The Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) has alerted immigrants in Portugal about the risks of fraud related to appointment scheduling for their services. This warning comes as scammers exploit delays in appointment availability and lack of communication from AIMA.
AIMA emphasizes that requests for in-person appointments are free and should only be made by individuals themselves or their legally authorized representatives through official state entities. Immigrants can initiate appointment requests via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when applying for entry authorization at Portuguese consulates worldwide.
For direct requests, AIMA advises using their Contact Form available at contactenos.aima.gov.pt. If the form is unavailable, immigrants can also reach out via email at geral@aima.gov.pt. AIMA highlights that appointment scheduling can also be done automatically for ongoing processes through their official portals.
To avoid misinformation and unauthorized intermediaries, AIMA urges immigrants to use only official channels for scheduling appointments. The agency has been working to reduce the backlog of pending applications, but significant delays persist, with around 200,000 cases currently in the judicial system against AIMA.