Lisbon 09 June, 2026 — The Government’s proposed changes to the Foreigners Law would remove “deferimento tácito”, a legal mechanism used when AIMA fails to decide renewal requests within the deadline. The measure is not yet law and is expected to be voted in Parliament this week.
Portugal’s Government is moving to end the automatic approval mechanism currently available in some delayed residence-permit renewal cases, as part of a broader tightening of immigration rules.
The change concerns the so-called “deferimento tácito”, or tacit approval. Under the current legal framework, if the authorities fail to decide a residence-permit renewal request within the legal deadline, and the delay is not caused by the applicant, the request may be considered approved by silence.
This mechanism has been especially important for immigrants affected by long delays at AIMA, the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum. In practice, it has allowed applicants and lawyers to argue that a renewal should be treated as approved when the administration misses the legal deadline.
The Government’s new proposal removes this possibility from the Foreigners Law, meaning that applicants may no longer be able to rely on automatic approval simply because AIMA failed to issue a decision on time.
At present, the law provides that renewal requests should be decided within 60 days. If no decision is made within that period for reasons not attributable to the applicant, the request may be deemed approved, with the residence card to be issued immediately.
If the proposed change is approved, immigrants waiting for renewal decisions may have to wait for an explicit decision from AIMA or use other legal and administrative remedies to challenge excessive delays.
The measure is part of a wider legislative package that also changes other areas of immigration law, including rules connected to entry, residence, returns, screening procedures and the transposition of European Union legislation.
However, as of 9 June 2026, this change has not yet completed the legislative process. The proposal is still before Parliament and is expected to be voted this week.
For immigrants with pending renewals, the practical impact could be significant. Until now, tacit approval has functioned as a legal pressure valve against administrative silence. Removing it would shift more power back to the administration and could leave residents more dependent on AIMA’s explicit decisions.
Immigrant communities and legal professionals are likely to watch the vote closely, as the change may affect thousands of foreign residents who rely on timely residence-renewal decisions to work, travel, access services and maintain legal stability in Portugal.