Well, not I: I am Jan 18th, 2023. I have years of wait ahead of me! 
I’ve seen no evidence that Lisbon has moved past August 2022 biometrics yet. It’s been like that for many months now. We did our biometrics in Feb 2023. We will now pursue the lawsuit. According to our lawyers, CG, it’s perfectly normal to do so and they’ve successfully got residence cards issued for other clients with this process.
We’re also considering a lawsuit. Regarding the higher fees however, our lawyers said that we can’t put it on the same process as issuing the cards themselves. They said we’d have to pay higher fees and then have a separate lawsuit process requesting reimbursement of higher fees. They said this second process can take 2-3 years and can’t be submitted as urgent process as the first one. Is it similar to what you’re hearing from your lawyers?
Their precise language was (regarding lawsuit for getting final approval and cards):
“To go for this special urgent type of procedure we would need to make the monetary issue a secondary issue as these proceedings are for breach of fundamental rights and liberties and the monetary side is not a fundamental right.”
I did ask about including the increased fee and also my innovative idea about including my next 10 years income tax if I cannot get NHR as a consequence of the delay. I only got one response to this dual question which was “no”. But the specific answer from your lawyers is credible.
Given that is the case, does anyone know if Portugal has the equivalent of the UK’s Small Claim Court which is a low-cost way to file small financial claims against someone and get a judgement. It would cost GBP115 to file a claim for the difference in residency fees in the UK for example. Lawyers are not the best to ask this question because the Small Claims Court process can be initiated with a written submission by the claimer and doesn’t need lawyers. So, I ask here. Anyone know if there an equivalent in Portugal? This would be the logical route to claim the difference in fees after you’ve paid them. Your case would be strengthened by the court case to issue the residency cards in the first place.
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I can confirm this. Biometrics late August 2022 and still no final approval yet.
There was a request in August 2023 for updated Bank Declaration document for qualifying investment, but nothing since then.
Im in exactly the same boat
For those of you considering lawsuits via your lawyers, may I ask what sort of fees your lawyers are asking for ?
I wonder if there’s grounds for a class-action type suit here.
PT doesn’t have any sort of class action is my understanding, I asked.
AGPC charged me ~1k EUR, 50/50 upfront and when finished
3k for a family of 3. So, I guess 1k per person is standard…
Three people is probably the same amount of legal effort as one person, PT lawyers just know theyve got us hooked.
Late September 2022 Lisbon biometrics here. Nothing new indicating movement on the application. I’m waiting to hear back from the lawyers on litigation options. I’ll let you know what mine say
Just to be clear, the 5 year clock doesn’t start ticking until the first card is issued, correct? I am trying to assess the impact of a year-long wait post-biometrics so I can determine whether to proceed with a lawsuit as well.
Yes, I think that’s correct.
I’ve taken advice related to this, it only applies to those who move to PT before issue of a residence card ( as I have done).
The feedback was that if I made a citizenship application this would rejected, but should I appeal with proof of legal residence in PT for the period before the card was issued I should be successful (this would require paying taxes in PT and probably 183 in-country but didn’t go into details.)
It could effect anyone like me who applied before January 2022 and subsequently moved to PT.
(I’m along way off any of this but trying to assess any ‘cost’ to SEF delays.)
I wonder if anyone else has similar feedback…
My lawyer and I are considering a lawsuit to back date the start of my clock to the end date of the legal timeline to approve the residency card
It’s a future project though, at least a few years
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There is an old idiom: Pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered.
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I have emailed our lawyer to inquire into beginning legal proceedings as well. They seem somewhat lukewarm to the idea, but I was fairly explicit that I wanted them to come up with some options. They are fairly responsive so we hope to hear relatively soon.
I really like this idea as it targets the thing I care about most and presumably only requires a lawsuit rather than a lawsuit for each step of the process. When you say “end date of the legal timeline” is that 3 months from the application submission date?
Don’t expect to hear much more from me for at least a year I’d expect. I’ll of course keep everyone updated here.
Have there been any pre approvals or final approvals since AIMA came into existence?
It’s been a long while since we have heard of any sort of approvals!
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I think we have had a couple of pre approvals
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