Portugal's Judicial Police arrested a 38-year-old foreign national in Porto over the weekend, accused of forging hundreds of rental contracts to help immigrants fast-track residence permit applications with AIMA. Most applicants for a Portuguese residence permit have to show they have accommodation in Portugal, typically through a lease agreement, proof of property ownership, or another accepted document. Investigators allege the man and his company signed fabricated lease agreements for that purpose, with no genuine tenancy behind them.
The investigation began in February 2025, triggered by an unusually high volume of atestados de residência requests flooding several parish councils in the Porto metropolitan area. Authorities say the contracts let applicants satisfy AIMA's proof-of-accommodation requirement, one of the key documents needed for many residence permit applications, without a real lease behind it. The suspect faces charges of aiding illegal immigration, document forgery, and money laundering, and is due before a judge for pre-trial measures.
The case also highlights the risks of using unofficial "fixers" who promise to speed up immigration paperwork. Documents submitted to AIMA can be checked against other records, and applicants who knowingly use forged ones can face legal consequences of their own, not just the person selling the shortcut.
Elsewhere at AIMA: A New Desk in Guimarães
The municipality of Guimarães opened a dedicated AIMA service desk this week, operating out of the town's Division for Cohesion and Social Development on Rua da Rainha Dona Maria II. Created under a cooperation agreement between the city and AIMA, the desk will handle residence permit issuance and renewals, biometric data collection, and document scanning, locally, rather than requiring applicants to travel to a regional AIMA office.
Hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00–12:30 and 14:00–17:30. As with other AIMA service points, appointments are scheduled exclusively by AIMA itself, which notifies applicants directly of their date and time, there's no walk-in or self-booking option.
Guimarães joins a growing list of municipalities hosting local AIMA counters, as the agency keeps moving processing out of its most overloaded regional offices.