The pilot project, details of which were reported by the newspaper Público, sets a maximum 30-day timeframe for issuing the required documents, a stark contrast to the agency's standard processing times, which can reach up to four years.

FDUL was chosen to launch this testing phase due to its large international student population, which accounts for approximately 25% of the student body.

According to Público, citing André Brito, president of the Luso-Brazilian Studies Group (NELB) and a member of the project's working group, the initial stage of the agreement covers only students applying for their first residence permit renewal, with plans to gradually extend the scheme to other study cycles.

The plan aims to ensure that all eligible students have their documentation regularised by the start of the next academic year in September, with the potential to expand the model to other University of Lisbon schools if efficiency indicators remain positive.

This initiative is part of a concerted strategy to decentralise services and remove administrative barriers in higher education; a similar agreement is already being developed with NOVA University Lisbon.

At the national level, another example of this localised service model can be found in Coimbra, where AIMA has established a service outpost within the university.

According to Público, Letícia Daniel Coelho, president of the Association of Brazilian Researchers and Students (APEB) in Coimbra, confirmed that this decentralised setup, with appointments scheduled via the *Inforestudante* academic platform, enables the complete resolution of cases, ranging from visa renewals to the granting of permanent residence.

The urgent need to optimise these public mechanisms was also highlighted by Professor Pedro Carreiro Martins, Deputy Director of the NOVA Medical School, who pointed to the need for greater government efficiency in managing the flow of international students; he cited the constraints caused by chronic delays in the issuance of consular visas, which often extend beyond the start of the academic term.

Strengthening institutional responsiveness keeps pace with the sector's demographic evolution: data from the Directorate-General for Education and Science Statistics (DGEEC) indicate sustained growth in the international footprint within higher education between the 2015/2016 and 2024/2025 academic years, with the proportion of international students rising from 8.8% to 13.5% in bachelor's programs, from 18% to 26.2% in second-cycle master's programs, and from 5.5% to 18.4% in integrated master's programs.