According to the newspaper ‘Expresso‘, Lisbon was where the largest number of cases were filed, but Porto (484), Loulé (339), and Leiria (215) follow: there are 240 cases in higher courts and one has even reached the Supreme Court. Most of the cases against AIMA, explained the newspaper, are “subpoenas to defend rights, freedoms and guarantees” brought by immigrants who have been fighting for months for a decision on legalisation requests in Portugal.
Complainants hand over between 800 and 1,000 euros to lawyers to advance their complaint, which allows them to reduce the usual two-year wait for a Residence Permit to less than two months – when accepted by the judge, the subpoenas oblige AIMA to decide quickly on the legalisation request presented by the immigrant.
“This method began to be used during the first part of 2023, during the validity of the SEF, and has become more widespread as it becomes better known”, indicated AIMA. “The processes are linked to delays in handling procedures that began long before the existence of AIMA, and which have now been reorganised internally to ensure a timely response to court processes.” The more than 7,600 complaints are a drop in the ocean when compared to the more than 400,000 still pending, 350,000 of which were inherited from SEF.
Source:
https://www.theportugalnews.com/news/2024-05-06/over-50-complaints-per-day-against-aima/88565