In our case, despite our appeal being “accepted” (and AIMA thus notified), it hasn’t actually been adjudicated yet - and may never be, as we got our Bios done so it’s kind of a moot point now. I’d still prefer it get ruled on, to keep pressure on AIMA for final approval, cards, etc.
All that said, our lawyers brought up our case with AIMA every opportunity they got (i.e. during appointments for their other clients)… so it may well have been that which got us Bio appointments and not the court.
Lots of administrivia gets done in-person in Portugal. So having a lawyer on the ground who speaks Portuguese helps.