Investigation · 7,500-word report · 32 pages · PDF
The AIMA Backlog — what the 400,000 pending Portuguese cases actually look like
Portugal's AIMA inherited an estimated 400,000 pending cases from the dissolved SEF in October 2023. This piece examines what the backlog is, who sits in it, and when the files that have been pending since 2021 will actually be resolved.
Public teaser
The dissolution of SEF and transfer to AIMA was promised as a modernisation. The result for the applicants whose files were in flight is that most do not know who holds the file today. This piece is a reader's guide to the AIMA backlog — the real queue lengths, by file type, by regional directorate, and by the four categories of applicant who sit in it.
The rest is behind a reader or publisher license, below.
What the license unlocks
- ▸Current real queue lengths by regional directorate (as of filing)
- ▸Breakdown of pending-file ages
- ▸A procedural guide to escalation through the Provedor de Justiça
- ▸Cross-references to the AIMA public statistics releases that back each claim
How the material was sourced
Compiled from AIMA public releases, interviews with four PT immigration lawyers, and 18 applicant case studies.
Reader License
Read it yourself
Single-reader, watermarked PDF. Full material for personal reading. Non-redistributable — no forwarding, republishing, or quoting in commercial work. Watermarked with your name.
Price
€60
Publisher License
Quote, reprint, adapt
Non-exclusive right to publish, quote, reprint and adapt the material with attribution to illegalin.eu. For working journalists, book publishers, documentary producers. Written attestation of chain-of-custody included.
Price
€1,800
Payment — Crypto only
- BTC · Bitcoin
- ETH · Ethereum
- USDC · ERC-20 stablecoin
- USDT · ERC-20 / TRC-20 stablecoin
Receiving wallet address issued on invoice after license request. Delivery within 24 hours of the transaction receiving three chain confirmations.
Where the money goes
50% of every sale is directed to at-risk children’s art programmes in Colombia under the Federico archive stipulation. A donation receipt is provided to every buyer.
Any questions about the material, its provenance, or the licensing terms — exclusives@illegalin.eu. Response within 48 hours.