Portugal's AIMA Lets Lawyers Speed Up Immigration Cases

Anyone who has tried to book an immigration appointment in Portugal knows the routine: refreshing the AIMA website at dawn, pleading for updates from overworked helplines, and—if resources allow—hiring a lawyer to press the case in court. Now, after months of quiet talks, the Portuguese Bar Association says it has secured a first concession that could finally move the bottleneck.

A New Digital Door for Legal Representatives

Elaine Linhares, a Brazilian-born attorney who has become a familiar face in Lisbon’s migration courts, confirmed that the Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo (AIMA) has agreed “in principle” to open a dedicated online channel for licensed lawyers. The tool would give attorneys direct, authenticated access to their clients’ files—something they have repeatedly argued is essential for enforcing deadlines already guaranteed by law but routinely ignored in practice.

Why the Bar Association Pushed for This

Behind the technical jargon lies a simple reality: foreigners often wait months—or even years—for a basic residency appointment. Judges have already issued more than 17 000 court orders compelling AIMA to schedule overdue meetings. Each ruling confirms the administration breached the 90-day time-limit written into Portugal’s immigration code. Until now, lawyers could only deliver those verdicts by e-mail or in person and then hope an over-stretched case officer would notice. The planned portal should allow them to upload rulings, track responses, and flag non-compliance in real time.

AIMA’s Mounting Backlog in Numbers

The agency inherited hundreds of thousands of pending files when it replaced the now-defunct SEF border service late last year. According to president Pedro Portugal Gaspar, AIMA and its temporary “task-force” currently manage about 1 000 face-to-face consultations per day, a figure expected to double once 30 new one-stop shops open nationwide. Even so, officials privately acknowledge that they are still digging out from a “very large passive” of legacy cases that pre-date the restructuring.

Family Reunification Moves Up the Queue

One immediate winner of the Bar Association’s lobbying may be migrants who want to bring spouses and children to Portugal. AIMA says it will prioritise family-reunification requests over lower-risk paperwork such as golden-visa renewals. The policy change, slated to begin this quarter, should expand online booking slots for parents of minors—some of whom age out of eligibility at 18 if nothing happens in time.

What Foreign Residents Should Expect Next

Neither side has published a launch date for the lawyer portal, but the Bar Association hopes to begin beta-testing before the autumn visa rush. If it works, foreign nationals may see their attorneys uploading documents, downloading receipts, and scheduling appointments without relying on the public queue. The measure will not eliminate delays overnight, yet immigration specialists say it could shave weeks off straightforward cases—and reduce litigation in the long run.

How to Prepare Your Own Case

While the new system is still on the drawing board, migrants can position themselves to benefit by ordering certified translations of key documents, maintaining valid passports for all family members, and signing a formal power-of-attorney if they plan to let a lawyer act on their behalf. That mandate will be compulsory for any professional who wishes to use the future portal.

The Bigger Picture

AIMA insists the reform will not weaken its cooperation with the Public Security Police, which recently took over border-control tasks, nor its special focus on applicants from Portuguese-speaking countries. Officials frame the changes as part of a broader effort to build a “distinct AIMA identity” based on administrative justice rather than policing. For Portugal’s 1 million-plus foreign residents, the plan may finally translate lofty rhetoric about integration into the mundane, tangible reality of a confirmed appointment slot.