Key figures — as of 2026-10-10: AIMA's third president in three years, César Teixeira, was announced on 7 October 2026, replacing Pedro Portugal Gaspar — no transition date confirmed yet — days after a 24-hour national strike on 6 October drew roughly 50% participation; the agency still carries an estimated 30,000 pending residence cases plus around 29,000 unresolved Golden Visa (ARI) files, out of a backlog that once topped 1 million.
A third chief in three years
Portugal's immigration agency is changing leaders again. On 7 October, Minister of the Presidency António Leitão Amaro confirmed that César Teixeira is set to become the new president of Portugal's Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA), replacing Pedro Portugal Gaspar. Teixeira has already received a positive opinion from the Comissão de Recrutamento e Seleção para a Administração Pública (CReSAP), the body that vets senior public appointments, and the nomination is expected to be formalised shortly by the Council of Ministers.
The government is framing it as continuity rather than upheaval. Leitão Amaro described the change as "uma evolução na continuidade", telling parliament the country has entered a new phase of migration management. He praised Gaspar's record while adding that the results so far were positive but a new phase was needed where priorities are different. Gaspar is expected to move into another public role; a hearing had been scheduled for him to join the Autoridade da Concorrência, Portugal's competition regulator, but was cancelled without explanation, according to Diário de Notícias reporting.
Teixeira isn't an outsider. He is currently a member of the agency's board of directors, and official records show his responsibilities have included matters relating to the entry, stay, departure and removal of foreign citizens. He has also stood in for the president before — a decision published in August concerning changes within AIMA was signed by Teixeira acting in place of the president.
Why this is the third change already
AIMA was only created in October 2023, taking over SEF's functions. Its leadership has already changed before: Pedro Portugal Gaspar took over as president after the previous board, led by Luís Goes Pinheiro, was dismissed by the government in 2024. Teixeira will be the third person to lead the agency inside three years of operation — by GrowIN's own calculation, that works out to an average presidential tenure of roughly 12 months, barely enough time to settle into a backlog this large before handing it to a successor. "Three presidents in three years leaves an agency managing a million-case backlog with almost no continuity at the top," says GrowIN Portugal Editorial.
A strike that didn't wait for the announcement
The leadership change landed days after AIMA staff walked out. On 6 October, the Sindicato dos Técnicos de Migração (STM) held a confirmed 24-hour strike of AIMA workers, called after the Ministry of Internal Administration proposed a special allowance for border police but ignored the same request from AIMA staff. The union's core demands were a dedicated technical career and a pay supplement equivalent to that recognised for the GNR and PSP, alongside objections to instability in AIMA's leadership. Participation reportedly reached around half of eligible staff. The timing matters for foreigners: Portugal counted almost 1.6 million foreign residents at the end of 2025, all of whom depend on an agency that just lost a day of service and is now changing chiefs.
What it could mean for processing times
Nobody should expect an overnight shift. There's no confirmed handover date yet, and Gaspar remains in full duties for now, continuing to oversee the conclusion of the Plano Nacional de Integração. On paper, the backlog picture has genuinely improved this year — AIMA reported the queue falling from close to a million cases to around 30,000 more complex pending files, alongside roughly 458,000 residence cards issued during the clearing operation. Golden Visa applicants have fared worse: close to 29,000 ARI files were still pending as of August 2026, deliberately left for last.
Because Teixeira already handles entry, stay and removal matters on the current board, AIMA's day-to-day processing — including online renewals via the Portal das Renovações — is unlikely to stall immediately. The real risk is slower decision-making at the top while staff morale and pay disputes remain unresolved, and while the courts' own "task force" of administrative judges is still working through tens of thousands of lawsuits filed against the agency by frustrated applicants.
What to watch next
Keep an eye on three things: the formal Council of Ministers confirmation and handover date, whether the STM secures the pay supplement that triggered the strike, and whether Teixeira changes the ARI processing priority inherited from Gaspar. Anyone with a pending renewal or residence application should keep checking status directly through AIMA rather than assuming the leadership change speeds anything up. For a fuller walkthrough of residence permit categories and what to expect from AIMA timelines, see our visas hub.
Foreigners navigating Portugal's immigration system in the coming months would do well to build in extra buffer time, not less.