits, visa first and AIMA next covers the first application. Intra-company transferees have their own route, covered in our ICT visa checklist.

Who handles renewals now: AIMA only

Two changes in 2025 reshaped the process, and older guides still describe the previous system.

IRN stopped renewing. From 1 August 2025, IRN no longer handles residence permit renewals, and responsibility passed exclusively to AIMA. The stated aim is to centralize services for foreign citizens in one entity.
The automatic extension ended. According to a Portuguese law firm’s note, from 15 October 2025 renewals must follow AIMA’s digital procedure, with exceptions for CPLP nationals, investment (ARI) permits and EU-family residence cards. Holders of cards that expired before 1 July 2025 keep their residence rights for six months after 15 October 2025. Cards expiring after 30 June 2025 keep them for six months after expiry. Renewal is mandatory either way.

The practical consequence for an HR team is that no one at the employer can “submit it for the employee” through an internal channel. The request is made by the foreign national, who registers on the portal. AIMA’s own announcement describes how: the applicant registers on the Renewals Portal and receives an access password by email. They then submit the request, receive a payment document for the fees, and after payment receive the renewal request receipt. AIMA notes that payment is only possible within 24 hours of the payment guide being issued, so the employee should have the card or bank details ready before starting.

The gov.pt service page confirms that foreign residents with a valid or expired permit can request renewal through AIMA’s portal. In-person renewal is by appointment, and IRN contacts eligible applicants. Some categories, such as investment permits, have had their own rollout on the portal, so check the AIMA news page before assuming a worker is in or out of scope.

Deadlines: when to file

The rule is simple and unforgiving. Per gov.pt, the request must be made within 90 days before expiry and no later than 30 days before it.

In practice, we suggest a tracking rhythm that gives the employee room for mistakes:

120 days before expiry: HR flags the date and asks the employee to check the passport validity and the address on file.
90 days before expiry: the window opens. Ask the employee to register on the portal now, not at day 35.
60 days before expiry: HR confirms the request was filed and the fees paid, and files the receipt.
30 days before expiry: the last safe day. If nothing has been filed, escalate to the employee’s manager.

The law says AIMA has 30 days to decide a renewal and that, if it does not, the application is deemed approved provided the delay is not the applicant’s fault (Lei 23/2007, Art. 78). Be realistic about how that works in daily life. A deemed approval does not put a new card in the employee’s hand, so the receipt and your own records do the day-to-day work. Do not plan payroll or project staffing around the 30-day figure.

What the employee and employer each provide

The exact checklist depends on the permit type and is set by AIMA for each category, so the employee should read the instructions on the portal for their own permit. What we can say with confidence is how the split of duties looks for employment-based permits.

The employee typically needs:

a valid passport and the current residence card;
proof that the grounds for the permit still exist, which for a worker means ongoing employment;
proof of tax and social security standing, where the category requires it;
payment of the administrative fees through the guide the portal issues.

The employer typically supplies:

a current employment contract and recent payslips;
a letter or declaration confirming the role, salary and that the employment continues;
for intra-company transfers, more: AIMA’s page for the ICT permit says the employer must attest to the employment contract, provide a document stating the host company, remuneration and other working conditions, and guarantee compliance with national working-conditions and remuneration laws.

A general point from experience in this field: the renewal fails most often on mismatches, not on missing documents. A job title on the contract that differs from the payslip, a salary that dropped below what the permit was granted on, or an address that is out of date will each prompt questions. Run a quick consistency check between the contract, payroll and the employee’s portal data before they file.

The renewal receipt and what it covers

Once the fees are paid, the system issues a receipt for the renewal request. Two protections matter to an employer.

First, the receipt keeps the worker’s position lawful while the file is pending. The Portuguese legal framework, as summarized by the national investment agency, gives the receipt the same effects as the residence title for a 60-day period that can be renewed (Art. 78(7)). The law firm summary mentioned above also notes that proof of the request, valid for 180 days, is made available within 10 working days after payment of the fees. Treat the exact validity printed on the receipt the employee actually gets as the controlling figure, and diarize it.

Second, it gives you a document to show an auditor or labor inspector. AICEP states that the employment contract and the employer’s copy must contain, or be accompanied by, documents relating to the foreign national’s work visa or residence permit. Keep the receipt there.

What the employer must do while the renewal is pending

You can keep employing the person, and you should not suspend them just because the card has expired, provided they hold a valid receipt. Do these things:

Copy the evidence. Save the receipt, the expired card and the proof of filing in the personnel file, with the date you received them.
Diarize the receipt’s end date. If the validity runs out before the new card arrives, ask the employee to confirm the receipt has been renewed.
Keep the contract unchanged where possible. Changes to role or pay mid-renewal create questions. If a promotion is due, ask counsel whether to time it after the card is issued.
Do not make the employee choose between work and the portal. Give time off for appointments.
Record the new card’s expiry the day it arrives and restart the clock.

On compliance more broadly, our summary of four must-do labor compliance steps for foreign hires shows where immigration records sit among the other employer duties.

Travel while a renewal is pending

This is the question employees ask HR most. AIMA’s general guidance says that a receipt proving a residence permit application is not a travel document and cannot be used to travel in other Schengen countries. Travel requires a valid travel document and compliance with the rules of the destination. That guidance dates from the period through 30 June 2025, so confirm the current position with AIMA before a trip.

For employers, the safe policy is:

Ask staff to tell HR before booking travel outside Portugal if a renewal is open.
Do not schedule business trips abroad for a worker whose card has expired, unless the worker has confirmed in writing, with AIMA or an immigration lawyer, that they can re-enter.
For remote workers who split time between countries, check long absences too. Some permits have conditions on time spent in Portugal, which an immigration lawyer can confirm for the specific permit.

Perspective: what we see across foreign hires

We work with international companies that hire in Portugal without their own local entity, so the same mistake keeps coming up. Companies treat the work visa as the finish line. Then, a year later, a card expires and nobody owns the date. The employee assumes HR is handling it. HR assumes the employee is.

Our view is that renewal should be a standing line in your onboarding checklist from day one, with a named owner for the date and a clear division: the employee files, the employer supplies documents quickly and keeps the evidence. Since AIMA became the single channel and automatic extensions ended, slack in the system has gone. A card that lapses with no filed request is a real employment-law problem, not an admin delay.

We also think foreign employers should resist the urge to over-engineer this. A shared calendar, a document folder per employee and a 120-day reminder will solve most of it. Where it gets complicated, with transferees, investment permits or workers with gaps in employment, bring in an immigration lawyer early.

— Paulo

How an EOR takes the date-tracking off your plate

If you employ people in Portugal through our Employer of Record service, we act as the legal employer. That means contracts, payroll and personnel records sit with us, including the dates tied to each worker’s immigration status, and we can supply the employment documents the worker needs when they file. For the immigration steps themselves, our softlanding and visa support covers the first application and the follow-up. We do not file the renewal in place of the employee, because AIMA’s portal is set up for the applicant, but we make sure the file is ready and the date is not missed.

If you pay staff through a separate payroll provider, connect the dates there too. Our payroll services page explains how we handle that side.

A short renewal checklist for HR

Record the card expiry date for every non-EU employee at onboarding.
Set reminders at 120, 90, 60 and 30 days.
Ask the employee to register on the AIMA renewals portal as soon as the 90-day window opens.
Prepare an updated contract copy, recent payslips and an employment confirmation letter.
File the receipt and note its end date.
Check before any travel plans.
Update records when the new card arrives.

FAQ

Can an employer renew a foreign employee’s residence permit for them?

The renewal is requested by the foreign national, who registers on AIMA’s Renewals Portal and receives the access password by email. The employer’s role is to provide the employment documents and keep the records. A lawyer can assist the employee, but the application is made in the employee’s name.

How early should we start the renewal?

The request must be made within 90 days before expiry and no later than 30 days before it, according to gov.pt. We recommend starting as soon as the window opens, because document problems are easier to fix with weeks in hand.

Can the employee keep working if the card expires before AIMA decides?

In the ordinary case, a valid renewal receipt gives the same effects as the residence title for 60 days, renewable, under Art. 78(7) as summarized by AICEP. Keep the receipt in the file and check its validity date. For anything unusual, such as a lapse before filing, ask an immigration lawyer before the next payroll run.

Can an employee travel abroad while the renewal is pending?

The receipt is not a travel document and cannot be used to travel in other Schengen countries, per AIMA guidance. The employee should confirm the current position with AIMA or a lawyer before booking, and the employer should not require travel in the meantime.