These figures were provided by Pedro Portugal Gaspar, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Agency for Integration, Migration, and Asylum (AIMA), in an interview with the Conversa Capital program on Antena 1 and Jornal de Negócios, published on Saturday evening.

"On October 22nd, we had 386,463 [residence] cards actually issued, new authorisations throughout 2025, already with the final card title, because that's the final element. [...] In the same period in 2024, we had 236,030, so we have an increase of 60%, 61%, around that," he added.

According to the official, most of these processes still correspond to people who entered Portugal under the expression of interest mechanism, which allowed foreigners in national territory to apply for a residence permit, especially if they already had an employment contract and Social Security contributions, and which was officially abolished in June 2024.

Nevertheless, Pedro Portugal Gaspar estimated that, as in 2024, this year will continue the trend of decreasing entries, by around 50%, which is expected to continue with the new Foreigners Law.

The new regime, enacted by the President of the Republic on October 16th, provides, for example, for limiting work-seeking visas to "qualified workers."

A reduction in the number of entries will also represent a reduction in AIMA's own revenue, through the collection of fees and charges, which will have to be compensated. However, the official declined to discuss increases, only allowing for updates to the fees charged.

The president of AIMA declined to comment specifically on the new law but assured that the institution will adapt to the planned changes, particularly regarding the type of visas.

Regarding residence permit renewals, Pedro Portugal Gaspar stated that the launch of the Renewals Portal has, so far, prevented 32,000 to 33,000 people from visiting AIMA stores.

When asked about unanswered phone calls, the official stated that 20% of calls were unanswered, out of a total of approximately 300,000 in the first months of 2025.

Regarding the lawsuits filed with the Administrative and Tax Court due to AIMA's failure to schedule an appointment, the president emphasized that the institution has never been condemned because it has always responded positively to the requests.

To respond to the pressure of requests, Pedro Portugal Gaspar advocated for a reinforcement of the institution's staff, currently comprised of over 770 employees, following a 10% increase last year, which, he said, will continue.