That’s not really a surprise. With AIMA having given up all pretence of competence, and abdicated all responsibility, it seems a court case is the only way to get them to do anything at all.
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Given the choice I would not file a lawsuit again. We filed in November 2024 with no update. Seems like a big waste of money to me.
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Some startling info on how large the court backlogs have become …
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so some wealthy non EU folk might be what they should be thinking about attracting, right? perhaps encourage them with a nice easy quick and efficient path to residency , becoming Portuguese and investing in the local economy —- I wonder how that could be done 
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Investors looking at Portugal GV right now
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500 new cases a day. Over 133,000 in the system. 6 judges working exclusively on AIMA-related cases. These are shocking numbers. 
The following weasel words were in the changes to the Foreigners’ Law (not the Nationality Law!) that were published in the Official Gazette (Diário da República here, I believe) and came into effect on October 23rd:
«Artigo 87.º-B
Tutela jurisdicional
PT version
3 - Na decisão a adotar no processo de intimação, em caso de ausência atempada de atuação da AIMA, IP, o juiz deve ponderar, se requerido, o número de procedimentos administrativos que correm junto daquela entidade, em face de eventuais pressões anormais de pedidos e solicitações, os meios humanos, administrativos e financeiros disponíveis, que é razoável esperar, bem como ter em conta as consequências que possam resultar da intimação para o tratamento equitativo de todos os requerimentos dirigidos à AIMA, IP.
3 - In the decision to be adopted in the summons process, in the event of timely failure to act by AIMA, IP, the judge must consider, if requested, the number of administrative procedures pending with that entity, in view of any abnormal pressure from requests and applications, the human, administrative, and financial resources available, which is reasonable to expect, as well as take into account the consequences that may result from the summons for the equitable treatment of all applications addressed to AIMA, IP.
…well AIMA’s always under “abnormal pressure” and doesn’t have enough “resources available!” 
Does anyone know if this “get out of jail free” card for AIMA incompetence applies only to summonses regarding Foreigners’ Law issues - or all lawsuits against AIMA? Like for instance the ones in this thread trying to move people’s ARI applications along?
They’ve always been in the foreigner’s law, IIRC
Blatantly removing judicial oversight from AIMA and throwing the rights of immigrants under the bus because of bureaucratic incompetence
My belief in the rule of law in various countries, and specifically Portugal, is really shaky.
The original wording (before the Constitutional review) was worse.
This farce gets even worse!
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Government IT project gone wrong? Unprecedented!
Unclear if AIMA’s committed to actually deal with these, or it’s just another “agreed-upon official black hole?”
New AIMA complaints channel
The Portuguese Bar Association (OA) has announced the creation on its website of a direct channel to receive complaints and contributions regarding the functioning of the Agency for Integration, Minorities and Asylum (AIMA).
…The Portuguese Bar Association (OA) will receive the complaints and forward them in bulk to AIMA, according to an agreement between the two institutions.
…“When a lawyer, to get a response from a public service, has no alternative but to resort to a court, it is clear that the public service is not working well,” he stressed.
…According to a statement from the OA, the two institutions wanted to “create a permanent contact channel for sharing information about specific situations that may be reported by lawyers and that may represent constraints on access, non-compliance with rights and prerogatives, and/or discrepancies in regional procedures adopted in relation to the interpretation of the law and validation of documents.”
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they keep coming with “new things” to keep themselves entertained
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They will do nothing and wait for some years. After that probably all complaints will be recycled to make toilet papers for Aima’s offices.
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get ready for “service temporarily unavailable” or “server too busy”..
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I got my residency card this month. I want to say petition really helped to speed things up. I got my SEF in 2023 March, filed petition with the help of my lawyer at begining of 2025, in May 2025 i got appointment for biometrics. In Dec 2025 , i got my card. despites all other headwinds, some good news afterall. i am happy to introduce my lawyer to you all if needed. he is really helpful.
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Latest AIMA lawsuit stats…
As of January 7th [2026], approximately 124,793 [AIMA] cases were pending at the Lisbon Administrative Court , a situation that the CSTAF (Superior Council of Administrative and Fiscal Courts) considers “critical” and “without an immediate solution through legislation or executive means.”
“The resolution now approved provides for the opening of an urgent national competition for the temporary accumulation of judicial functions, under the Regulation of Mobility and Procedural Management Instruments . Fifty positions will be made available, for an initial period of three months, renewable once for an equal period, with the definition of monthly decision-making objectives, objective selection criteria and performance monitoring mechanisms ,” they announced.
Also (rest is behind a paywall)…
Lawsuits against AIMA drop 78% after law change. But there are still thousands.
There are still more than 100,000 cases, which forced the court to open an extraordinary competition for judges. This Thursday [26-Feb, 2026], Parliament will discuss a proposal from the Liberal Initiative (IL) to decentralize the cases, which are currently all in Lisbon. However, the solution to the problem is for AIMA to function properly.
Court appoints 28 judges to resolve over 100,000 cases against AIMA.
Judges will work in a combined capacity for three months and will have work targets. The goal of the Superior Council of Administrative and Tax Courts is to reduce the backlog of cases to zero.
March 4, 2026
- work begins on April 7th
- will operate on a collaborative basis and involve professionals from across the country. The 28 appointees will have specific work targets, as the goal is to eliminate the backlog of over 100,000 cases against the agency.
- [beyond getting AIMA appointments]… The court has also become sought after for the renewal of residence permits (it should be noted that the Government allowed more than 374,000 documents to expire), since remaining with an expired permit entails several constraints for immigrants, such as the non-renewal of work contracts and the inability to travel.
Official announcement here, but DN story above adds more colour.
While this is good news, I wouldn’t look for miracles if you’ve already done Biometrics but were hoping a lawsuit would speed up what you really want (a resident card), because…
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Has anyone filed a lawsuit against AIMA recently for not issuing the residence card 90 working days after biometrics appointment?
2022 applicant here. It’s clear to me that AIMA, the government, and the GV industry have intentionally tied up my money for 3.5 years without processing my GV application, and then they threw a biometrics appointment at everybody who applied between 2022 and 2025 without giving early applicants any priority, as a way to quickly collect the 6k+ EUR per card from everyone.
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Also, has anyone from the 2021 cohort talked to their lawyers about suing AIMA for GV PR 90 days + 5 years after applying for GV?
I fully understand that the regulation is clear that one can only apply for PR 5 years after the effective date of the first residence card. But assuming the new Nationality Law goes through, and assuming it took a 2021 applicant (especially someone who invested in a fund instead of real estate to live in) 3-4 years to obtain the first residence card, the investment is tied up for >4+5+1(for PR processing)=10 years instead of the 1+5+1=7 years originally marketed.
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