Administrative Courts (Portugal)
Portugal's specialised immigration and asylum Administrative Courts, created July 2026 to clear AIMA backlog.
Portugal's specialised immigration courts face a larger docket after the state ended automatic approval of late residence-permit renewals on 11 September, sending applicants to sue in courts already holding 152,000 pending cases.
Last refreshed: 3 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Timeline for Administrative Courts (Portugal)
Mentioned in: Portugal axes tacit renewal of permits
Nomads & CommunitiesCleared 22,436 suits between April and June via a 28-judge task force
Nomads & Communities: Portugal's backlog moves to the courtsBackground
Portugal's specialised immigration and asylum courts are a new branch of the Administrative Court system. They exist to hear lawsuits against AIMA, The National migration agency, which until July 2026 could be sued only before one court, the Administrative Court of Lisbon.
The Council of Ministers approved the founding diplomas on 23 July 2026. The Reform followed years in which migrants used litigation to force decisions out of a stalled agency: 124,000 suits were pending when it passed, and only 34 per cent of a wider pool of 152,000 cases had been resolved.
Their role widened in September. Since 11 September, missed renewal deadlines no longer produce automatic approval, so court action has become the main remedy for a permit-holder whose renewal goes unanswered. The courts now decide how long a foreign resident in Portugal can be left without a valid card.
The courts inherit every missed deadline
The courts were created by diplomas Portugal's Cabinet approved on 23 July, which broke the Administrative Court of Lisbon's sole jurisdiction over suits against the migration agency. At that point 124,000 such suits were open, and a 28-judge task force had cleared 22,436 between April and June.
Their workload then grew by design. From 11 September a late permit renewal no longer counts as approved by default when the agency misses its 60-day deadline. An applicant left waiting must now file suit, and the new courts are the venue the government named for those cases.
What are Portugal's new immigration courts?
Why did Portugal create specialised immigration courts?
Do immigration cases in Portugal still go through Lisbon?
Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Updated 3 October 2026. Editorial standards.