AIMA Address Change 2026: Update Your Morada

If you moved house in Portugal, changing your morada with AIMA is not just housekeeping.

If you hold a residence permit under Lei n.º 23/2007, Article 86 says you must tell AIMA about a change of domicile within 60 days. There is also a practical reason to do it early: if a renewal moves forward with the old address, the next residence card can still be sent there.

AIMA now handles ordinary address corrections online, but the correct route depends on one thing:

Do you already have a renewal or another process in progress?

Quick Answer: Active renewal/process: Portal de Renovações → Comunicar/retificar Morada Residence title held, no process open: Alteração de dados (sem necessidade de agendamento) → Comunicar/retificar morada – Sem emissão de novo cartão

Last verified: August 27, 2026. AIMA says the address should be updated within a maximum of two working days after registration. Recent 2026 applicants have reported much longer waits, so keep the submission proof and verify the address before relying on the change for a renewal or card delivery.

Choose the Right AIMA Address-Change Route

Your situation	Route in the AIMA Contact Form
Renewal or another Renewals Portal process is active	Portal de Renovações → Comunicar/retificar Morada
You already hold the residence title and no process is open	Alteração de dados (sem necessidade de agendamento) → Comunicar/retificar morada – Sem emissão de novo cartão
ARI / Golden Visa	Use the ARI-specific address process; ARI renewals use the Renewals Portal route
Card already dispatched	Track the card/CTT delivery instead of relying on a late address request to redirect it

This distinction is easy to miss. AIMA’s January 2026 notice highlighted the Renewals Portal path, while its March 2026 FAQ explicitly adds the Alteração de dados route for people who already have a residence title and no process in progress.

The wording I’d circle on this screen is Sem emissão de novo cartão. It means the ordinary no-process correction updates the record without automatically printing a replacement residence card.

What I take from AIMA’s current setup is simple: choose the route based on the state of your AIMA process, not just on the fact that you moved.

How to Change Your Address With AIMA Online

Open the official AIMA Contact Form:

contactenos.aima.gov.pt/contact-form

If you have an active renewal/process:

1. Choose Portal de Renovações.
2. Choose Comunicar/retificar Morada.
3. Enter the new address.
4. Attach what the live form asks for.
5. Submit and save the confirmation or screenshot.

If you already hold the residence title and no process is open:

1. Choose Alteração de dados (sem necessidade de agendamento).
2. Choose Comunicar/retificar morada – Sem emissão de novo cartão.
3. Enter the new address and attach the requested evidence.
4. Save proof of submission.

For a routine correction, the official starting point is online. The label sem necessidade de agendamento literally means no appointment is required to start that data-change route. If AIMA later gives you case-specific instructions or an appointment, follow those.

The 60-Day Rule After You Move

Article 86 of Portugal’s immigration law says residents covered by that regime must communicate a change of domicile to AIMA within 60 days from the date it happens.

That is not the same as the Finanças deadline.

So even if your next renewal is many months away, submit the AIMA correction now and keep evidence that you did it. Waiting until renewal can turn a simple compliance task into a card-delivery problem.

If the form itself will not submit, keep screenshots showing the error and your attempted notification.

What Proof Should You Upload?

AIMA’s address-change instructions say to attach the documentation required by the form, but they do not publish one universal checklist specifically for every address-change case.

Follow the live form first.

If it asks for accommodation evidence, AIMA’s current published rules for residence procedures give a useful benchmark:

• Tenant named on the lease: accommodation declaration, lease in the applicant’s name and the previous month’s rent receipt.
• Owner: access code for the permanent land-registry certificate or a valid physical certificate.
• Living there but not named on the lease/comodato: AIMA’s published accommodation rules add stronger evidence, including a Certidão de Domicílio Fiscal issued less than 30 days earlier, together with the relevant declaration and property details.

Recent February and July 2026 community discussions repeatedly show AIMA asking for the Certidão de Domicílio Fiscal after weaker proof was submitted. That matches AIMA’s published accommodation rules, but it does not make the certificate a universal one-document requirement for every address correction.

For a renewal file, I’d rather over-prove the address once than test whether a utility bill is enough.

For the document differences, see the Proof of Address Portugal guide.

AIMA, Finanças and Segurança Social Are Separate Records

Changing your AIMA address does not automatically change your morada fiscal.

For people without a Portuguese Citizen Card, AT currently gives:

• 15 days for an ordinary tax-address change
• 60 days when the change also switches tax status between resident and non-resident

You can then obtain a Certidão de Domicílio Fiscal from Portal das Finanças.

AT also says that if the address you want to register differs from your AIMA documents, it may ask for proof that you already requested the change from AIMA. That makes your AIMA submission confirmation useful outside AIMA too.

Segurança Social is another separate record. One recent 2026 renewal case remained blocked while AIMA could not verify tax/social-security information; the applicant later found that Segurança Social still held an old foreign address. Once it was corrected, the renewal became available. That is community evidence, not an AIMA rule, but it is a sensible check if your renewal specifically shows a tax or social-security verification problem.

If a Renewal Is Involved, Fix the Address Early

Of all the failure paths I found in the recent threads, this is the one I’d try hardest to avoid:

address change pending → renewal submitted → renewal approved → card sent to the old address

A July 2026 applicant requested the change before renewal, waited beyond AIMA’s two-working-day target, renewed anyway, and later found through AIMA tracking that the card had gone to the old address. citeturn201663reddit27

An August 2026 case shows the other pressure point: the address request was still pending while a renewal payment deadline was already running. citeturn448996reddit2

If this were my renewal, this is the order I’d use:

1. correct Finanças if needed
2. submit the correct AIMA address-change request
3. save the proof
4. verify the new address if the portal shows it
5. complete the renewal

But do not let a renewal or payment deadline expire merely because the address request is pending. AIMA’s address-change guidance does not say that the pending request suspends another deadline.

If the renewal is already submitted, send the correction through the active-process route and keep the proof. Do not assume that uploading a new lease inside the renewal automatically rewrites every address field in AIMA’s system.

Once the renewal reaches approval, start checking the AIMA process tracker.

AIMA Says Two Working Days, but Nothing Changed

AIMA says the update will be made within a maximum of two working days after registration.

Recent 2026 experiences are much less tidy. Community reports include:

• three weeks with no update
• more than a month waiting
• a request submitted in May that was only updated in August
• an address update completed after card approval, too late to stop the old address being used

These are individual reports, not official processing statistics.

Save two things as soon as the request is submitted:

• the confirmation/reference
• a screenshot showing the new address you asked AIMA to register

Then check the address attached to the actual renewal/process, not only whether an email arrived.

The form says your title is too far from expiry

Some 2026 users have hit an error saying the request is only available for titles expiring within a limited window.

If you are not renewing, check that you did not enter through the renewal-specific route. AIMA’s March 2026 FAQ gives the separate path:

Alteração de dados (sem necessidade de agendamento) → Comunicar/retificar morada – Sem emissão de novo cartão

That is more useful than repeatedly retrying Portal de Renovações.

If the Card Goes to the Old Address

Once the card has been dispatched, stop treating this as an address-change problem and start locating the physical card.

The likely stages are:

1. CTT is still attempting delivery.
2. The item is waiting for collection.
3. Delivery failed and it is being returned.
4. AIMA has received the returned card.

A July 2026 applicant found the CTT tracking number through the AIMA status page and confirmed that the card had been sent to the old address despite the earlier correction request. citeturn201663reddit27

Use the AIMA card not received and CTT tracking guide for this stage.

Once the card is already in CTT’s hands, I wouldn’t count on a later AIMA update to redirect it.

AIMA Address Change Checklist

• Notify AIMA within the 60-day legal window that applies under Article 86.
• Choose the route for your actual situation: active process vs no process.
• Check the postcode, floor, door and locality.
• Make sure the supporting evidence shows the same address.
• Update Finanças separately.
• Save the AIMA confirmation/reference and a screenshot.
• Do not assume a pending correction pauses a renewal deadline.
• Before card production, check which address the process actually shows.
• After dispatch, switch to CTT/card tracking rather than sending duplicate address requests.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I change my address with AIMA in 2026?

Use the AIMA Contact Form. If a renewal/process is active, choose Portal de Renovações → Comunicar/retificar Morada. If you already have your residence permit and no process is open, choose Alteração de dados (sem necessidade de agendamento) → Comunicar/retificar morada – Sem emissão de novo cartão.

How long do I have to notify AIMA after moving?

Article 86 of Portugal’s immigration law gives residents covered by that regime 60 days from the change of domicile to notify AIMA.

How long does AIMA take to update the address?

AIMA says a maximum of two working days after registration. Recent 2026 applicants have reported longer waits, including several weeks.

Does changing my address with Finanças update AIMA?

No. They are separate records. For foreign citizens without a Portuguese Citizen Card, AT generally gives 15 days for an ordinary tax-address change, or 60 days when the change also switches resident/non-resident tax status.

What proof does AIMA accept?

The address-change instructions say to attach the documents required by the live form and do not give one universal checklist. AIMA’s published accommodation rules use evidence such as leases, recent rent receipts, property records and, in defined situations, a recent Certidão de Domicílio Fiscal.

Will AIMA issue a new residence card after the address change?

Not automatically under the standard no-process route. AIMA explicitly labels it Sem emissão de novo cartão.

What if the residence card is sent to my old address?

Track the AIMA process and CTT delivery immediately. Once the card is in the postal system, a later database correction should not be treated as a guaranteed redirect.

Bottom Line

For most residence-permit holders, three numbers matter:

60 days to notify AIMA of the change of domicile under Article 86.

2 working days is AIMA’s published target for updating the address after registration.

15 days is the normal AT deadline for an ordinary tax-address change where resident/non-resident status does not change.

The first is your legal notification window. The second is AIMA’s stated processing target. They are not the same thing.

And the practical rule is simpler:

fix the AIMA address before the next card is produced, then verify the process is actually using it.

If the renewal is already moving, use the AIMA process tracker. If the card has already been dispatched, switch to the AIMA/CTT delivery guide.