# AIMA Opens Early Online Renewal for Residence Permits Expiring Sept–Oct > AIMA's Portal das Renovações now accepts renewals for permits expiring in September and October 2026 — how to apply before the deadline rush. - Source: https://www.growinportugal.com/news/aima-opens-early-online-renewal-for-residence-permits-expiri-2026-10-01 - Publisher: GrowIN Portugal (https://www.growinportugal.com) - Published: 2026-10-01 - Last reviewed: 2026-10-01 - Language: en > **Key figures — as of 2026-10-01:** AIMA opened its Portal das Renovações on 29 June 2026 for residence permits expiring in both September and October 2026 — the first time a single announcement has covered two expiry months at once; the portal (portal-renovacoes.aima.gov.pt) now spans ordinary permits expiring from 1 July 2025 through 31 October 2026; the statutory minimum is to request renewal 30 days before expiry under Article 78 of Lei n.º 23/2007; automatic pandemic-era extensions ended 15 October 2025. ## The headline change: two months, one window Foreigners whose residence cards expire this September or October no longer have to wait until the final weeks to act. The agency states that those with Residence Permits set to expire between September and October 2026 must visit portal-renovacoes.aima.gov.pt to renew their Residence Permits. That might sound like routine bureaucratic housekeeping, but the detail that matters is the pairing of two calendar months in a single rollout. This is a single announcement covering two calendar months simultaneously, whereas earlier cohort openings were announced one month at a time — opening two months at once represents an operational expansion of the portal's capacity. AIMA has signalled this isn't a one-off. The agency says it will "continue working towards bringing forward the opening of the Portal to the coming months" — language that points towards November and December cohorts being added sooner rather than later, though nothing is confirmed until AIMA publishes it. ## What the window actually covers The Portal das Renovações isn't new — it launched in mid-2025 — but its reach has been widening steadily. As things stand, AIMA's notice covers ordinary residence permits expiring or expired from 1 July 2025 through 31 October 2026, and ARI cards expired from 22 February 2020 through 31 October 2026. That means Golden Visa holders sit inside the same window as standard work, D7 and D8 permit holders this round. Context matters here too. The blanket automatic extensions that had existed since 2020 ended on 15 October 2025, and the last tolerance for old permits ran out on 15 April 2026. There's no safety net left for anyone who simply lets a card lapse and hopes for a grace period — submitting through the portal is now the mechanism that keeps someone's status lawful. ## GrowIN's read: the lead time has quadrupled Here's the number worth sitting with. The law only requires a renewal request 30 days before expiry. Under Article 78.º(1) of Lei n.º 23/2007, a renewal must be requested up to 30 days before your permit expires. But by opening the portal on 29 June for expiries running through 31 October, AIMA has effectively given the latest-expiring cardholders in this cohort over 120 days of lead time — more than four times the statutory minimum, and roughly double what a September expiry gets on its own. For a family juggling school terms, work contracts and travel plans, that gap between "legally required" and "practically available" is the real story: it's breathing room that didn't exist for last year's cohorts, who were often filing in the final fortnight. *"The gap between the legal 30-day minimum and AIMA's actual opening window is now the single biggest variable in how stressful a renewal feels,"* says GrowIN Portugal Editorial. ## How to use the portal before the crunch hits 1. **Check your tax and social security status first.** Tax (Finanças) and social-security (Segurança Social) positions must be regularised, or the portal blocks the renewal. This trips up more applicants than any document error. 2. **Log in at portal-renovacoes.aima.gov.pt** with your existing credentials or NIF, and locate your permit. 3. **Upload the required documents** — proof of address, income, and a clean passport scan. Prepare these before the window opens so submission takes minutes rather than days. 4. **Pay the DUC** generated by the system and keep the payment receipt as proof. 5. **Watch for the QR-coded confirmation**, which now serves as immediate proof of your renewed status pending the physical card. One caveat: if more than six months have passed since the permit expired, the portal no longer works, and a fresh residence-permit application at a Loja AIMA is required instead. Acting inside the window, not after it, is what keeps a case in the simpler online track. ## What to watch next AIMA's own language suggests November and October-adjacent expiries could open ahead of schedule again, continuing the pattern of folding two months into one announcement. Anyone with a permit expiring in the final quarter of 2026 should check the AIMA news page regularly rather than assuming a fixed monthly release date — the 2026 pattern has been faster, not slower, than the original month-by-month rollout. For a fuller walkthrough of the renewal process, fees and what happens if the portal flags an issue, see our [visas](/visas/) hub. Foreigners who treat this early window as a formality to put off risk losing the very advantage AIMA has just handed them — the time to get it right the first time. ## Sources - [The Portugal News](https://www.theportugalnews.com/news/2026-06-29/aima-announces-opening-of-renewal-portal-for-expired-residence-permits/1047430) - [AIMA — Portal das Renovações](https://portal-renovacoes.aima.gov.pt) - [AIMA](https://aima.gov.pt) --- © GrowIN Portugal. Cite as: GrowIN Portugal, "AIMA Opens Early Online Renewal for Residence Permits Expiring Sept–Oct", https://www.growinportugal.com/news/aima-opens-early-online-renewal-for-residence-permits-expiri-2026-10-01