How can I accelerate the family reunification process in Portugal?

Appointments with the immigration agency have had few openings for any kind of residence permit, even for family reunification, and the change of entities from SEF to AIMA has not yet been able to remedy the inefficiencies and delays in these services. As a citizen with a valid residence permit, you have the right to family reunification. The failure of the immigration agency (AIMA) to grant an appointment for this purpose violates this right. You can resort to a lawyer to file a lawsuit before the Court, to force AIMA to grant you an appointment. Considering that your wife is a UK citizen and doesn't need a visa to enter, she can come to Portugal to wait for the appointment. However, if she exceeds 90 days as a tourist in Portugal, she will be restricted in her travelling, access to health care and other rights that are available to all those legally residing in Portugal.

Due to the lack of appointments in the Immigration Office and its restructuring, there was a huge delay in the immigration programs, including the family reunification processes. Being aware of this problem, in what regards in particular to reunification processes the Government just proposed a new amendment to the regulation that as soon as it enters into force, will implement an online proceeding to unblock the pending cases.

All the appointments are digitally booked so, taking into account the facts, we can’t ask for any acceleration.