Hi, we applied for GV in 2019, biometrics done February 2023 in Portimao with final approval in July and payment taken 19th July this year. Anyone know how long the wait for the card is likely to be? I’ve emailed a few times and heard nothing, also, our lawyer just shrugs their shoulders 
.
1 Like
My partner got his residency card after 4 months from notice of approval. But the delay was caused by our lawyer’s negligence of not paying for the card promptly.
Story goes: after 2 months from approval, we followed up on the residency card. Our lawyer gave a lot of reasons for the delay (Ukraine refugee situation, Holy Week, pile up of work in the SEF, other holidays, etc., etc.). Then, after a week from the said follow-up, after getting suspicious of the real reason, I asked for the receipt of payment for the residency card, on the pretext that I needed it “for our records”. Then there we found out that my lawyer only paid for the card the day after we made the follow-up, just holding our money in their account all along. In short, we wasted 2 months of waiting for the residency card that was never coming after all, due to non-payment.
Two months from “actual payment” (as reflected in the receipt), we received my partner’s residency card. Meanwhile, we suffered from too much anxiety and stress as we already booked our flights and we needed to rebook our flights and hotel reservations as a result.
What is the lawyer’s name please?
Some others might need to be especially attentive.
1 Like
Not comfortable to divulge his name here, other than he works for what we have been told is 1 of the “leading” international law firms in Portugal."
At any rate, what I am saying is “ask for a copy of the receipt of payment for the residency card”, to make sure you are not waiting for your card in vain.
1 Like
Our lawyer sent us a link to pay for the residence card directly. I would ask for this as it’s the best way to know that payment has been made!
Does 2 months sound like the typical amount of time before the residency card is received? We just made our payment last week and would love to know.