The renewal cycle

What has to be evidenced again

The permit is valid for two years and renewable while the investment stands1. Each condition that qualified the original application is examined once more.

The published fee range for a renewal is lower than for the first application: figures put out by legal advisers during 2026 fall at roughly EUR 3,000 to EUR 3,800 a person a cycle4. Confirm the current tariff with AIMA rather than with a quotation, and count the number of people rather than the number of permits.

How a renewal is filed

Renewals have been filed online through AIMA's portal since 16 February 20261. The deadline is the expiry printed on the card, and a permit allowed to lapse is not renewed but re-argued.

The stay requirement is what most often catches a holder who has treated the permit as dormant. Seven days in the first year and fourteen in each later period is a low bar, but the days are counted at renewal and not before1. Keep boarding passes and entry stamps from the start rather than reconstructing them two years later.

What changes at five years

Five years of legal residence opens permanent residence under article 80 of the immigration law2, and a permanent permit on the investment route is issued in its own right1. The five-year holding declaration on the investment reaches its term at about the same point.

Citizenship is now much further out. Lei Orgânica 1/2026, in force since 19 May 2026, requires ten years of legal residence for most third-country nationals and seven for nationals of EU and CPLP states, counted from the grant of the permit rather than from the date of application5. Applications for naturalisation already pending on 19 May 2026 continue under the previous five-year rule5. Integration requirements include Portuguese at A2 level and a knowledge test5. The 2026 law left the investment permit itself alone5.

What to settle before the first renewal

• Whether renewals sit inside the original fee, and for how many cycles.
• Who keeps the record of days spent in Portugal, and in what form.
• Who requests the two 45-day certificates, and how far ahead of the expiry date.
• What happens at renewal if a dependent child has since reached adulthood.
• Who confirms with the fund or body that the investment still meets its route conditions.

Each of those belongs in the engagement letter rather than in an email two years later. Scope of service puts them alongside the six other clauses worth settling in writing.