I know a number of you have been following this issue and we can now conclude the saga with the news that our cards arrived last week! It was very stressful and we hope things calm down at the new agency so that next time (in three years) we won’t have to go through this again.
What we can tell you about the process is that, in the end, it all worked well. We’re not sure if that’s because we ended up processing our renewal through the old agency’s system or what. But our experience has been echoed by a lot of people. So this is how it is, until it changes. (Which is very bureaucracy, right?)
Our timeline looks like this:
~ On March 3rd the SEF site started giving us a different error message, (We forget what, but it was something along the lines of “try again later.”) At this point, we began to hope! (Quietly, with lots of whistling in the wind.)
~ We successfully went through the sef.pt website and requested “automatic renewal’ on March 8th (Fri). An error message was initially returned on a later page, preventing us from completing the renewal request. We closed the browser and tried again and the website gave us a notice that payment was required and that we would receive a message about how to pay at the email associated with our account.
~ Payment notice was in our inbox within minutes and included MB information to pay.
~ The payment notice asked us to wait 48 hours to submit payment so that our renewal request could be properly processed.
~ On March 11th (Mon) we went to a MB machine and paid. We kept the receipts. Note that this is not a requirement — SEF accepts MB payments electronically. We just wanted the hard copy receipt in case.
~ On March 13th (Wed) the money left our bank account.
~ On March 16th (Sat) our online file showed a new message “concluído” (concluded). No further communication was received. We consigned ourselves to the special times know as “waiting.”
On April 5th, our new cards were delivered by CTT. One of us had to sign for both cards. ID was not requested. (Our delivery person seemed to enjoy our obvious enthusiasm at seeing the envelopes.)
A few more bits:
~ We started requesting renewal at both the AIMA site and the SEF sites on February 25th (1 month prior to expiration).
- The AIMA site never gave us an opportunity for an appointment — this is something many people we know have mentioned. (Although, one couple we know got appointments for the following week just one distract away! Evidence of the randomness of this system from a certain perspective.)
- The SEF site consistently gave us a the message that our type of residency permit was not eligible for automatic renewal. There is some evidence that this error may be tied to the website’s built-in English translation. We recommend using your browser’s translation program instead.
~ The cards use all of the same info from our initial permit (name, address, birthplace, picture) but have a new number. If you have to change an address or otherwise update any information, your process may be different.
~ We figure we’ll need to update our SEF accounts at some point. Either to open one at AIMA or to update our files with the new Permit number.
~ Our processing date was March 16th, and our cards are valid until that date in 2027 (exactly three years).
Lessons Learned?
- Make sure the email address associated with your AIMA and SEF accounts is correct.
- Start trying to do the automatic renewal about a month before your permit expires.
- Try to renew at both the AIMA and SEF websites. (Eventually AIMA will be the primary, accurate source.)
- Take a stab at it a couple of times a day.
- If you are able to start the process and get an error message, close everything down and try again in an hour or so.
- If it succeeds (at the SEF site), you will almost immediately get an email message. Check your spam box if you don’t. If it still hasn’t shown up in an hour or so, check the SEF site again for information.
- “Concluído” (concluded) is the gold! Once you see that, your new card will arrive.
That’s it. Have faith, there is progress.
