At the moment, this is fantasy. Can you imagine? 100,000 people in line at the AIMA office each morning.
Unsure why they think a free-for-all is betterā¦perhaps to show voters that they ādid somethingā?
Update of my lawsuit:
- about 7 days after submission of lawsuit: my lawyer informed me that court has recieved the case and also notified AIMA about it. No decision was made at that time.
- today my lawyer received emails from Aima with appoinments for Biometric for my dependents. In addition to that appoinment for me was also given due to the fact my card is going to expire soon.
I am not sure if the lawsuit has made any impact on Aimaās movement. But I believe it does force Aima to have a look at my case.
11 Likes
had preapproval in february (applied december 2021).
still havenāt heard from my lawyers regarding biometrics appt.
anyone else is the same situation? what should I expect?
thanks
Same situation. Applied March 2022 (dependent), got preapproved Feb 2024. Lawyer claims they canāt find a biometric appointment for me. Spouse did Biometrics Oct 2023 but no card yet.
Hi ! We applied in person in Porto for GV and completed all documentation and used a Mercan investment. All done. But that was Sept 2022 and nothing since. No pre-approval and no biometrics. Sounds as tho no point in law suit as it will just be denied as we are not living there. Does anyone know which is the LEAST BUSY biometrics office in Portugal?? I may just turn up!!! Thanks!!
Well around 2021-early 2023 I would say the ones in the south to be the fastest, Iāve done my second in Albufeira and it was concluded within 4 months. I think Albufeira is no longer an option and it might have been replaced by Portimao. I did my last renewal in Faro and again it was finalized around 4.5 monthsā¦ Yet each year there might be a ānew trendāā¦ Unless you have solid reasons I would suggest you to avoid Lisbonā¦
Despite being the second largest city Porto seems to be consistently faster than Lisbonā¦ You may want to talk to people who have had more recent experience than meā¦ All the Best
2 Likes
People who applied in December 2021 are still waiting for pre-approval, so your situation is normal as far as these things go. Donāt bother turning up at an AIMA office - they wonāt let you in the door. Without an appointment you wonāt be in the computer system, so they couldnāt take your biometrics even if they wanted to. There are cases where someone has an appointment but their spouse doesnāt - they turn up with their spouse, and even then SEF/AIMA wouldnāt take biometrics for the other person. And to get an appointment you have to have been pre-approved.
1 Like
Had biometrics in PortimĆ£o April, 2023, still awaiting final approval and not even pre-approval on dependent, submitted Jan, 2022. It might be best to avoid PortimĆ£o.
2 Likes
any update here? anyone received an appointment in the last 6 months?
My wife got an appointment for 4th of November in Portimao. We got the mail from lawyer on 17th of August.
Her dependent application was submitted in Feb 2022 (primary applicant - me, on 28.12.2021) and she got pre approved in May 2024. And now the appointment for her.
3 Likes
Congratulations, have you filed a lawsuit or the pre-approval and biometric appointment were granted without legal action?
Two of my dependents finished their 1st biometric today
- GV application submitted: 04/2020
- Pre-approval: 06/2020
- Biometric 1st missed due to Covid: 09/2021
- Biometric 2nd missed due to Covid: 02/2022
- Lawsuit filed: 05/2024 (no outcome so far except a message that court asked AIMA to read the claim).
- Email notifying the biometric was assigned on Sept 2024: 07/2024
- 1st Biometric completed: 09/2024
- Final approval/card receive: expect to get it within 1 year. If not, another lawsuit.
In addition to this, another dependent and I completed the biometric for card renewal at same AIMA location. Under same family but some members finished already the 1st card while others have just completed their biometric in hope to receive their first cards.
3 Likes
Thank you. No, we didnāt file a lawsuit (but reading all comments here, I was considering as my kidsā approvals, whose dependent applications were submitted few weeks later than hers, came last yearā¦ I was concerned her application was lost)
It is a breaking new that from 09th Sept Aima will open biometric without appointment at 34 locations. For those who are still waiting for Biometric, I think it is best to contact lawyers and spend one day queuing on the line to finish this step.
Information is published on AIMAās site:
2 Likes
With a backlog of 400000 applicants, I think that queue will start in Lisbon and end in Warsaw. I wouldnāt rely on being able to walk in with just one day.
7 Likes
AIMA isnāt on strike now?
Theyāre refusing to do (more, perhaps unpaid) overtime. Supposedly theyāre still working their regular hours.
1 Like
Sure it is unpleasant. But, still better than nothing. I can see that if 34 branches accept customers without appointment, at least 50 people/branch/day can complete their biometric. Doing the math, this means over 1500 people/day which is a very positive number. My calculation is very humble and I consider that one AIM branch only uses 3 desks to serve clientes without appointment. At the same time, the other desks are still being used for those with appointments.
Itās indeed breaking news! My dependents have been waiting for 7 months and got nothing. Iāll contact my lawyer on Monday, anyone in the same situation please share your lawyers opinions , Iāll do so too, so we can make sure we donāt make a trip in vain