Answer first. An EU national may identify themselves at AIMA with a valid national identity card OR a valid passport. AIMA confirmed this in an official notice published on 24 April 2026, citing Lei n.º 37/2006, de 9 de agosto. The passport is not exclusively required for EU citizens. The passport requirement is specific to third-country family members of EU nationals — for example a US, UK, Canadian or Australian spouse of a French or German citizen. This piece explains the rule, the misapplication pattern that prompted the AIMA reminder, and how to escalate if a front-desk officer still refuses your ID card.
The Official Reminder — 24 April 2026
AIMA published the notice "Nacionais UE e Familiares: Documentos de identificação" on its newsroom on 24 April 2026. The notice exists for a specific reason: AIMA offices around the country had been applying a stricter, passport-only identification rule to EU nationals despite the law allowing the national ID card as an equivalent document. Front-desk refusals had been recurring across r/PortugalExpats threads and lawyer practices through Q1 2026, particularly affecting French, German, Italian, Dutch, Belgian and Spanish retirees and entrepreneurs filing CRUE renewals, address changes, or family-member documents.
The text of the notice is short and direct. AIMA states the rule, cites the legal basis, and sets out the third-country-family-member exception. Verbatim, the operative passage reads: "Os Nacionais da União Europeia (UE) podem identificar-se através da apresentação de bilhete de identidade válido ou de passaporte válido. Não é exigida, de forma exclusiva, a apresentação de passaporte válido. A apresentação de passaporte válido é obrigatória apenas quando se trata de familiares de nacionais da União Europeia que sejam de Estados Terceiros, conforme previsto na lei." (Source: aima.gov.pt.)
Translated: EU nationals may identify themselves through presentation of a valid identity card or a valid passport; presentation of a valid passport is not exclusively required; presentation of a valid passport is mandatory only when dealing with family members of EU nationals who are third-country nationals, as provided by law. The notice closes by affirming that the regime is in conformity with both national and EU law and guarantees respect for EU citizens' and their family members' rights. The publication itself is dated 24 April 2026 and signed "by AIMA" — there is no individual author.
What Lei n.º 37/2006 Actually Says
Lei n.º 37/2006, de 9 de agosto, transposes Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the member states. Article 4 of the law governs identification documents: an EU citizen may demonstrate their identity for the purpose of exercising free-movement rights through a valid identity card or a valid passport. Third-country family members of an EU citizen demonstrate identity through a valid passport. The law does not authorise a Portuguese administrative agency to require a passport from an EU citizen when a valid national identity card has been presented.
The legal basis flows directly from EU primary and secondary law. Article 21 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union establishes the right of free movement. Directive 2004/38/EC operationalises that right and imposes a passport-or-ID-card identification standard on member states for their dealings with EU citizens exercising it. Portugal transposed the directive through Lei n.º 37/2006 and Decreto Regulamentar n.º 84/2007 (subsequently amended). AIMA, as the successor to SEF and the agency administering residence and free-movement documentation, is bound to apply the transposing law rather than impose a stricter national standard.
The substantive consequence is that an AIMA office refusing to process an EU citizen's application because the citizen has presented a national ID card rather than a passport is acting outside the legal regime. The refusal is not a discretionary judgement call; it is an administrative error. The 24 April 2026 notice exists precisely to provide a written reference that the citizen can cite back to the office. Print the notice and bring it to the appointment if you anticipate a problem.
Who Is an "EU National" for This Purpose
The 27 current EU member states are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. Citizens of all 27 may identify with a valid national identity card at AIMA. The relevant identity card is the national ID issued by the citizen's home state — France's Carte nationale d'identité, Germany's Personalausweis, Spain's DNI, Italy's Carta d'identità, the Netherlands' identiteitskaart, Belgium's eID, and so on. Cards must be current — expired cards do not satisfy the requirement.
The United Kingdom withdrew from the EU on 31 January 2020 and is no longer a member state. British citizens are not covered by the EU-national identification rule under Lei n.º 37/2006 and must present a valid passport. British citizens already resident in Portugal under the Withdrawal Agreement have a separate legal regime — they hold a specific residence document issued under the Brexit framework, and identification at AIMA for those holders is governed by the Withdrawal Agreement implementation. The 24 April 2026 notice does not change anything for British citizens.
EEA/EFTA citizens (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland) are not EU members but are extended the same free-movement regime through separate agreements. Their national identity cards are typically accepted by AIMA on the same basis as EU national ID cards. The 24 April 2026 notice does not mention EEA/EFTA specifically, so confirm with the office in advance if you are Norwegian, Icelandic or Swiss and your only identification is the national card. Bringing the passport as a backup is the safer path until AIMA publishes EEA/EFTA-specific guidance.
Third-Country Family Members: Passport Required
The exception in Lei n.º 37/2006 is for third-country family members of EU nationals. A "third-country national" is anyone who is not a citizen of an EU member state (or EEA/EFTA under the parallel regime). For this audience, the common case is a US, British, Canadian, Australian, South African or other non-EU citizen married to a French, German, Italian, Spanish or other EU citizen. The third-country spouse, registered partner, dependent child or dependent ascendant must present a valid passport for AIMA identification — a national ID card from the third country (e.g. a US driving licence or state ID) is not sufficient.
The third-country family member is not refused the underlying right — the right to reside in Portugal as a family member of an EU national exercising free movement remains intact and is itself governed by Lei n.º 37/2006. What changes is only the identification standard: the family member must use the passport. AIMA issues the "Cartão de Residência para Familiar de Cidadão da União Europeia" (residence card for family member of an EU citizen) on the basis of this regime, distinct from the standard residence permit for third-country nationals not connected to an EU citizen.
A practical point for mixed-nationality couples planning the move: the EU spouse needs only the national ID card for any AIMA dealing, but the third-country spouse needs the passport. If the third-country spouse's passport expires within six months of the planned AIMA appointment, renew it in advance through the home-country consulate or embassy in Lisbon rather than discovering at the AIMA counter that the document is not accepted. Our piece on the NISS Article 15 catch-22 covers an adjacent issue affecting third-country spouses of EU citizens that often surfaces at the same appointment.
When the Front Desk Refuses Your ID Card
The reason AIMA published the notice in April 2026 is that front-desk refusals had been recurring at offices around the country. The refusals take several forms: the officer states that "only the passport is accepted," declines to process the case, marks the appointment as missed, or reschedules for a later date pending presentation of the passport. The refusal is sometimes framed as "internal policy" or "AIMA rules" — neither of which override Lei n.º 37/2006. The published notice is the agency's own correction of this pattern.
In our editorial review of the pattern through Q1 2026 the most-cited reasons offered by front-desk officers for the refusal were three. First, that the ID card "does not contain a Portuguese fiscal number" — which is true (the ID card is not a Portuguese tax document) but irrelevant; fiscal identification is the role of the NIF, not the ID card. Second, that the ID card "is not internationally recognised" — also incorrect; all EU national ID cards are internationally recognised within the EU and under Directive 2004/38/EC. Third, that the office is "applying SEF's old practice" — SEF was dissolved on 29 October 2023 and replaced by AIMA, and the legacy practice is no longer authoritative.
The pattern of refusal is heaviest at high-volume Lisbon-area offices (Loja AIMA Anjos, AIMA Lisboa 1, AIMA Loures) and quieter offices in the Algarve where French and German retirees concentrate (Loulé, Portimão, Lagoa). Smaller offices in the north (Braga, Viana do Castelo) appear to apply the rule more accurately, perhaps because the front-desk staff there process a more uniform mix of EU and Brazilian applicants. The variability is itself the problem: the rule is national; the application has been local.
Escalation: How to Push Back in Writing
If a front-desk officer refuses to accept your EU national ID card, do not leave without escalating. The three-step protocol that works:
Step 1 — Cite the notice in person. Ask the officer for the specific legal basis for the refusal, in writing. Then present a printed copy of the 24 April 2026 AIMA notice and reference Lei n.º 37/2006, de 9 de agosto. Ask the officer to escalate to the office coordinator or the case officer responsible for the day. Many refusals stop here once a coordinator reads the notice. Carry the printed notice to every AIMA appointment until the pattern dissipates. The notice is short — under one page printed — and reads as an internal AIMA communication, which carries weight at the counter.
Step 2 — File a written complaint. If the refusal stands, file a complaint immediately through the AIMA contactenos portal (contactenos.aima.gov.pt). Use "Reclamação" as the assunto and cite the case number, the office, the date and time of the refusal, the officer's identification if displayed, the legal basis (Lei n.º 37/2006 art. 4 and the 24 April 2026 notice), and request both a reprocessing of the case and confirmation that no further AIMA appointment will require a passport for the EU-citizen applicant. Keep a screenshot of the complaint submission. AIMA's published service standard is to respond to complaints within 30 working days, though current response times are longer.
Step 3 — Provedor da Justiça and the European Commission. If the complaint produces no response within 30 working days, escalate to the Provedor da Justiça (Portugal's ombudsman) and, separately, lodge an EU SOLVIT case. SOLVIT exists specifically to resolve member-state misapplication of EU free-movement law. The Portuguese SOLVIT centre is at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the case can be opened online at solvit-mne.dgaccp.pt. SOLVIT cases typically resolve within 10 weeks. For the wealthy EU-citizen audience, the more important consequence than the individual case resolution is that SOLVIT outcomes feed into European Commission infringement monitoring of member states — a sustained pattern of misapplication can result in a formal infringement procedure against Portugal, which the Portuguese government generally moves to head off through corrective administrative action.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the 24 April 2026 notice still in force?
Yes. AIMA has not superseded or withdrawn the notice. It remains on the AIMA newsroom at the URL aima.gov.pt/pt/noticias/nacionais-ue-e-familiares-documentos-de-identificacao and the legal regime it cites (Lei n.º 37/2006) has not been amended.
Can I send a representative with my ID card if I cannot attend?
Yes, with a notarised power of attorney (procuração) specifically authorising the representative to act on your immigration matters and accompanied by a copy of your ID card. The same procuração works for EU and third-country applicants; the only difference is the underlying identification document (ID card for EU national, passport for third-country family member).
Does the rule apply at the border on entry to Portugal?
Entry to Portugal for EU citizens is governed by the Schengen Borders Code as well as Lei n.º 37/2006; in practice an EU national identity card is accepted at the border for Schengen-internal travel and at Lisbon/Porto/Faro airports for short stays. The 24 April 2026 notice is specifically about identification for AIMA applications, not border crossings.
I am a British citizen who lived in Portugal before Brexit. Does this notice apply to me?
No. The notice covers EU nationals; the UK is not an EU member. British citizens resident in Portugal under the Withdrawal Agreement carry a specific WA-issued residence document and must use the passport for AIMA identification. The WA regime is separate from Lei n.º 37/2006 and is not affected by the 24 April 2026 notice.
If AIMA accepts my ID card today, will future renewals also accept it?
Yes — the rule is the legal regime, not a one-time accommodation. Keep the printed notice on file for any future AIMA appointment and present it preemptively if you sense hesitation from the front desk. Bring the passport as a backup; presenting both clears the question instantly even with an officer unfamiliar with the notice.