AIMA isn’t answering your Article 15 request: what to do

Between 1 and 18 September 2026, Lisbon’s administrative court received 3,683 new cases about AIMA, Portugal’s immigration agency. That’s about 204 a day. On 18 September, 89,000 AIMA cases were waiting in the administrative courts.^[1]

A lot of those cases started the way yours did. They asked AIMA for an appointment, kept checking their inbox, and heard nothing.

If you’re the non-EU partner of an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen living in Portugal, this guide covers how to ask so your request counts, what to keep as proof, how often to chase, when a lawyer can take AIMA to court, and what to do about certificates that go out of date while you wait.

This is the step our EU Family Setup for Article 15 prepares you for: your partner’s CRUE first, then your AIMA file, checked by our partner immigration lawyer before you send it. The practical advice below comes from that work and from recent files we analysed.

Neste guia10 sections

1. How do you ask AIMA for your Article 15 appointment?
2. Why does the timing of your request matter?
3. How long does AIMA take to answer?
4. What should you keep as proof that you asked?
5. How often should you follow up with AIMA?
6. Can you stay in Portugal while AIMA hasn't answered?
7. When can a lawyer take AIMA to court?
8. What if your certificates expire while you wait?
9. What should you avoid while you wait?
10. Should you get help with your Article 15 request?

How do you ask AIMA for your Article 15 appointment?

Through AIMA’s online contact form. AIMA asks family members of EU citizens to request their appointment there.^[2] Pick the subject for the EU residence card, then the appointment request (Pedido de Agendamento) for Article 15. The labels can change, so look for the residence card for EU family members.

You attach scanned copies of:

• Your valid passport.
• Proof of your relationship: your marriage certificate, or for unmarried partners, proof of a lasting relationship.
• Your partner’s CRUE. AIMA lists it as compulsory.^[2]

The card you’re asking for is the cartão de residência de familiar de cidadão da União. It comes from Portugal’s law on the free movement of EU citizens, which follows the EU’s free movement directive.^[3][4]

Turning up at an office won’t get you a date. In our partner immigration lawyer’s experience, people who ask in person are sent back online.

You have two ways to send the request:

“The form keeps rejecting my request”

Usually that means your partner’s CRUE doesn’t exist yet. AIMA’s form makes the CRUE compulsory. In a recent file we analysed, the request couldn’t go through at all until the EU partner had one.

So the order matters:

• Your partner registers first. The CRUE comes from the Câmara Municipal once they’ve been in Portugal for three months.^[3] A nossa CRUE support covers that part.
• Then you send your request straight away, with a copy of the CRUE.
• If the form still won’t take it, email AIMA’s general address, geral@aima.gov.pt, with the same information and documents.^[5]

The email won’t book you a date by itself. But it gives you a dated record of the day you asked, and you’ll need that record later.

Why does the timing of your request matter?

Because the law gives you a deadline too. If you’re staying in Portugal for more than three months, you must ask AIMA for your card within 30 days of reaching three months aqui.^[3]

Not applying is a fine of €400 to €1,500, halved if it was a mistake rather than deliberate.^[3]

That’s one more reason to keep proof. The fine is for not applying. A dated request, with your weekly follow-ups behind it, shows you did.

If your partner’s CRUE takes longer than you hoped, ask for it as early as the Câmara allows and send your request the day it arrives.

How long does AIMA take to answer?

On paper, AIMA has three months from your application to issue your card.^[3] The EU directive allows up to six, and Portugal chose three.^[4]

In practice, AIMA rarely answers that fast, and it publishes no waiting times for this route. Getting the appointment is the hard part. Over the summer of 2026, our partner immigration lawyer found Article 15 slots close to impossible to get, and AIMA often didn’t reply at all.

She tells clients not to expect an appointment within six months, and has seen waits of eight months to a year.

So plan around the wait. Don’t book a flight home, a job start or a lease end that depends on getting AIMA’s date.

What should you keep as proof that you asked?

Everything with a date on it. If you end up needing a lawyer, the first thing they’ll ask for is proof of when you asked AIMA and how often you chased. Our partner immigration lawyer says that record is what a court action is built on.

A few habits help:

• Save emails as PDFs, with the date, the time and AIMA’s address visible.
• Keep one folder for the whole household, named by date, so a lawyer can read it in order.
• Don’t delete automatic replies. They prove your email arrived.

How often should you follow up with AIMA?

Once a week, with a short email. That’s what our partner immigration lawyer suggests: the same polite text each time, with your original request attached.

Sadly, AIMA won’t move faster because of it. But week by week you build up proof that you kept asking, and a lawyer needs exactly that proof if you go to court.

“Should I phone AIMA instead?”

You can. The line is +351 217 115 000, weekdays from 8am to 8pm.^[2] But a call leaves no record, so follow it up with an email the same day (“As discussed by phone today…”).

Can you stay in Portugal while AIMA hasn’t answered?

Waiting for AIMA doesn’t take your right to live here away. Your right comes from your partner’s EU right and your relationship. The card is the document that proves it.^[3][4]

Both Portugal’s free movement law and the EU directive say so in plain terms:^[3][4]

“Possession of […] a certificate attesting submission of an application for a family member residence card, of a residence card […] may under no circumstances be made a precondition for the exercise of a right or the completion of an administrative formality, as entitlement to rights may be attested by any other means of proof.”

The EU free movement directive. Portugal’s free movement law says the same.

There’s one condition behind all of this. Your right lasts while your partner meets the EU rules: they work here, are self-employed, study, or have enough money and health cover to live on.^[3] So keep that side in order too.

The same goes for work. Family members with the right to live here can work or be self-employed.^[3][4] Some employers and offices still ask for the card itself, so expect questions.

“I’ll be past 90 days before I can even ask AIMA. Am I illegal?”

Not while your partner meets the EU rules. Your partner can’t get a CRUE until they’ve been here three months, so you’ll always be past the 90-day mark before your request can go in. Your right to stay beyond three months comes from your partner’s right, not from the request.^[3]

Our partner immigration lawyer’s advice is to carry the proof with you: your relationship documents, your partner’s CRUE once it’s issued, and proof of your request once it’s sent.

Travel is where you need the most care:

• Talk to a lawyer before you leave Portugal if you’re waiting for your first card. Your proof of request isn’t a travel document.
• Re-entry is decided at the border, by the officer in front of you.

The travel section of our AIMA appointment checklist covers what AIMA says its receipts can and can’t be used for.

When can a lawyer take AIMA to court?

When AIMA has gone quiet for a long time, a lawyer can ask an administrative court to make AIMA act. It’s one option for a long wait, and you decide it with the lawyer.

Our partner immigration lawyer’s current view (October 2026) is that it’s rarely worth it for a wait of a few months. She considers it once the wait passes about a year, and starts with a formal written complaint to AIMA’s president first.

There are two routes, and your lawyer picks one:

• An urgent action (an intimação). It’s for when you need a quick decision to protect a fundamental right in time. On paper, a judge looks at it within 48 hours, AIMA has 7 days to reply, and the court decides within 5 days after that.^[6] Lawyers have used it to make AIMA schedule appointments.^[7]
• An ordinary action to make AIMA decide. It’s slower, and you have um ano from the day AIMA’s legal deadline ran out to bring it.^[6]

Since October 2025, Portugal’s general immigration law has set a stricter test for urgent cases against AIMA, and new cases fell 78% after the change, Diário de Notícias reported in February 2026.^[8] Your card comes under the separate free movement law, but expect any court to look hard at urgency. That’s why the paper trail matters so much: your lawyer has to show why your case can’t wait.

What a lawyer needs from you:

• The date you first asked, with the confirmation or the email.
• Your weekly follow-ups, in order.
• Your partner’s CRUE and the documents you sent AIMA.

Three things to know before you start:

• The court won’t give you the card. It can order AIMA to deal with your request, and AIMA still decides.
• It takes time too. On-paper deadlines and real ones differ, and the courts have their own queue.^[1]
• Nobody can promise the outcome. The court decides.

Court action sits outside our packages. We quote it separately, once a lawyer has looked at your file and your dates. A 45-minute immigration lawyer call is a good way to find out whether you’re there yet.

“Is there anything short of going to court?”

Yes, a complaint to Portugal’s Ombudsman (the Provedor de Justiça). It’s free and online, and anyone can file one.^[9]

Two catches:

• You complain to AIMA first. The Ombudsman expects you to have tried that.
• It won’t look at anything already in court. So choose one route at a time.

What if your certificates expire while you wait?

Order new ones before AIMA asks. AIMA can ask for recently issued certificates, and your wait can easily outlast the ones you brought.

Our partner immigration lawyer plans to these ages, counted from the date each certificate was issued (the apostille date doesn’t count):

“AIMA wants a new certificate in 10 days. It takes six weeks from home.”

Write to AIMA before the deadline ends and ask for more time. When AIMA asks you for something and sets no other deadline, the default is 10 working days.^[10]

If you can’t get the new certificate in time:

• Write before the deadline ends. Say which document you’re waiting for, why it takes longer, and how many extra days you need.
• Send it by email and by registered post, and keep both receipts.
• Send the certificate the moment it arrives, again with proof of sending.

Don’t treat silence as a yes. No rule says an unanswered request for more time is granted, so move as fast as you can and keep the proof.^[10]

What should you avoid while you wait?

Three things, mainly.

• Paying anyone who promises you an AIMA date. Nobody outside AIMA can book one for you, and AIMA has warned about look-alike sites.^[11] Use only aima.gov.pt addresses.
• Letting your partner’s situation change without telling a lawyer. Your right to stay comes from theirs, so a move, a split or a long stay abroad matters.
• Leaving Portugal before you’ve checked what it means for your file.

Should you get help with your Article 15 request?

It depends on where you are.

If you haven’t sent your request yet: the order and the paperwork are where it usually goes wrong. Our EU Family Setup takes you from your partner’s CRUE to your AIMA request. You get a checklist for each person, our partner lawyer’s review of both files, two lawyer calls, and the request letter and declaration drafted for you. You send the request yourself, with a template for following it up.

If you’ve sent it and heard nothing: keep your weekly emails going, and book a lawyer call once the wait starts to drag on.

If you already have a date: our Apoio na marcação na AIMA gets your file checked before the day.

One honest limit. We can’t make AIMA answer faster, and the wait after you send your request isn’t part of the package.

Perguntas frequentes

Can I request my Article 15 appointment before my partner has a CRUE?

No, in practice. AIMA’s contact form lists a copy of your partner’s CRUE as compulsory. Get the CRUE first, then send your request the same day.

Where is the AIMA form for Article 15?

It’s AIMA’s online contact form. Choose the residence card for EU family members and then the Article 15 appointment request. If it won’t take your request, email geral@aima.gov.pt so you have a dated record.

Does emailing AIMA count as a request?

It gives you a dated record, which matters most. Whether AIMA acts on the email or the form, you can show when you first asked. Keep the sent email as a PDF.

How often should I follow up?

About once a week. Our partner immigration lawyer suggests one short follow-up email a week, with your original request attached each time.

Can I go to an AIMA office and ask for a date?

It’s unlikely to help. In our partner immigration lawyer’s experience, people asking in person are sent back to the online form.

How long is AIMA allowed to take?

Three months from your application, under Portuguese law. In practice it often takes much longer, so plan for months.

Is there a fine if I apply late?

Yes, €400 to €1,500, halved if it was a mistake. It’s a fine for not applying within 30 days of reaching three months in Portugal, so keep proof of when you asked.

Can I stay in Portugal while I wait for AIMA?

Waiting doesn’t take your right away, as long as your partner still meets the EU rules (working, self-employed, studying, or enough money and health cover). The law says nobody can make the card a condition for your rights. Talk to a lawyer before you travel.

I’ll be past 90 days before I can even send my request. Am I illegal?

Not while your partner meets the EU rules. Your right to stay beyond three months comes from your partner’s right, and you can’t file before their CRUE exists. Carry proof of your relationship, your partner’s CRUE once it’s issued, and proof of your request once it’s sent.

Can I work while I wait?

Yes, the law gives you the right to work if you have the right to live here. Some employers still ask for the card itself, so expect questions.

When can I take AIMA to court?

Usually only after a long wait. Our partner immigration lawyer’s current view is to consider it once you’ve waited about a year, after a formal complaint to AIMA. The court decides, and we quote court action separately.

Will court action get me the card?

No, not directly. The court can order AIMA to deal with your request. AIMA still decides on your card once it has your file.

What if my marriage or birth certificate is too old by the time AIMA calls me?

Order a new one. Our partner immigration lawyer plans to six months for marriage and civil-status certificates and one year for birth certificates, from the issue date. If AIMA gives you a deadline you can’t meet, write before it ends and ask for more time.

Do I need to write to AIMA in Portuguese?

It helps. AIMA works in Portuguese, so a Portuguese version of your email, or both languages, is easier for whoever reads it.

Sources and how we checked

The practical advice in this post comes from our partner immigration lawyer and from recent files we analysed, with no names or details that could identify anyone. We checked the law against the official consolidated texts on Diário da República and EUR-Lex.

1. 3,683 new AIMA cases in Lisbon’s administrative court from 1 to 18 September 2026, and 89,000 pending on 18 September (figures from the courts’ governing council, CSTAF): ECO, 29 October 2026.
2. How to request the appointment, the compulsory documents, and AIMA’s phone line and hours: AIMA, appointments for family members of EU citizens, 30 September 2025 e AIMA, residence card for family members of EU nationals.
3. The right to live and work here, the CRUE, the 30-day deadline, the three months to issue the card, the card as proof of a right, and the fine: Lei 37/2006, consolidated text, articles 7, 14, 15, 19, 21 and 30.
4. Six months under EU law, the right to work, and the card as no precondition: Directive 2004/38/EC, recital 11 and articles 7, 10, 23 and 25.
5. AIMA’s general email address: AIMA, Contactos.
6. The urgent action and its deadlines, and the action to make AIMA decide with its one-year limit: Código de Processo nos Tribunais Administrativos, consolidated text, articles 66, 67, 69 and 109 to 111.
7. Urgent actions to make AIMA schedule appointments: ECO, 11 October 2025.
8. New cases down 78% after the October 2025 change: Diário de Notícias, 25 February 2026.
9. Complaints to the Ombudsman: Provedor de Justiça, how to complain.
10. The 10-working-day default, and tacit approval only where a law provides it: Código do Procedimento Administrativo, consolidated text, articles 86, 87 and 130.
11. AIMA’s look-alike site warning: AIMA, 5 March 2026.