We still had our lawsuit that we used to get a biometric appointment in the first place open and unresolved, so we filed a motion after 90 working days passed to try to have the judge force AIMA to make a final decision / give us our cards. That was a little under 4 months ago, and absolutely no word back or progress made. From what i understand it should theoretically be possible, but who knows. I’ll post here if anything ever changes or just if anything ever gets done at all 
If this shitty new Nationality Law gets promulgated, which seems super likely, I agree i think this is where we should shift our focus: letting us get our permanent residency 5 years + 90 days after our application.
Chega/PSD is mostly trying to screw over low wage immigrants and we’re kind of caught in the crossfire, I think a concerted lobbying effort could possibly at least achieve some positive Permanent Residency changes for GV holders…
I’m also curious if anyone previously used AIMA not just to get their cards issued ASAP but to have their residence start time backdated to their application date + 90 days. That’s what I’m interested in doing now that the waiting time is no longer being counted.
I’d be interested to know if that ever happens, but given how the govt has swayed, the chances are very bleak.
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Lol so if I’m reading that right, the courts now have a task force to more rapidly tell AIMA to do their job. Which helps clear the court case backlog.
But does not actually speed up the AIMA backlog (unless you file a case)
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Surely a lot of GV applicants who got biometrics appointments em masse earlier this year (as part of the AIMA money grab of 6k+ EUR per appointment) will be motivated to sue, as soon as they’ve clocked 90 working days. If folks who had their biometrics in Jan 2026 don’t receive their cards over the next month or so, then the message is clear.
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Summer holidays are coming (only 2 months to go!)… so that plus a flood of Superior Administrative Court judgements likely means AIMA will totally seize-up for the next few months 
…or maybe forever
My lawyers keep telling me to wait at least a year before considering a lawsuit. I recently asked after seeing people who applied well after I did have been getting biometric appointments but I still have not.
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Indeed they are…
I waited too long to file a suit, and I wish I would have done it earlier. You have nothing to gain by waiting. File now - it will be years before you see any positive action anyway.
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Hello everyone,
I would like to ask if anyone has had a similar experience with the Golden Visa / AIMA process.
We completed our biometrics appointment and paid the DUC on 7 August 2025. Since there was no progress in the process, we filed a court case on 10 February 2026.
Our lawyer has now informed us that the judge has formally notified AIMA and requested them to submit their defence within 7 days. According to our lawyer, in most cases AIMA does not respond, and the next procedural step is for the judge to issue a decision.
How long does it generally take for the judge to issue a decision after this step?
Does the court case actually help speed up the AIMA process, or does it mainly create legal pressure?
I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has had a similar experience. Thank you in advance
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your file in AIMA will have notes that said you sued them or have an ongoing lawsuit.
make them behave better
When did Court notified AIMA for 7 days dead line ?
20 June 2026
my timeline like this done biometric on 25/02/2026 lawsuit AIMA 30/03/2026 Court decided on my favor and gave 7 days deadline for respond to AIMA on 02/04/2026 as in today no news, called court directly and spoke to clerk i was told AIMA did not responded and my file will move to judge for sentencing asap as there is a huge backlog
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Court cases against AIMA are futile. My experience shows that this is mostly another side of this great Portuguese GV scam played by the lawyers trying to milk out more fees from investors
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Our July 2024 appeal is still sitting on that rotting pile of backlog, so I guess we’re in the remaining 82% 
AIMA. Court’s ‘Task Force’ recovers [18%] of backlogged cases
- In three months… 22,436 cases were finalised with the issuance of judgments, which corresponds to [almost] 1/5 of the cases.
- When this task force began its work in April, there were approximately 124,000 pending cases. Twenty-eight judges are working in a combined capacity to try to eliminate all the backlog
- in October [2025], the PSD… altered the rules for filing these types of lawsuits against AIMA, in order to reduce the demand on the courts.
- The task force is now pausing operations due to the judicial recess and will resume the second phase of its work in September, adhering to the initial six-month operational plan.
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It feels like it was a cash grab!! For AIMA to take full payment so far in advance and knowingly without the necessary resources to do the work. That’s a new level of unethical practice. My timeline is application march 2023, biometrics January 2026, and since biometrics have received no comms. Note so far I have not applied any legal pressure just let it take its course.
One question for those that launched legal action, did you first send letter of demand to AIMA or file straight away? I understand AIMA most likely won’t respond to a LOD however it would strengthen any legal action if you had tried to resolve directly with them prior.
I did, when it was still SEF. Received a reply to “…wait your turn as we’re progressing applicants chronologically…” A year and a half later, we filed a suit against AIMA which we won since we were already living in Portugal. It really didn’t help all that much to substantially accelerate the process, but we received our cards last year, 3.5 and 4 years (primary and dependent respectively) since the application date.
I believe our lawyer used that letter to strengthen her arguments.
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