AIMA lawsuits may leave Lisbon: what Portugal's court reform changes

On 16 September Parliament debated bill 98/XVII. What it means for the tens of thousands suing the migration agency, how an intimação works today and why AIMA delays now cost time on the road to citizenship.

On 16 September 2026, Portugal's Parliament debated government bill 98/XVII (Proposta de Lei n.º 98/XVII), a reform of the administrative and tax courts. The headline for foreign residents: lawsuits against the migration agency AIMA would no longer be concentrated in the Lisbon administrative court but distributed by the claimant's place of residence, with specialised immigration sections inside existing courts. The bill has not been passed and no commencement date has been set. Here is what is known so far and why the new nationality law makes suing AIMA matter more.

What bill 98/XVII proposes

Today every AIMA case, mostly urgent claims to make the agency book an appointment or decide a residence application, goes to one court: the Tribunal Administrativo de Círculo de Lisboa (Lisbon administrative circuit court). The government wants to end that monopoly.

• Jurisdiction by residence. Claims go to the court covering the claimant's home address or, for an organisation, its registered office.
• Sections, not new courts. Justice Minister Rita Alarcão Júdice stressed there will be no separate immigration courts: sections (juízos) for immigration, asylum and temporary protection sit within existing courts.
• More powers for CSTAF. The Superior Council of Administrative and Tax Courts could cap cases per judge each year and move judges more flexibly to wherever files pile up.

It belongs to a wider package amending the administrative and tax courts statute (ETAF), the tax procedure code and tax arbitration. The government approved it on 23 July 2026; a vote, committee work and a final vote still lie ahead.

Why the Lisbon court was overwhelmed

Mass litigation began after a Supreme Administrative Court (STA) ruling of 6 June 2024: when the authorities fail to decide a residence application and that genuinely harms fundamental rights, the proper remedy is an urgent intimação (articles 109-111 of the Administrative Court Procedure Code, CPTA). For many, suing became the only way to move a file: claims secured appointments, family reunification, permits for CPLP nationals and first residence permits.

The task force judges handle AIMA files on top of their normal work: 50 places were offered and 28 volunteered. In April the queue stood at roughly 124,000 to 125,000 cases, depending on the source, and new claims keep coming. Tellingly, in February CSTAF opposed the same idea from IL, fearing the problem would spread nationwide; it now backs the government's version.

What changes for applicants if the bill passes

• You live outside Lisbon - your claim goes to your regional administrative court. The hoped-for gain is a more even workload, but nobody is promising timelines.
• You are already suing in Lisbon - we found nothing in the published material on whether pending cases will move.
• The grounds for suing stay the same. The reform decides where you litigate, not when you may.

The uncomfortable truth: spreading cases around does not reduce their number. The migration technicians' union (Sindicato dos Técnicos de Migração) says the delays stem from AIMA's own internal problems and lack of resources, not from where the court sits.

Suing AIMA with an intimação: how it works

An intimação (an urgent claim to protect rights, freedoms and guarantees) asks the court to order AIMA to act: book an appointment, decide an application, issue a card. Since 23 October 2025, article 87.º-B of the foreigners law has tightened the rules:

• by default, a claim against AIMA is an ordinary, non-urgent administrative action (ação administrativa);
• an urgent intimação is only admissible where AIMA's action or inaction demonstrably, seriously and directly prevents the timely exercise of personal rights and an interim measure would not suffice;
• if AIMA asks, the judge weighs the number of pending files, the agency's resources and equal treatment of applicants.

It is no longer free: average court fees are around €600, and legal representation is mandatory. State legal aid (apoio judiciário) is available through Segurança Social, and the Portuguese Bar Association and the Gulbenkian Foundation announced a free legal aid project for immigrants due to start in April 2026.

1. Document the delay: filing date, case number, receipts, correspondence with AIMA. The legal deadline for a residence decision is 90 days.
2. Show concrete harm: a job at risk, a family apart, being unable to travel and return, no access to healthcare. A long wait alone is no longer enough for an urgent claim.
3. Choose the tool with Murblz specialists - see the table below.
4. File: in Lisbon for now, in your region after the reform.
5. Enforce: if AIMA ignores the deadline, you can seek enforcement, including a penalty payment (sanção pecuniária compulsória).

The key point: a court does not grant residence. It forces AIMA to decide, and the answer can be a refusal if the file has problems. So check the documents first and sue second; Murblz specialists do this together with partners holding a Portuguese law licence.

Why AIMA delays now cost years on the road to a passport

The amended nationality law (Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2026) has applied since 19 May 2026. Naturalisation now takes ten years of legal residence instead of five, or seven for EU citizens and nationals of CPLP (Portuguese-speaking) countries. Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan are in neither group, so for most of our readers it is ten years.

The clock starts when the first residence card is issued, not when you apply. Waiting time, including the manifestação de interesse period (the expression-of-interest route for people already working in Portugal), no longer counts. There is also a test or certificate on Portuguese culture and history and a declaration of adherence to the rule of law. As a general rule, applications lodged on or before 18 May follow the old rules; for everyone else there is no transition, and whether time already lived in Portugal counts is still disputed.

Hence the link to the courts: every month without a card pushes back the date the citizenship clock even starts. Rules for children changed too: a child born in Portugal to foreign parents only becomes Portuguese if at least one parent has lived there legally for five years. More on Portuguese citizenship by birth and in our piece on dual citizenship.

Since 1 September AIMA also decides statelessness

Lei n.º 47/2026 of 17 August, in force since 1 September, gives AIMA the procedure for recognising stateless status. Applicants get a six-month renewable provisional residence authorisation; AIMA has six months to examine a case, nine if complex, then a government member decides within 15 days. Recognition brings a two-year renewable permit and a travel document. Whether an agency buried in backlog can meet these deadlines is another matter.

If you are still planning a move to Portugal

• Pick the right route. Remote workers usually choose the digital nomad visa, founders the startup visa, investors residence by investment (property is no longer eligible; see Europe's golden visas).
• Count ten years from the card and budget for the wait for the card itself.
• Sort taxes first. Model the IFICI regime and tax residence in advance: Portugal taxes, with comparisons in taxes by country.
• Have a plan B. For a second passport sooner, look at jurisdictions such as Paraguay; see second citizenship and residence permits worldwide.

City guides: Lisbon and Porto; all programmes are on Portugal: citizenship, residence and taxes.

Our services in Portugal

From choosing the legal basis to the residence card, plus the court route, handled by Murblz specialists with locally licensed partners, if AIMA stalls.

Plus the formalities: the NIF tax number, a bank account, company registration and preparing for naturalisation when the time comes.

FAQ