How Long AIMA Family Reunification Should Take
Family reunification is one of the slowest processes AIMA handles, but slow is not the same as lawful. By law, AIMA has a statutory decision period of 90 days from the date it acknowledges a complete application. In practice, family reunification cases typically take four to eight months, because they involve an additional layer of documentation review — proof of the family relationship, accommodation, and means of subsistence — and because family files have been caught in the same backlog as the rest of the system. Our complete family reunification guide covers the documents and submission process in detail.
The distinction that matters for your options is between a case that is simply in the normal queue and one that has crossed the legal deadline. Once AIMA passes the statutory 90-day mark without a decision, the agency is considered to be in default. That default is what unlocks every remedy in this guide. If your case is only a couple of months old, the tools below are premature; if it is past 90 days from a complete submission, they are available to you now.
When Your Case Is Officially "Delayed"
The single most important date in your file is not the day you submitted documents — it is the day AIMA acknowledged that your application was complete. The statutory clock runs from that acknowledgment, not from your first upload. Keep the receipt, the reference number, and any email confirming your submission was accepted, because those documents establish the timeline that determines both when AIMA is in default and when your legal deadline to act expires.
One common complication in family cases is a mid-process request for additional documents. If AIMA asks for supplementary information and you provide it, the decision period may restart from the date you submitted the extra documentation. This is why meticulous record-keeping matters: note the date of every request and every response. If your status has been frozen with no communication at all, the awaiting-decision remedies playbook explains how to read the silence and what each stage of escalation signals.
First Steps: Formal Complaint and the Ombudsman
Escalation works best as a ladder, because each rung builds a record of reasonable behaviour that strengthens any later court action. The first rung is a formal complaint through AIMA's internal complaints mechanism, which is separate from a general inquiry and triggers an internal review. State your case history, the date the statutory period expired, and a specific request for a decision. If the complaint goes unanswered within a reasonable period, escalate to the Portuguese Ombudsman (Provedor de Justiça), an independent body with the authority to investigate AIMA and issue recommendations.
These steps are worth taking, but be realistic about their limits: neither the internal complaint nor the Ombudsman can order AIMA to decide. They apply pressure and create a paper trail; they do not carry binding force. For many families that pressure is not enough, which is why the graduated ladder leads to the one remedy that does carry legal weight — a court order.
Forcing a Decision Through the Courts
When AIMA is in default, the strongest remedy is the administrative subpoena, known in Portuguese as the intimação para um comportamento. This is a court action that asks a judge to order AIMA to make a decision on your pending application within a fixed timeframe, usually 20 to 30 days. Because it carries judicial authority, AIMA's failure to comply can trigger penalties, and Portuguese administrative courts have ruled overwhelmingly in favour of applicants in delay cases, recognising the agency's consistent failure to meet its statutory deadlines.
The legal basis is well established. Article 87-B of the revised immigration law provides for judicial oversight of AIMA, and applicants have a right to urgent judicial protection where inaction gravely compromises personal rights — a threshold family separation frequently meets. Court fees for these actions are modest, typically 100 to 300 euros, and while it is technically possible to file alone, representation by an immigration lawyer is strongly advised given the procedural formalities. If you want a fast read on whether your situation fits the criteria courts look for, our 60-second eligibility check screens your case before you speak to anyone.
The One-Year Deadline You Cannot Miss
There is a hard limit on this remedy. You generally have one year from the date AIMA's statutory decision period expired to file the judicial claim. If your complete application was acknowledged on a given date and the 90-day period ran out, the one-year clock starts the day after that expiry. Let it run out and you permanently lose the ability to use the courts to force a decision — you would be left with complaints and inquiries that AIMA is free to ignore.
Because the calculation turns on calendar days and on the exact acknowledgment date, and because document requests can shift the clock, it is worth confirming your deadline with a lawyer well before you think it might expire. Miscalculating by even a few days can forfeit the right entirely. If your case is already past the 90-day mark, treat the one-year window as running now and do not wait for a "better time" that delay only shortens.
What Happens After You File
The most striking feature of these cases is how often the filing alone breaks the logjam. Once the action is filed and accepted, AIMA is formally notified and required to respond, usually within 30 days. In practice many applicants receive their decision within weeks of that notification — sometimes before the court holds any hearing — because the agency would rather decide the case than defend an indefensible delay. The entire process, from filing to resolution, typically takes two to four months, far faster than waiting indefinitely for AIMA to act on its own.
If AIMA does not resolve the case voluntarily, the court proceeds on the merits and can order a decision within a specified period and impose daily penalties for continued non-compliance. Either way, the family reunification that had been frozen finally moves. If you are unsure whether your delay has crossed the legal threshold, start with the 2-minute eligibility check — it will tell you whether a court injunction is realistic for your situation before you commit to anything.