A country where nothing is predictable😅
From @Jay.Poulle posts above, they got it from the day of the application. Are we now saying that AIMA is not consistent with this?
They haven’t confirmed the receipt of the document , right?
I am not sure I understand the question. There are two different people who got the same document from AIMA. One letter says it is from the time of application and the other says it is from the time of DUC approval.
If you want consistency you need to look elsewhere. Everything about the PT GV, including all that AIMA does, or using the courts to move your application along, etc… is all about randomness and senselessness.
2 Likes
Ah ok. I just read it again. My mistake. So, we only have one issued on this forum and that is from the date of DUC?
What may be needed is for applicant who has 5 years waiting to file lawsuit and request courts to publish opinion that can apply to everyone stating that law must be followed by AIMA/IRN. This same approach was done by the courts relating to delays by AIMA in processing applications. Otherwise, I am afraid the only outcome will be 10,000 lawsuits with everyone individually requesting that the law be applied equally and fairly and this will overwhelm the courts. It is better to have predicable and clear pathway for residence permit holders that offers human dignity.
1 Like
Someone will get favorable judgement while others will be shown the door. Portuguese judiciary at it’s best playing Russian roulette.
2 Likes
Thanks for sharing the insights!
There are some points we can say about it:
-
one cannot manually select the preferred Aima. It needs to be done by email and then Aima distributes the jobs to the local branch. For your case, the Aima South & Islands does not know anything about current updated law. I can imagine that the guy living in Island suddenly has to do this kind of job and maybe he gets only 5-10 requests of contagem do tempo/year and you were probably the first GV that he had to deal with.
-
process takes about 5 months. Hence I am about to ask for contagem do tempo right away. And at the same time, i’ll pray that my request will not be handled by one of the isolated AIMA.
-
are you going to try for another “contagem do tempo” ? As I can see, you can request as many as you need, until you are satisfied!
-
is there any expired date written down on the contagem do tempo? As I understand correctly, all documents have its own validity when applying citizenship (criminal record: 3 months; birth certificate apostilled: 6 months,…)
To be fair to us ‘islanders’… we’ve seen Mainland cases being distributed to AIMA Madeira on this forum, so they certainly have experience with non-island GVs.
…and because AIMA loves randomness in all it does, we just got a December biometric appointment in Lisbon, despite us, our GV agent, our PT house, car, lives, etc. all being in Madeira.
2 Likes
While you were at the AIMA appointment, was it possible to submit extra documentation? E.g. perhaps if you submit a copy of the new law with the part about “from date of application” highlighted, and a copy of your online application confirmation with the date highlighted, they would be more likely to issue your Contagem do Tempo with that date, instead of going on autopilot and giving your the worst date?
I am sure that Aima in Madeira/Azores is familiar with GV. However, for contagem do tempo requested by GV applicants under the most updated law, i doubt they are aware of it. GVs is a small number. Now a number of GVs who request a contagem do tempo is even a tiny fraction of that. And new law was introduced in April, the GVs who utilize this benefit of updated law to request contagem do tempo is incredible little. Maybe it is less than 20 contagem do tempo requested by GV under new law. Just my stupid guess. Could be totally wrong. But as I said, we have no control to this. Therefore I only pray that my case is handled by more experienced Aima who is fully aware of the new law. Tough luck for everybody!
Wow, that’s quite a bummer!.. I hope this is not a sign of general trends, though one thing for certain: nothing is certain in Portugal.
That won’t work in Portugal - there is no concept of a “precedent” in legal decisions. Each case is treated uniquely and individually, hence it will be “…10,000 lawsuits” again.
1 Like
I referred to a specific publication procedure used by the courts. You may not be familiar with exactly how the courts operate in Portugal.
Well, unfortunately I am getting all too familiar with how the courts operate in Portugal after living here for couple of years. In addition to the “stalled” suit against AIMA, I am now on an home owners committee of a condominium complex that is in pursuit of legal action against its developer and promoter. In my interaction with lawyers here, not much encouragement could be expressed, especially with the timelines of legal processes.
Nevertheless, the legal system is still based on civic rather than common law, and each case is reviewed individually to evaluate how the plaintiff is affected within the framework of the applicable law. There is concept of “class action suit”, but it is very new and so far none of the lawyers with whom I had to interface have much knowledge, lest experience, with it.
If you have a link to the article, please share it - I do need to develop “deep roots” to this society. 
1 Like
I planned to raise this question during my appointment, but the AIMA employee just said he was only there to collect the fee and knew nothing about the legal aspects.
It’s crazy that this appointment is required solely for paying the fee in person. It’s no wonder they’re overwhelmed with such poorly designed processes. They schedule appointments weeks ahead, make people travel to the office, just to collect a payment that could easily be done online.
4 Likes
Hi I received my certificate on 31-10-2024.
Hi, so it was counted since the initial online application?