I have an update on my lawsuit, which seems to be a bit different than the others filed here. We filed the lawsuit in January 2024 having been waiting since September 2022 for the final cards (Lisbon) to be issued.
The lawsuit did not request them to take action on our file, but rather was to compel AIMA to provide an estimated date for the completion of the case file and the issuance of residence permit.
Per our attorney, their experience is that this court decision will be sufficient to prompt AIMA to progress with the case.
They also told me that they expect AIMA to comply with the court’s decision in the next 15 days and that they expect AIMA to comply even before this timeframe, given their history of not appealing on similar court decisions.
We got a court decision in January requiring AIMA to conclude our long-delayed family reunification which they complied with in March, giving final approval for my wife and son (I got my residence permit in April last year). We are still waiting for the residence cards for my family members to be issued 5 weeks after paying the fees. AIMA has informed my lawyers that the cards are “waiting to be issued” by the Casa da Moeda. Is there a backlog there?
SEF / AIMA failed to process my application in a reasonable time, the court understood that and told AIMA to make a determination in 40 working days (which AIMA subsequently achieved).
Just got word from our lawyer that the primary card has been issued and has reached them. Awaiting the cards for my wife and daughter - where the DUC was paid 10 days later.
Our timlines:
Application: 24 November 2021
Pre-Approval: 29 July 2022
Invited for Biometrics: 15 Aug 2022
Biometrics (Lisbon): 02 Feb 2023
Summons Filed: 13 Dec 2023
Judge Ruled: 2 Feb 2024
DUC issued (main applicant): 12 March 2024
Payment made (main applicant): 21 March 2024
DUC issued (family reunification): 2 April 2024
Payment made (family reunification): 3 April 2024
Primary applicant card received: 15 April 2024 (issue date of 1st April and valid for 2 years)
Sounds weird but we may need to add summons filed and judge ruled for each step in the database.
You give me hope that our cards will also be for two years as I am exactly two weeks behind your DUC payment date so excitedly waiting for our primary card maybe at the end of next week. Thanks for the update.
Either that or a separate “lawsuit tracker” database, whatever works. But (sadly) yes it would be useful to track and compare these suits systematically.
Anyone who filed a lawsuit regarding their application , can you answer question of whether your attorneys cited Article 82 "- The request for granting a residence permit must be decided within 90 days. " and "the absence of a decision within the period foreseen in the previous number, for reasons not imputable to the applicant, the request is considered to have been accepted, and the issue of the residence card is immediate. "
I was told by one attorney that this does not apply to ARI but it does not mention in the law whether it does or doesn’t. I am curious if a judge has decided this?
Article 82 does impose the 90 day rule for ARI issuance (clause 1), and I think 60 days for renewals (clause 2), but clause 3, which makes approval automatic after the deadline, only applies to clause 2 (renewals) and not clause 1 (issuance).
So for issuance, while AIMA is legally obliged to decide within 90 days, only the court can make them do anything if they don’t.
My lawyer was happy that Article 82 applied to the ARI as above.
The issue then becomes with respect to a renewal what is the mandated deadline to apply.?
Under Article 78
1 - The renewal of a temporary residence permit must be requested by the interested parties up to 30 days before the expiration of its validity.
I imagine here that the word must actually means “is permitted”. But since AIMA does not make available any process to apply for a renewal the timelines including the deadline of 60 days to make a decision on the application is rendered meaningless.
Keep in mind that AIMA could solve this through the automatic renewal process as was done by SEF but instead chooses to halt all processes. A lawsuit against AIMA may be the only way forward for renewals.
Fair points. See also Art 63(16) of Dec Reg 84/2007 as amended in 2018: “O pedido de renovação pode ser requerido entre os 90 e os 30 dias anteriores à caducidade do título.”
Might be worth a trawl through the commentary and jurisprudence of Art 78 in the Legispedia. At one point I got reasonably up to speed on 82, but I’ve never really looked at 78.
Maybe one could ask one’s lawyer to march in with a paper-based “application” with all required materials, if only to show the court that one did everything possible to “apply” for renewal?
It’s not a bad idea. The issue is that one doesn’t know whether auto renewals might magically open one day and then you have spent a bunch of time and money on something that is completely unnecessary.
Agree, it’s absolutely unbelievable that even with getting six figure investments and €6000 in fees, they’re unwilling to lift a finger without a court ordering them to do so
