AIMA's 2026 Fee Schedule: Every Residence Permit Cost, Verified

If you budgeted €180 for your Portuguese residence permit because a blog from 2024 told you that, you are in for a surprise at the AIMA counter. Portugal rewrote its immigration fee table on 1 March 2026, and the real number for a first residence permit is now €247.30 at the standard rate, or €185.60 if you file through a digital channel. Every number below is checked against the fee table currently in force.

The Royal Treasury Palace in Lisbon, where Portugal's public fees are decided

The full fee table, verified

AIMA charges two prices for almost every service. The reduced rate is 25% lower and applies when you apply through a digital channel. Until a service becomes available digitally, in-person applications for it also get the reduced rate. In practice, most applicants currently pay the reduced number.

The fees are set by Portaria 307/2023, and Article 3 of that law indexes them to consumer prices every 1 March. So this table is the 2026 edition. Expect a new one on 1 March 2027.

What changed in March 2026

Two things happened at once. First, the annual indexation pushed every fee up. The total people still quote from guides written before March, roughly €181.50 for a first residence permit, is gone. The new standard total is €247.30. Second, the two-tier standard and reduced structure became the norm across the table, which means the way you file now changes what you pay.

Most procedures also split into two charges, and the table adds them together. That is the part that confuses people who find the raw fee list. For a first temporary permit, the analysis charge is €133.00 and the grant charge is €114.30. The €247.30 standard total is those two added together.

First temporary residence permit: €247.30

This is the fee a D1 worker, a D8 digital nomad, or a D7 retiree pays at their first AIMA appointment after entering Portugal on a national visa. It breaks down as €133.00 for receiving and analysing the application plus €114.30 for granting the permit. File through a digital channel and the total falls to €185.60.

Renewal of a temporary residence permit costs exactly the same: €247.30 standard, €185.60 reduced. If you are doing a D1 work visa and your first two-year card is expiring, this is the line item to budget.

Permanent residence: €484.10

The analysis charge stays at €133.00, but the grant for a permanent permit is €351.10. That brings the total to €484.10 standard, or €363.20 reduced. You only face this after years of temporary residence, but the jump is worth knowing about early.

Golden Visa: the expensive outlier

The investor route keeps its own fee line, and the numbers are in a different league. Analysis costs €842.80 standard (€632.10 reduced), the grant costs €8,418.90 standard (€6,314.20 reduced), and each renewal costs €4,210.30 standard (€3,157.80 reduced). These fees are charged per person, so a couple pays them twice and a family of four pays them four times. Renewals now run through the Portal das Renovações, AIMA's online renewal system, which also qualifies them for the reduced rate.

Family reunification: €99.80 per person

Bringing a spouse or child to Portugal under Article 98 costs €99.80 per family member in AIMA administrative fees under the table in force since 1 March 2026. The underlying structure is the familiar two-part shape: €133.00 for analysis (€99.80 online) plus €114.30 for the card (€85.80 online). This is only the AIMA fee. Apostilles, sworn translations, and the consular visa fees are separate, and they are usually the bigger part of the total.

On the consular side, the family reunification visa fee is €110. Spouses and ascendants pay it. Descendants are exempt from the visa fee.

A Portuguese passport

CPLP citizens and EU citizens pay less

CPLP citizens, which includes Brazilians and other Portuguese-speaking nationals, pay a €15 DUC for the issuance of their residence authorisation under the uniform card model, after giving biometrics at an appointment.

EU citizens registering their stay pay €18 in person or €15 through the digital channel if they are 25 or older, and €15 in person or €12.50 digital if they are under 25.

Students have a separate table

Student residence permits under Article 92 of the Foreigners Law have their own fee lines, distinct from the standard residence permit fees above. If you are coming to Portugal to study, check AIMA's student-specific table rather than using the numbers in this post.

The consular visa fee is a separate bill

The AIMA fees above are paid in Portugal. Before you get there, you pay a national visa fee at the consulate in your home country. The general rate is €110.80 per person. Consulates and VFS Global application centers add their own service fees on top, and these vary by country. In the United States, VFS charged about $44.60 per application at the start of 2026. Confirm the current service fee on your consulate or VFS site before your appointment, because it is not the same everywhere.

If you are entering as a digital nomad on the D8, plan for both bills: the consular visa fee at home and the AIMA permit fee after arrival.

The Rua Augusta Arch in Lisbon

How you pay: the DUC

AIMA payments run through the DUC, the Documento Único de Cobrança. When your procedure reaches the payment stage, AIMA generates a payment reference and you pay it through your bank. The reference typically becomes payable about 48 hours after it is generated, and it carries a payment deadline. The receipt is your proof of legal status while the case is pending, so keep it with your passport. Do not ignore the payment notification. An unpaid fee can stall the whole file.

Three worked budgets

A single D1 worker: €110.80 consular visa plus €185.60 AIMA reduced fee gives about €296 in government fees. Document fees, translations, and travel to the consulate will cost more than that.

A D8 digital nomad couple: two consular visas at €110.80 each plus two AIMA fees at €185.60 each gives about €593 in government fees.

A Golden Visa applicant: €632.10 analysis plus €6,314.20 grant gives €6,946.30 for one person, plus €3,157.80 at each renewal. Add a spouse and you pass €13,800 before legal fees or the investment itself.

What people get wrong

The most common mistake is budgeting with old numbers. Guides from 2024 and early 2026 still quote totals around €180 that no longer apply. The second mistake is missing the digital reduction. If your procedure can be filed through AIMA's online channels, you save 25%, which is about €62 on a standard first permit. The third is forgetting that every fee is per person. A couple does not pay once. The fourth is confusing the consular visa fee with the AIMA permit fee. You pay both, at different stages, to different offices.

Last checked: 14 October 2026

Fee tables are re-indexed every 1 March by law, so treat these numbers as current for the 2026 table and re-check AIMA's own table before you pay. If you want help sequencing the whole process, from the NIF to the AIMA appointment, our services page lists what we handle.