AIMA accumulated 5,328 complaints in three years, the equivalent of an average of almost five complaints per day, according to data from the Complaint Portal. Administrative errors stand out as the main reason for complaint over these years.
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12/11/2026
by
News to Minutes
A Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA), which began activity on 29 October 2023, and replaced the Foreign and Border Service (SEF), has been accumulating, within three years, an average of almost five complaints per day at the Complaint Portal.
The data is from the portal, which states that “administrative errors represent, persistently, about 35% of registered complaints, while waiting time problems take on an increasing dimension, reaching the highest value in the last three years in 2026”.
After three years of activity, “AIMA continues to concentrate a significant volume of dissatisfaction among citizens”. “ Between 29 October 2023 and 2 November 2026, 5,328 complaints were registered at the Complaint Portal, the equivalent of an average of almost five complaints per day.”, read in the note sent to News to Minutes.
Structural problems remain and waiting times have worsened
“ The data analysis shows the persistence of structural problems in the operation of services, with administrative errors standing out as the main reason for complaint over the three years. In 2024, they represented 36.94% of the complaints, in 2025 they corresponded to 34.44% and, in 2026, they again represented 35.98% of the total", it is mentioned and, adds the portal that “among the situations reported by citizens are the issue of residence permits with incorrect data, processes granted without subsequent issue of the card, documents that do not reach the address of the applicants, difficulties in making scheduling through the system or registers of lack of appearance even when citizens claim to have been present in the services“.
However, what got worse was the waiting times: “In 2024, they represented 10.55% of complaints, increasing to 14.26% in 2025 and reaching 18.28% in 2026. This trend corresponds to a growth of 7.73 percentage points in two years, making the delays and delay in the resolution of the processes the second most significant reason for dissatisfaction“.
“ As communication and information failures also arise among the main reasons for complaint, although with a downward trend: from 13.51% in 2024 to 11.65% in 2025 and 10.42% in 2026. The failure or poor quality of service has evolved from 4.40% to 6.20% in the same period ", explain.
Complaints arise from 29 countries and from both genders
The geographical analysis of complaints shows that “dissatisfaction recorded on the Complaint Portal originates in 29 different countries”.
“Portugal concentrates 98.13% of the shares, followed by Brazil (0.51%), the United States (0.29%) and China (0.28%). In national territory, Lisbon leads the number of complaints, with 36.97% of the total registered in 2026 ", detail.
As for the profile, “the gender distribution is practically balanced in 2026, with 50.54% men and 49.46% women. In addition, the age range between 25 and 44 years, which concentrates 67.16% of complaints, showing the impact of constraints on citizens of active age”.
According to the data, “they show difficulties not only in the execution of administrative procedures, but also in the ability to respond and resolve situations reported by citizens”.