António Leitão Amaro visited the facilities of the first service centre of the Mission Structure of the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA), which began operating on 9 September at the Hindu Centre in Lisbon, and which is a first step towards regularising the cases of around 400 thousand immigrants by June 2025.

According to the minister, the estimated number of people served is 240 people per day during this first week.

“This means, on top of the one thousand [services] normally provided by AIMA across its network,” the minister stressed.

According to Leitão Amaro, this represents a 25% increase in the organisation’s response capacity.

“We expect to increase significantly each week over the next few weeks,” he said, explaining that the expectation is to serve “almost twice as many people” by the end of September and during the month of October.

The Minister of the Presidency stressed that the only people who are unable to complete their service process are those who do not present all the necessary documentation. He added that those who do not present their passport cannot even begin the process, while in the event of any other missing documentation, the immigrant will have the right to reschedule the appointment.

Leitão Amaro stressed that the service center was created to serve “foreign citizens who have been waiting and despairing, in some cases for several years, for the Portuguese State to respond to a request in accordance with the law.”

“This is the first service centre that will resolve a very heavy legacy, but above all a serious failure by the Portuguese State towards 400 thousand foreign citizens”, he pointed out.

He took the opportunity to clarify that this service centre verifies that “the requirements of Portuguese law are met” and, through this, ensures that “those who comply with Portuguese rules and laws” live in Portugal.

“Criminal records are checked, employment relationships are checked, and the legal requirements for working legally in Portugal are checked”, he stated, stressing that this is a “very complex operation”, involving around 120 people, including AIMA employees and volunteers from various civil society organisations.

Regarding the upcoming service centers, which will open in various parts of the country, Leitão Amaro said that “they are in an advanced stage of finalisation and regulation”, some of them in partnership with local authorities, and that they should start operating throughout the month.

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