Its true that the portuguese government has approved all pending applications until the 31st of March 2022. The reason why the government did this is because almost 90% of all residency permit applicants are waiting to make their biometrics for the concession cards or for the renewal cards due to the fact that there isn’t any slot available for the biometrics.
However, arriving to the 31st of March, the government may not extend anymore and this means that you become immediately illegal in Portugal.
For that reason, because a conservative aproach is always better, I believe that you should only make your plans to move to Portugal once the residency card is issued.
Thank you, are you able to direct me to any site where this is in writing as I am nervous of staying beyond February without something to refer to that legally states this?[quote=“madalenamonteiro, post:22, topic:44601, full:true”]
Hello everyone
Its true that the portuguese government has approved all pending applications until the 31st of March 2022. The reason why the government did this is because almost 90% of all residency permit applicants are waiting to make their biometrics for the concession cards or for the renewal cards due to the fact that there isn’t any slot available for the biometrics.
However, arriving to the 31st of March, the government may not extend anymore and this means that you become immediately illegal in Portugal.
For that reason, because a conservative aproach is always better, I believe that you should only make your plans to move to Portugal once the residency card is issued.
[/quote]
Madalena, thank you so much for the info you sent in the link. I passed it on to my lawyer and 2 days later received confirmation that we could legally stay in Portugal for at least another 90 days without having to leave. Such a relief. Our Lawyer isn’t a specialist in Golden Visa but we have known him for the 25 years that we have been coming and going and although he has struggled with the laws on obtaining the GV, has always been honest and reliable so this info helped him enormously.
Also thank you to the Nomad site in general. Everyone on here has helped us by sharing their experiences and their knowledge. I subscribe to a couple of Expat sites and this is by far the best and most knowledgeable and helpful. Good luck to everyone in the same situation and I will update as and when things occur so that we might be able to shed light for others:blush:
Thank you, Thomas. The link to the PDF worked perfectly.
If I read the document correctly, the 60 day extensions from Dec 31, 2021 only apply to visa renewals, not to people who are awaiting preliminary approval, or who are awaiting an appointment with the SEF for biometrics. Is this correct?
Do you know of anything in writing or that is in any way official that would support my attorney’s contention that a person who has submitted a GV application which is under review may move to Portugal immediatly and not be required to leave the country after 90 days while waiting for a SEF appointment and/or waiting for visa approval after the SEF appointment?
The deadline extension is applicable for ALL visas, including turist / schengen visa. This is why some lawyers are saying that you can stay when you come for the biometrics until the final aproval (but in my opinion its a dangerous position to take)
We weren’t told we could live here as residents, just that our schengen Visa has been extended so we don’t have to leave. But we are not “officially” able to start residency, just are able to stay in Portugal legally for another 3 months. We have not yet received pre-approval, hoping it will arrive before our next 3 months is up.
