Answer first. If your Portuguese residence card is lost, stolen or damaged, you do not reapply for residence — you request a segunda via (a second copy) of the same título de residência from AIMA, under Article 73 of Law 23/2007. The path is: report the loss or theft to the police and keep the report, lodge the replacement request through AIMA (online or in person), attach a sworn declaration and your identification, and pay the reissue fee. The new card is a duplicate that keeps the original expiry date — it is not a renewal. This guide walks each step, the documents, the cost, and the harder case where the card goes missing while you are abroad.
What a Segunda Via Is and When You Need One
A segunda via is the reissue of a residence permit you already hold, and it is the correct procedure whenever the physical card is gone or unusable while your underlying right to reside is unchanged. That covers three everyday situations: a card that was lost, one that was stolen, and one that is damaged to the point that the chip fails or the details are unreadable. In all three, your residence status still exists in AIMA's system — only the document that proves it is missing — so what you need is a replacement of the plastic, not a fresh authorisation. This is important because it keeps the cost and the paperwork far lighter than a first application.
It matters to separate the segunda via from two neighbouring problems that look similar but are handled differently. If your card was never delivered — posted by CTT but lost in transit or returned — that is a delivery failure, and the fix runs through AIMA's undelivered-card process rather than a lost-card declaration; our guide on a residence card misdelivered by CTT while you are abroad covers that scenario. And if your permit is expiring, replacing a lost copy will not extend it — you renew separately. Reserve the segunda via for a card that once existed in your hands and is now lost, stolen or broken, with the permit itself still valid.
Step 1: Report the Loss or Theft to the Police
Your first move, especially for a stolen card, is to report it to the police — the PSP in cities or the GNR in smaller areas — and obtain the written report (participação). A residence card is an identity document, and reporting its theft does two things at once: it creates the dated official record AIMA expects to see, and it protects you if someone tries to misuse the card, because the loss is on file from the moment you reported it. Go in person, explain that a Portuguese residence title has been lost or stolen, and ask for a copy of the report with a reference number you can quote later.
For a card that was simply mislaid or damaged rather than stolen, a police report is not always strictly demanded, but filing one is still the safer course and costs you nothing but time. What AIMA will require in every case is a sworn declaration describing what happened — when and how the card was lost — and a police report backs that declaration up with an independent record. If you cannot get to a police station immediately, note the date you discovered the loss and write down the circumstances while they are fresh, because both the declaration and any later questions will turn on those facts.
Step 2: Request the Replacement Through AIMA
With the police report and your account of the loss in hand, you lodge the segunda via request with AIMA. There are two routes. The online route goes through AIMA's services and contact channels — the agency's contact form has a dedicated segunda via (duplicate) subject that routes your request and lets you upload the supporting documents. The in-person route is an appointment at an AIMA office where you submit the same request and documents over the counter; AIMA sometimes requires this for reissues, particularly where identity needs to be confirmed face to face. Start with the online channel, and be ready to attend in person if AIMA asks.
Whichever route you use, be precise about what you are asking for. State clearly that your residence title has been lost or stolen, give your residence-title number if you still have it recorded anywhere (on a photocopy, a renewal letter, or the original receipt), and reference the police report. The single most common reason a reissue stalls is a request that reads like a general query rather than a specific segunda via with its documents attached. If you are using the online form, our field-by-field walkthrough of the AIMA contact form shows how to pick the duplicate subject and attach files so the message reaches the right queue.
Documents and the Sworn Declaration
The core of a segunda via file is short but must be complete. Expect to provide: a sworn declaration (declaração sob compromisso de honra) stating that the card was lost, stolen or damaged and describing the circumstances; the police report for a theft; a copy of your passport or national identity document; a passport-style photograph if requested; and proof that you paid the reissue fee. If your card is damaged rather than lost, you hand in the damaged card itself, which substitutes for much of the loss narrative. Assemble these before you lodge the request so the file is complete on submission rather than sent back for a missing item.
The sworn declaration is the piece people underestimate. It is a signed statement in which you take personal responsibility for the truth of what you are saying, so keep it factual and consistent with the police report — the same date, the same account. Do not embellish, and do not leave it vague; “my wallet containing my residence card was stolen on [date] at [place], reported to the PSP under reference [number]” is exactly the register AIMA wants. Where your details have also changed (a new address, for example), handle that as a separate data-change note rather than folding it into the loss declaration, so each request stays clean and the officer can act on the reissue without untangling two things at once.
Fee, Validity and How Long It Takes
A replacement card carries a reissue fee set by AIMA's fee table, which is materially lower than the cost of a new permit — a reissue is a duplicate, not a fresh authorisation. The precise amount depends on your card category and is confirmed on the payment reference AIMA generates for your request; because the fee schedule is revised periodically, pay against that live reference rather than an amount you saw quoted elsewhere, and keep the receipt as part of your file. Budget for a modest administrative charge and treat any request to pay a full new-permit fee for a straightforward reissue as something to query.
The point that trips people up most is validity: the segunda via inherits the original permit's expiry date. It replaces the plastic, not the permission — so if your permit had, say, eight months left when the card was lost, the replacement card expires on that same date. This has a practical consequence: if you are close to your renewal window, replacing the lost card does not buy you time, and you must still renew separately through the renewals portal. Turnaround for the reissue itself varies with AIMA's workload, so request the segunda via promptly rather than waiting, and in the meantime rely on the interim proof of status described below.
If You Are Abroad When the Card Is Lost
Losing the card outside Portugal is the hardest version of this problem, for two reasons. First, without the card you cannot present it at the border to use the residents' lane, which complicates re-entry — if the card was doubling as your travel document for the trip, contact the nearest Portuguese consulate promptly about your options for returning. Second, AIMA sometimes requires the segunda via to be lodged inside Portugal, which you cannot do from abroad in person. Report the loss to the local police wherever you are, keep that report, and gather your identification so the file is ready.
The clean way to lodge the request without flying back is a power of attorney (procuração) authorising a lawyer or a trusted person in Portugal to submit the segunda via and, where needed, collect the replacement card for you. Our guide to using a power of attorney with AIMA explains how to draft one that AIMA will accept and what powers to include. Line this up as soon as you realise the card is gone, because the combination of a foreign police report, your identification, and a valid procuração is what lets someone in Portugal move the reissue forward while you deal with the immediate travel question separately.
Proving Your Status While You Wait
While the replacement is in process you still have the right to reside — the missing card does not cancel your status — but you may need to prove that right to a landlord, an employer, a bank or the SNS. The strongest evidence is AIMA's own record of your permit: the residence-title number, any renewal correspondence, and your online portal status all show that you are a registered resident whose card is being reissued. Keep photocopies or photos of the original card if you have any, because the number alone lets institutions verify you and lets AIMA locate your file quickly.
If a third party insists on a formal document rather than a copy, that is where a proof-of-status request to AIMA comes in — a written confirmation that you hold a valid permit whose physical card is being replaced. Our guide on how to prove Portuguese residency while AIMA processes you sets out which documents carry weight with which institutions. The principle to hold onto throughout is that a lost card is an administrative inconvenience, not a loss of status: you report it, you request the duplicate, you evidence your rights in the meantime, and the permission to stay continues underneath the whole process.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is replacing a lost card the same as renewing my permit?
No, and conflating the two causes problems. A segunda via reissues the same permit with the same expiry date because only the physical card is missing; a renewal extends your permission to stay for a new period and runs through the renewals portal in a defined window before expiry. If your card is lost and your permit is also near its end, you may need to do both — replace the card so you have a valid document now, and renew separately so your status continues. Treat them as two distinct requests with their own forms and fees.
Can I travel while I wait for the replacement card?
Travel is possible but riskier without the card, because the card is what proves your resident status at the border and lets you use the residents' lane on return. If you must travel, carry your passport, any copy of the lost card, the police report, and evidence that a segunda via is in process, and understand that airlines and border officers have discretion. Where the trip is not essential, waiting until the replacement arrives avoids a re-entry dispute. If you are already abroad, treat the consulate as your first contact about returning.
What if my name or address changed since the card was issued?
Handle a data change as its own request rather than smuggling it into the loss declaration. If your legal name changed after a marriage or your address moved, file the change of data with AIMA so the record is corrected, and lodge the segunda via against the corrected record. Keeping them separate means the officer can reissue the card cleanly and update your details on the correct footing, instead of pausing the reissue to resolve a discrepancy. Say clearly in each request which one it is.
My card is damaged but still readable — do I have to replace it?
If the card still functions and the details are legible, you are not forced to replace it immediately, but a damaged chip or worn print can cause problems at borders, banks and appointments where the card must be read. If the damage is affecting how the card works, request a segunda via and hand in the damaged card, which simplifies the file because you are not declaring a loss. Weigh the small reissue fee against the friction a failing card creates every time you have to prove who you are.
Do I report the loss to AIMA or to the police first?
Report to the police first, then to AIMA. The police report (for theft) and your record of the circumstances are inputs into the AIMA segunda via request, so getting the report is the logical opening step. Once you have it, lodge the reissue with AIMA and attach the report and your sworn declaration. Doing it in that order means your AIMA file is complete on submission, which is what keeps a straightforward reissue from bouncing back for a missing document.