Azores immigrant association opens new headquarters in Ponta Delgada

The Associação de Imigrantes nos Açores (AIPA) has inaugurated a new headquarters in Ponta Delgada, 20 years after the association was created. More than 10,000 immigrants live in the Azores, RTP Açores and Rádio Atlântida report.

AIPA president Leoter Viegas told reporters at the opening that, according to data from the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA), there are 10,129 foreigners in the Azores, from 100 different nationalities. The number has doubled in the last three years. Since April, AIPA has handled 2,130 cases, and 1,300 immigrant children are in regular schooling, Rádio Atlântida reports.

Viegas said one of the main problems for new arrivals is the distance from the mainland. The region has no embassies, so immigrants have to travel to the mainland to deal with documents, and AIMA is present on only three islands. He wants the RIAC citizen service shops on every island to help immigrants apply for Portuguese nationality, which he said is being done in phases.

Paulo Estevão, the Regional Secretary for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities, said the region will pass 11,000 immigrants this year, against about 1.5 million received by the country as a whole. He said AIPA served more than seven thousand people across the region last year.

Under an agreement between AIMA, RIAC and the Azores government, signed in Ponta Delgada on 1 July 2025, immigrants can handle AIMA procedures locally, including the granting and renewal of residence permits and family reunification. Before it, these services existed only on São Miguel, Terceira and Faial. Estevão admitted the service is not yet active on every island, for example Corvo and São Jorge, contrary to what was planned. He said he will travel to Lisbon in November to try to unblock the situation.

radioatlantida.net

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