My lawyer filed the case for me to get my biometric. Still no reply from the court after more than half a year.
My university-age daughter has been waiting for almost 2 1/2 years for biometrics. Lawyers said urgent case may be rejected on the grounds she doesnāt have fundamental rights because she hasnāt got to that stage yet, leaving only slower usual route through the courts. Has anyone successfully sued for a biometric appointment through fast-track urgent summons? And how long does that take?
Urgency should give an answer in 3 months iirc
I think that position sounds weak from your lawyer. Your daughterās argument for an urgent case should be that she risks hitting the cut-off age for the visa solely due to their failure to schedule an appointment for her. Iām sure Iāve seen others make that argument in cases.
Our lawyers are the same as those used by @watsonhal2016, but we (so far) have had the same outcome as @ohbee, unfortunately. We filed at the end of October/beginning of November, and the decision came in last week that the urgency was denied because we didnāt live in Portugal, even though we have a child in college who is at risk of aging out of the process. (They didnāt let me know until I emailed them yesterday, but oh well, thatās how things go with this, I guess.)
They are going to refile (next week) and hope for a different judge - they said for one case, they had to refile 4 times. Hope that isnāt us, obviously, since each refiling adds a few more months. Of course, I did my biometrics in Lisbon at the beginning of Feb 2023, so I might have plenty of time to try the courts (talk about a good news/bad news situation!).
Iām obviously really, really, really, really hoping that this new law is applicable for GV holders from initial payment date (end of Nov/beg of Dec 2021 for us)! Even biometrics date would help - otherwise, one of my kids will be eligible for citizenship, but the other may not.
1 Like
Why do you think your kid would have an eligibility problem?
Tommy is correct.
Qualifications for family reunification donāt mention an age limit. I know some lawyers have said the max age is 26 but I have never seen any law supporting this interpretation. To the contrary, SEF regs say otherwise.
According to SEF:
The following are considered family members:
- Children who are of full age, unmarried and dependent of the couple or of one of the
spouses, and study in an education establishment, regardless of the Country in which that establishment is located;
2 Likes
Correct. Then again, if my kids get to 27 years old and are still dependent on me, Iāll be asking questions.
1 Like
Yes, I was rather imprecise when I was talking about aging out. I meant that if we arenāt getting our cards for another year or so, by the time 5 years have elapsed, she will probably be out of school, and making her own salary, so not dependent on us. Even if she is still in grad school, she is in STEM, and so might be making a stipend.
1 Like
The court system can work.
My wife and 12-year-old son just won a case forcing AIMA to issue them residency permits. I got mine in April 2023 but theirs was held up because they have Russian passports.
3 Likes
I believe you are mixing up the GV Reagrupamento Familiar eligibility requirements (where the adult child must be dependent/single/full-time student) vs. the citizenship eligibility requirements (where none of those things matter).
We can speculate here about the future GV Renewal situation, but as of today even that is automatic with no proof of āfull-time educationā being asked for.
Yes, I understand that. But there is the possibility that we would need to do a renewal before the time we can apply for citizenship where she would not meet the qualification criteria for Reagrupamento Familiar. If they keep it as it is with no proof needed, we are all set, and that is what I would hope would be the case. If they change it, though, we are not. Basically, Iām hoping for the best, but trying to be mentally prepared for the worst.
Update on 26 January: we received an email from our lawyers saying AIMA has not filed a defence but rather has submitted our GV case file to the court. The court will now make a final decision which āshouldnāt take longā.
Reading between the lines this tells me that AIMA couldnāt care either way about our residency applications and is neither deliberately delaying GVs nor putting any effort into defending itself in these court summonses. Obviously, we await the imminent outcome of the courtās decision to expedite the issuance of our residency cards but it appears at this point that the lawsuit route is simply a routine matter to jump the queue.
1 Like
It is not a routine matter, youre basically gambling on which judge you get and how they feel about your situation. Often, people win this gamble.
Somehow I am apparently the only one who has lost so far?
As I mentioned above, weāve lost as well (yippee).
Sorry, I wish I was the only one.
1 Like
Was it the same grounds - not living in Portugal? Starting to wonder if I should wait to file anything until after I arrive.
They werenāt that specific - just that there was no proven urgency (despite having an older child).
I think it also depends on the stage youre in. Not even pre approved AND not in PT? Nice try, fella!
If youre moving soon, just wait. Or roll the dice since it works for most people.
My lawyer filed the case for me to get my biometric. Still no reply from the court after more than half a year. I received a document from the court recently. It has a line saying āCitacao Urgente: Nao.ā Does it mean that my lawyer did not submit my lawsuit against SEF as an urgent case? That probably explains why I am still waiting for a court decision, whereas an urgent lawsuit is decided by the court within 3 months.